Adorable. Probably more of a hit with children than with a (somewhat) cynical adult reading it for the first time. Simple & true message. ( )

There are two reasons I really liked this book. The first reason being that the writing in the book was very descriptive. Even though some pictures in the book were in black and white, the words of the story painted a picture in my mind. This line from the book is a good example of that. “There were men wearing colored straw hats with streamers. There were balls of cheeses piled high.” Secondly, the plot in this book was not like anything I have ever read before. The main action in the book was that there was a cow floating down the canal. The book also had a really great message to it. Being adventurous and leaving the place where you are comfortable can open up your eyes to what is in the world. ( )

Cute little children's book - and reading it while in Amsterdam made the descriptions of the markets, canals and buildings even more vivid. ( )

The book includes scenes and illustrations from the cheese market at Alkmaar. It was delightful to find that the illustrations of the men in their white pants and shirts and colored straw hats with ribbons compared well to my photos of the market taken in 1978. Also a black and white drawing of a church steeple is obviously modeled after a church building in the square. ( )

Henrika the cow has heard about the city from Pieter the horse, and longed to see for herself. One day she gets the chance when she fell in the canal. She manages to get up on a raft floating by and ends up in the city. Eventually she finds her owner, Mr. Hofstra, and he takes her home again, thus ending her journey, which gave her so much to think about. ( )