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loosegeese's review against another edition
2.0
Young has put together a very loosely structured series of musings about animals at Kite's Nest. It's prettily-written, if meandering, and really does make a case for the intelligence, personality, and individuality of each and every animal she has met. Young's farm feels idyllic, with freedom of movement and choice of food being valued above all else to provide every animal a high quality of life. If you had to be a farmed cow, you would want to be a farmed cow here.
Young justifies the use of land for animal grazing (it protects hedgerows, maintains carbon-absorbing grasslands, and give purpose to soil that can't support crops), but fails to provide any convincing reasons why we should eat the animals that she has made such effort to prove to us as unique. While slaughter is never discussed, the true purpose of these clever, emotive animals lingers at the edge of the page.
Young justifies the use of land for animal grazing (it protects hedgerows, maintains carbon-absorbing grasslands, and give purpose to soil that can't support crops), but fails to provide any convincing reasons why we should eat the animals that she has made such effort to prove to us as unique. While slaughter is never discussed, the true purpose of these clever, emotive animals lingers at the edge of the page.
readermeginco's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.25
bookshop_b's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my word this book was ADORABLE! Rosamund LOVES her cows and you can feel that love through the pages of this heart-warming book. I thought I loved cows before but my love for them has doubled if not tripled after reading this book. Totally starting my own ethical dairy farm one day.
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
2.0
This begins with a detailed introduction describing Young's farm and the benefits of truly organic farming. She touches on the horrors of factory farming and makes a believable and well-constructed argument for the benefits of organic farming. The main part of the book is a selection of loosely linked anecdotes, describing the cows Young has raised, known and loved. She paints an idyllic picture of Kite's-Nest Farm and their livestock. I fully agree that her method of farming is the best, and her farm sounds wonderful. However, I didn't feel this really held together a book: the anecdotes don't lead anywhere, and while they may make an interesting study of a particular farm, I didn't really feel they constituted a scientific picture of a cow's intelligence. I honestly didn't find many of the stories surprising: of course large herbivores all have their own quirks, personalities and desires. And of course, if given the freedom and resources to exhibit their natural behaviours, animals are happier and better able to express themselves. I wholly agree with Rosamund Young's perspective, but for me she wasn't saying anything particularly new. It is a nice book to read, very soothing, but I wouldn't really recommend to anyone who is seriously interested in cows or organic farming.
eleana's review against another edition
Got about 2/3 into it so it feels dumb not to finish a 160 page book. But fuck it life is short and I'm no longer interested. It started out cute then I ended up genuinely falling asleep whenever I tried to read more than 10 pages consecutively. I'd recommend it as a bed time story book I guess?
tddonoso's review against another edition
2.0
It didn't make sense to me, as a vegetarian, to name and cherish so much all those beautiful cows. In the end, they were being used to feed the industry anyway.
katepowellshine's review against another edition
2.0
The stories are cute, and even believable, but the writing is terrible.