MYRON’S MAGIC COW

In this faintly surreal urban episode, young Myron is unwillingly dispatched to buy a container of milk, and returns to his apartment with a huge cow—purchased from a glib blonde, who claims she bought it for a handful of beans before speeding away in a car with three bears. Hauling his find down the street and up the stairs, Myron discovers that she not only gives milk (once he uses the Magic Word), but can talk—“Don’t let it get around. We’ve always been able to talk.”—and will grant three wishes. Luckily, Mom’s in the kitchen making pancakes, which gives Myron time to figure out his wish. Jago plays this scenario straight (more or less), placing a small, brown-skinned lad and an outsized bovine in a neighborhood of well-spaced walkups, all overlaid with an arty-looking smudge that looks like old varnish. Myron wastes his first wish, but uses the other two wisely, whereupon the cow vanishes, leaving behind a golden present. A deft, daffy, thought-provoking debut for Newman. (Picture book. 6-8)