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{{Book Data
{{Book Data
|title= Where's My Cow?
|title=Where's My Cow?
|cover=[[File:Cover Where's My Cow.jpg|200px|Where's My Cow?]]
|cover=[[File:Cover Where's My Cow.jpg|240px|Where's My Cow?]]
|date= 2005
|coauthors=
|publisher= Doubleday
|illustrator= Melvyn Grant
|date=25 September 2005
|publisher=Doubleday
|isbn=038560937X
|isbn=038560937X
|pages=  
|pages=32
|series=  
|rrp=£10.99
|characters= [[Samuel Vimes]]<br/>[[Young Sam]]<br/>[[Lady Sybil Ramkin]]
|series=Children's books
|annotations=  
|characters=[[Samuel Vimes]]<br/>[[Young Sam]]<br/>[[Lady Sybil Ramkin]]
|annotations=
|notes=Book #36
|notes=Book #36
}}
}}
'''''Where's My Cow?''''' is a picture book for children, based on [[Where's My Cow?|the fictional book of the same name]]. It tells the story of the evening when [[Samuel Vimes]] goes off-script while reading ''[[Where's My Cow?]]'' to his son, as briefly mentioned in {{T!}}.


==Blurb==
==Blurb==
Line 16: Line 20:


==Storyline==
==Storyline==
Every day at 6:00pm sharp Sam Vimes reads the book "[[Book:Where's My Cow|Where's My Cow?]]" to Young Sam. But one day Vimes decided that it makes no sense to read about animals which Young Sam will never see alive. Therefore, he changes the story of the book a little to be more interesting for someone living in Ankh-Morpork.
Every day at 6:00pm sharp Sam Vimes reads the book ''Where's My Cow?'' to Young Sam. But one day Vimes decides that it makes no sense to read about animals which Young Sam will never see alive. Therefore, he changes the story of the book a little to be more interesting for someone living in Ankh-Morpork.


==About the book==
==About the book==
'''Where's My Cow?''' is an illustrated novel. However, it is not comparable to previous illustrated novels as [[Book:Eric|Eric]] and [[Book:The Last Hero|The Last Hero]], because its appearance is that of a children's book. It is intentional and suits the story that some of the drawings could have been taken right of a book for two-year-olds. There is very little text in the book which has only 14 pages. Nevertheless, this great book shows Commander Vimes in a totally different light as in the Watch Books and is therefore a "must have".
A spin-off from {{T!}}, this is a book ostensibly aimed at very young children.


A spin-off from {{T!}}, this is a book ostensibly aimed at very young children.  
On the outside, it is a facsimile of the fictional book mentioned in the novels {{T!}} and {{W}}, though it lists the author (who is unnamed in its fictional appearances) as Terry Pratchett. It shows Commander Vimes in a totally different light than the [[Watch Series|Watch Books]] - he's happy, for one thing! - and features illustrations from the fictional book, illustrations of Vimes at home reading to Young Sam, and illustrations of the story he tells Young Sam instead of sticking to the book. Terry Pratchett's text and the artwork of Melvin Grant combine to present a different sort of Discworld, with many of the familiar characters re-imagined through Grant's lovely artwork.


In {{T!}}, this is the very favourite bed-time reading for [[Young Sam Vimes]] - the chew-marks on the cover are an endorsement of its all-time-favourite status. Young Sam must never be without his father at six in the evening for his night-time ritual. This is the thing that keeps [[Samuel Vimes]] straight and reminds him that he is more than just a policeman - the six o'clock ritual is something he never misses, and it ingrains such a habit in him that he will do positively insane things to be home an up in the nursery at six o'clock, every evening, without fail. This becomes an integral plot-device of {{T!}} - the deeply ingrained, almost magical, habit of sanity and normal fatherhood presents the very last insurmountable barrier that not even the Summoning Dark can break.
It doesn't include more than a few pages of the original book mentioned in the novels, so we never find out where, how or if the unnamed protagonist finds their cow. ([https://www.lspace.org/books/wheres-my-cow/ Pratchett addressed this directly] after receiving a letter from a concerned reader.) It does, however, feature a conclusion to Sam's improvised version which is missing from {{T!}}.
 
Therefore, how could this book-within-a-book not make it out of the pages of {{T!}},and be published in its own right?
 
Ostensibly about the trials and tribulations of a farmer seeking for his lost cow, and written in language suitable for very young people, bound in green and purple covers capable of withstanding the most determined chewing, the older reader may develop a suspicion that there is a deeper level to this book...
 
Terry Pratchett's text and the artwork of Melvin Grant combine to present a different sort of Discworld, with many of the familiar characters re-imagined through Grant's lovely artwork.
 
Go on, you know you want to buy it, if only to complete your Pratchett collection. See how many of the characters you can recognise in the artwork without prompting or needing to consult the Wiki...
 
Reviewed favourably in the [[Ankh-Morpork Times]] by its renowned literary critic, [[Tuppence Swivel]].  


==Characters==
==Characters==
Line 48: Line 42:
*[[Lord Vetinari]]
*[[Lord Vetinari]]


Keen eyed readers should also look carefully at the portrait in Young Sam's room...
Keen eyed readers should also look carefully at the portrait in Young Sam's room.


