When Farmer Brown's cows find a typewriter in the barn they start making demands, and go on strike when the farmer refuses to give them what they want.

"Whether you want to raise a few chickens for eggs, try your hand at some goats with the aim to make your own cheese, or are looking to sustain your family and make some extra money from raising and selling beef, this is the book for you" --Cover, p. 4.

When Reena, her little brother, Luke, and their parents first move to Maine, Reena doesn't know what to expect. She's ready for beaches, blueberries, and all the lobster she can eat. Instead, her parents "volunteer" Reena and Luke to work for an eccentric neighbor named Mrs. Falala, who has a pig named Paulie, a cat named China, a snake named Edna -- and that stubborn cow, Zora.

Cow friends, Minnie and Moo, decide to dress up and attend a party at the farmer's house

Annalisa, the most curious and stubborn of Mama May's children, disobeys her mother and upsets the family cow by refusing to kiss her in return for the milk she gives

In the absence of her beloved cows, who have run away, Queenie Farmer treats her fifteen daughters like a prize herd, baking them cakes, building them beds, sewing them dresses, helping them get married, and taking care of their children when they finally have them

The quiet, skilled cook Otis "Cookie" Figowitz has traveled west into Oregon with a group of aggressive fur trappers. While living in the territory, Cookie finds develops a frienship with the Chinese immigrant King-Lu, who's also come to Oregon to seek his fortune. Soon the two collaborate on a successful business of selling baked goods in their frontier outpost--but Cookie and Lu's business plan is dependent on stealing milk from the first cow imported...

When Minnie and Moo discover that the Farmer has, once again, forgotten where he hid the children's Christmas presents, they use Clement Moore's famous poem as a how-to book and deliver the gifts themselves