Fooling Ewe

FOOLING EWE
FOOLING EWE is an illustrated children's picture book about the mischievous adventures of Ewe, a precocious young female sheep that becomes bored grazing in the meadow all alone. She leaves the pastures for other parts of the barnyard and sets out to amuse herself by playing tricks on her fellow farm animals. After fooling Pig, Cow, Duck, and other farm dwellers, she ultimately even plays a trick on Farmer. Ewe is a good-natured prankster, and her antics promote values of inclusion and making friends with those that are different than you. The 'ewe' versus 'you' wordplay is intended to create a sense of interaction between young readers and the characters. The book was released April Fools' Day 2013.
PLOT
A young sheep named Ewe is already bored grazing as the sun rises over the farm horizon. She sneaks away to the chicken coop where she cannot resist dressing herself in feathers. She approaches Chicken and pretends to be a chicken herself, "Cluck cluck cluck," she clucks, "I am a chicken." Chicken believes her and then she innocently laughs, "I fooled Chicken." This continues at the pond with Frog, the barn with Horse, the stream with Duck and so forth. Throughout the story, she is routinely disciplined by Mother Ewe, who repeatedly tells her to go back to grazing. The story climaxes at Farmer's house and results in a surprise ending. It is recommended for children 8 and under.
VALUES
Professional commentary has commended the use of the Ewe story to promote modern day values. Author Stacy Juba praised the book for sponsoring diversity and being yourself. Lisa Curtis of NYParenting applauded its balance of work and play, "The story resonates with dutiful little readers who know the frustrations of having to follow orders and adhere to schedules, and their parents, who sometimes forget that their responsible sheep do deserve time to enjoy a little independence and a lot of laughter and play" (NYParenting May 2013). The FOOLING EWE theme is also an educational experience, as the ewe/you wordplay teaches young fans about grammar and homophones. FOOLING EWE's wordplay is designed to allow children to place themselves within the story and adopt the role of Ewe by playing off the homophones ewe and you. A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning: 'Ewe' is a noun for a female sheep; 'You' is a pronoun used to refer to the one or ones being addressed. Both ewe and you are pronounced (yoo). FOOLING EWE's text was inspired by children's fiction pioneers such as Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein who masterfully employed poetic wordplay with clever cartooning.
FOOLING EWE was published in 2013 by Service Bar Books. It was written by Mike Demers and illustrated by Todd Finklestone and is the first installment to a multi-book series.
Ewe Website: www.foolingewe.com
* Author: Mike Demers
* Illustrator: Todd Finklestone
* Color/Art Editing: Matt Tompkins
* Cover Artist: Todd Finklestone
* Country: United States
* Language: English
* Genre: Children's Picture Book
* Publisher: Service Bar Books
* Publication Date: 2013
* Media Type: Children's Literature
* ISBN 978-0-9889019-0-2

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