==Release information==
==Release information==
Line 56: Line 50:


==Annotations==
==Annotations==
 
Yes, it even sustains these:
Yes, it even sustains these.


:''Where's my daddy?''
:''Where's my daddy?''
:''Is that my daddy?''
:''Is that my daddy?''
:''It goes "I fink, derefore I am. I fink".''
:''It goes "I fink, derefore I am. I fink".''
:''It is Sergeant Detritus the troll!''
:''It is Sergeant Detritus the troll!''


Line 76: Line 66:


==Artwork==
==Artwork==
[[File:THERE'S MY COW.jpg|right|420px]]
Drawn in the style of a children's picture book, this is an opportunity to use an illustrator other than the great Kidby, and to explore familiar Discworld characters in a different style.  
Drawn in the style of a children's picture book, this is an opportunity to use an illustrator other than the great Kidby, and to explore familiar Discworld characters in a different style.  


Melvyn Grant takes over the artwork for this book, and his conception of Sam Vimes appears to be very much in keeping with Terry Pratchett's stated perception of the character as "looking like a young Pete Postlethwaite".
Melvyn Grant takes over the artwork for this book, and his conception of Sam Vimes appears to be very much in keeping with Terry Pratchett's stated perception of the character as "looking like a young [[wikipedia:Pete Postlethwaite|Pete Postlethwaite]]".
 
[[Image:THERES MY COW.jpg]]


==External links==
==External links==
Line 86: Line 75:




[[Category:Discworld Series|Where's My Cow?]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Where's My Cow?}}
[[Category:Discworld publications|Where's My Cow?]]
[[Category:Discworld Series]]
:
[[Category:Discworld publications]]
[[Category:Picture books]]
[[de:Buch:Where's My Cow?]]
[[de:Buch:Where's My Cow?]]

Latest revision as of 08:59, 10 January 2023

Where's My Cow?
Where's My Cow?
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s) Melvyn Grant
Publisher Doubleday
Publication date 25 September 2005
ISBN 038560937X
Pages 32
RRP £10.99
Main characters Samuel Vimes
Young Sam
Lady Sybil Ramkin
Series Children's books
Annotations View
Notes Book #36
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Where's My Cow? is a picture book for children, based on the fictional book of the same name. It tells the story of the evening when Samuel Vimes goes off-script while reading Where's My Cow? to his son, as briefly mentioned in Thud!.

Blurb

This is a book about reading a book, which turns into a different book. But it all ends happily!

Storyline

Every day at 6:00pm sharp Sam Vimes reads the book Where's My Cow? to Young Sam. But one day Vimes decides that it makes no sense to read about animals which Young Sam will never see alive. Therefore, he changes the story of the book a little to be more interesting for someone living in Ankh-Morpork.

About the book

A spin-off from Thud!, this is a book ostensibly aimed at very young children.

On the outside, it is a facsimile of the fictional book mentioned in the novels Thud! and Wintersmith, though it lists the author (who is unnamed in its fictional appearances) as Terry Pratchett. It shows Commander Vimes in a totally different light than the Watch Books - he's happy, for one thing! - and features illustrations from the fictional book, illustrations of Vimes at home reading to Young Sam, and illustrations of the story he tells Young Sam instead of sticking to the book. Terry Pratchett's text and the artwork of Melvin Grant combine to present a different sort of Discworld, with many of the familiar characters re-imagined through Grant's lovely artwork.

It doesn't include more than a few pages of the original book mentioned in the novels, so we never find out where, how or if the unnamed protagonist finds their cow. (Pratchett addressed this directly after receiving a letter from a concerned reader.) It does, however, feature a conclusion to Sam's improvised version which is missing from Thud!.

Characters

Main characters

Mentioned

Keen eyed readers should also look carefully at the portrait in Young Sam's room.

Release information

  • Originally published in the Year of Three Horses by Rouster & Sideways, 33b Gleam Street, Ankh-Morpork (please use rear staircase; closed on Fridays)
  • This edition published by Doubleday
  • Text copyright (c) by Terry and Lyn Pratchett 2005; Illustrations copyright (c) Melvyn Grant 2005

Annotations

Yes, it even sustains these:

Where's my daddy?
Is that my daddy?
It goes "I fink, derefore I am. I fink".
It is Sergeant Detritus the troll!

On the Moody Blues' 1969 LP On The Threshold of a Dream, the very first spoken words are those of flute player and singer Ray Thomas, who is going through a similar sort of existential angst:

"I am, I think I am. Therefore I must be. (pause, then uncertainly) I think..."

And both, of course, are riffs on René Descartes' pithy aphorism concerning the primacy of thought and personal identity. (But what else would a troll resonate to apart from rock music...)

Also, it has been pointed out that the book can be sung, almost word for word, to the tune of the Queen hit, Don't Stop Me now. This is oddly appropriate, given that the book is a journey and on a journey, all music eventually mutates into a "best of Queen" compilation. For a take on this, see here[1]'.

Artwork

Drawn in the style of a children's picture book, this is an opportunity to use an illustrator other than the great Kidby, and to explore familiar Discworld characters in a different style.

Melvyn Grant takes over the artwork for this book, and his conception of Sam Vimes appears to be very much in keeping with Terry Pratchett's stated perception of the character as "looking like a young Pete Postlethwaite".

External links