Starred Review ALA Booklist (Mon May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Starred Review In a land akin to ancient China, the emperor has mysteriously vanished, sending the palace into a panic. Elsewhere in the empire, a dairymaid by the name of Begonia is in pursuit of Alfalfa, a wayward cow that is proving bewilderingly elusive. As Begonia travels through town and beyond, she encounters a number of curious individuals mapmaker, a mustard maker, a woodcutter, the Seller of Many Things, and a young mother l of whom offer the maid advice or a gift that aids in her journey. To her annoyance, Begonia also gains an enthusiastic companion named Key, who possesses a knight-errant quality and has deemed Begonia a damsel in distress (she's not) in need of help. Catching sight of Alfalfa in the moonlit woods, the pair hurries toward her, only to come face-to-face with a fiercely protective ostrich and its sniveling owner. Their fates now entwined, the odd threesome is soon pitted against unforeseen dangers. Berry (The Passion of Dolssa, 2016) works a kind of magic with this enchanting adventure, orchestrating individual characters' stories into a seamlessly unified narrative. Spiritual traditions charmingly influence the plot's action, which is defined by character growth, collusion, whimsy, and a quest that turns out to be much greater than the recovery of a cow.

Kirkus Reviews

What do you do with an emperor who has "the heart of a rotten onion and the spine of a soup noodle"?You teach him a lesson, of course, and two venerable, omniscient Ancestors will do just that, plucking him from the palace to do so. No one is exempt from their magical plan: Alfalfa the dairy cow runs away, pursued by her milkmaid, Begonia. In short order she meets Key, a self-appointed rescuer of damsels in distress. In their travels, damsel-not-in-distress Begonia and Key encounter a very rude and cowardly young man escorted by an ostrich. When Alfalfa and the ostrich fall in love and run away together, Begonia, Key, and the stranger (who readers will no doubt guess is the emperor) follow. Meanwhile, a trio of villainous noblemen schemes to take the throne, and a greedy con man is out to procure a "postrich" for his traveling carnival. Together, and without knowing it, Begonia and Key are on a mission to get the rightful emperor back to the throne. After he learns his lesson, of course. The evocation of the emperor and his palace relies on Orientalist tropes, but the countryside where the bulk of the story takes place feels like many a faux-European medieval countryside. Begonia, Key, and the emperor are drawn on the cover with black hair and light skin, though the emperor has the look of a movie Genghis Khan. Cheeky commentary about class and feminism, giggle-inducing wordplay, and jokes about the ridiculousness of imperial overindulgence round out this story. Readers looking for easy laughs will find them here. (Fantasy. 8-13)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Berry (The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place) creates a lively, magic-laced folktale featuring a self-centered emperor, a dairymaid, a farmer boy with grand romantic ideals, and two very stubborn animals. It begins when two ancestral spirits decide to teach the 21-year-old bully of an emperor a lesson, kidnapping him and leaving him on the road with no companion except an eight-foot-tall ostrich. In a nearby village, Begonia is searching for her wandering cow when she runs into Key, who has left home to seek his fortune. Believing Begonia is a damsel in distress, Key insists on being her escort, and they soon cross paths with the unrecognizably bedraggled emperor. Disastrous predicaments ensue, and the travelers find themselves on a mission to save the empire, which has been usurped by a scoundrel who makes the original emperor -look like a saint.- Whimsical details, including an enchanted map and a pot of mustard that changes flavor, will delight readers, and the nonstop action will keep them on the edge of their seats. Ages 9-12. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group. (June)

School Library Journal (Mon May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Gr 4-7This whimsical, rambling adventure also serves as a coming-of-age tale. First, readers meet the Emperor, who though technically an adult has been pampered his whole life and has a lot of growing up to do. Next up is Begonia, a farm girl who's been burdened with responsibilities from a young age but still needs to learn about herself. Both are jolted out of their regular lives: Begonia when she is sent off in pursuit of her family's lost cow, the Emperor when a demon scares him out of his bedroom in the dead of night and he flees by ostrich. Once on the road they meet an eclectic band of companions, including each other. Guided by Grandfather and Grandmother Spirit, they must step up to save the kingdom from the evil Chancellor, who has taken over in the Emperor's absence. This novel is well written and well executed, with Berry's clear prose holding together a complicated plot and increasingly eccentric cast of characters. VERDICT Give to kids who enjoy a clever story and don't mind a strong dose of silliness, or to anyone who loves the idea of a cow who becomes besotted with an ostrich.Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA