Cozy is another form of The Mitten folktale. But instead of a mitten giving shelter to various animals out in the cold, this time it is an ox by the name of Cozy that is the shelter. Cozy has a set of rules for his newfound “furmates” as each animal that comes along is bigger than the last, might not be a friend to the others and it is just funny to have the “House that Jack built” like laundry list of rules. Things come to a head when Spring finally arrives, and nature takes that course of action.
I was not loving the story mostly because “been there, done that” and there were a few holes in the plot. If Cozy wandered off and then the animals take shelter in the fur of Cozy, why did Cozy not freeze? What did they eat? I know it is an Alaskan winter, but an animal like Cozy and the owl would still need to eat. Not all creatures hibernate. I think these questions might be best answered by a second look at the illustrations to see what is going on “action wise” with everyone.
And the illustrations are pure Jan Brett. And, of course, you cannot go wrong there (unless you just do not like Brett’s style). The “side panels” have action, the main images have a story to tell. It is a lovely story. There is nothing wrong with it; fans of Brett and animals will enjoy. This is a must for any fan of Jan Brett. It’s not a five simply because the story did not “grab me” as I had hoped it would.
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