The cow nodded, and so Milena hopped onto Semi-Skimmed’s back and they skated down the country road. The sun was setting, and the air was scented with meadowsweet. Milena thought how nice it was to have a friend.
‘You know,’ Semi-Skimmed said, ‘it’s nice to win, but it’s even nicer to go home when you know there’s half a packet of biscuits waiting for you.’
Leena Parkkinen was born in Finland in 1978. Although she comes from a family of gifted storytellers, she really wanted to be a painter. But she did, in the end, by a roundabout route, become a writer. Cow Belle Beauty Queen is her first children’s book.
Katja Wehner was born in Dessau in Germany in 1976. She studied art and illustration in Halle, Leipzig and Prague. She has been working as a freelance illustrator with various publishers since 2004. She lives in Leipzig with her family.
Ruth Urbom was born in the USA but now lives in England. She translates from Finnish, Swedish and German into English.
Cow Belle Beauty Queen Page 4