Where’s My Cow? by Terry Pratchett, illustrations by Melvyn Grant (HarperCollins, 2005).

Terry Pratchett, in his brilliant Discworld novels, created an alternate universe in which the world really is flat, wizards spend a great deal of time not doing magic (because it causes no end of trouble, and there’s always a good dinner at the Unseen University to attend to), vampires take the no-bloodsucking pledge, Death rides a pale horse (named Binky), and beneath it all, magic gnaws at the edges until they fray, and someone must step in.

In addition to his mainstream fantasy novels, Pratchett has written other Discworld books for children, including the Tiffany Aching books (The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, both starring Discworld’s infamous Pictsies). This is his first foray into picture books.

While avid Discworld fans may be disappointed that Melvyn Grant’s illustrations give us a very different Sam Vimes than the classic Jack Kidby vision they’re used to, the illustrations are charming, even if the picture of Foul Ol’ Ron might give a sensitive child (or adult!) nightmares.

Where’s My Cow? plays on a theme running through Pratchett’s newest novel, Thud!, in which Sam Vimes, commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch (and, incidentally, at this point in the series, His Grace, the Duke of Ankh-Morpork, Sir Samuel Vimes) must get home at 6:00, no matter what, to read “Where’s My Cow?” to his small son, Young Sam. In Where’s My Cow?, as Vimes reads, Grant’s illustrations show the cartoon animals from Young Sam’s book coming to life, perhaps in Young Sam’s imagination.

But Vimes isn’t satisfied with the book, even though Young Sam loves how Daddy does the animal noises: horses, sheep, hippos, and more. Young Sam, thinks Vimes, is a city child. He hasn’t been raised around farm animals — he just eats them. For Young Sam, animals go sizzle.

So Vimes creates his own story, “Where’s My Daddy?” and takes the reader on a tour to see some of Ankh-Morpork’s more colorful characters: Cut-me-own-throat Dibbler and his dreadful sausage-inna-bun, Foul Ol’ Ron (Famous quote: “Bugrit, bugrit, milennium hand and shrimp!”), the Patrician, and more.

Discworld fans will love this book as a way to introduce young readers to Pratchett’s world. Youngsters with a quirky sense of humor may also find the book appealing. It may be best followed up with more forays into Discworld for young readers, such as the Tiffany Aching novels, or the Discworld cartoon DVDs, Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music.

The Neat Line by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrations by Diana Cain Bluthenthal (HarperCollins, 2005).

When you’re born just a little scribble, there’s not much you can do, but as you grow into a neat line, you may find you can work wonders.

This whimsical remake of Mother Goose rhymes takes the reader on a scribbles journey. The young scribble practiced and practiced until it became a neat line. Even the line’s handwriting improves down a sheet of paper in one of Bluthenthal’s illustrations.

The neat line, ready to become part of a real book, takes a journey into Mother Goose, where it encounters familiar characters and their troubles. But rather than leave Little Boy Blue by the haystack to get in trouble for losing the sheep and cows, or letting Jack and Jill roll down the hill again, or let the contrary Mary’s flowers dry up, or let Miss Muffet be frightened away from her meal by the spider once again, the neat line steps in and neatly helps them solve their problems.

After a hard day’s work, the line draws itself an nice, quiet ending.

Bluthenthal’s simple and colorful illustrations and Edwards’ spare text pair up in a clever tale that will appeal to youngsters who may feel they’re only unformed scribbles themselves.