Johan and his family are terribly poor.  The last thing in the world they can afford to do is buy a new cow.  But when Emma, Johan's cow, suddenly dies, the family is left without any milk.  Life just doesn't seem fair to Johan.  Why should they lose their one cow when somebody like their rich neighbor has so many cows?

The next day, as Johan is shoveling snow, he finds a calf in a roadside ditch!  Johan thinks he has solved his family's problems.  But when he goes to see his neighbor to buy milk for the calf, he discovers her true owner and has another surprise as well.

Exquisitely detailed paintings of warm country kitchens, starry winter nights, and snow-covered fields offer a vivid sense of life on a Swedish farm long ago.

Astrid Lindgren is the author of more than 115 books for children, including Pippi Longstocking.  Marit Tornqvist is the illustrator of The Christmas Carp.  The Chicago Tribune called her work "real and loving."

From the dust jacket