In this story, the cows on a farm use a laptop to communicate with their farmer and to let him know they are cold and want blankets. He ignores their request, and as a result, they send additional notes as a form of strike against giving milk. They persuade the chickens to strike against laying eggs also. As a result, the farmer is forced to grant their request. A duck acts as the messenger between the two sides.
The story can easily be turned into a children's play. Have the children act as the animals, with another child or an adult acting as the farmer. The play could be performed without words. This is a good way to teach children communication without words. Simple hand gestures and actions would be enough in this story to get the message across. Use a laptop as a prop without necessarily displaying the message to the audience.
Before sharing the story with children, have them think about communication. Ask children how they communicate with other children and with adults, such as via phone, email, text messages, letters and face-to-face conversations. Then ask them about how animals communicate with one another. Is it through the sounds they make, or is it through gestures of which we are ignorant?
Have the children think about how human communication is similar to or different from animal communication. Make a chart or Venn diagram showing differences and similarities. For example, humans can talk, drive and cook, while animals can see in the dark, breathe underwater or fly. Both animals and humans can eat, find shelter and protect each other.
Discuss the book or the play. Ask the children if they think the farmer did the right thing by giving the cows the blankets for which they asked. Ask how this story could have ended differently.
Have the children write letters to themselves from the point of view of their pets, or of a chosen animal if they don't have a pet. What would the animal say to them? What would the pet want to change?
If you want to do some creative writing with the children, give them writing prompts related to the book that they can complete and later discuss. Some examples are: If I could live on a farm it would be ...; If my dog/cat/pet could talk ...; When I want something, I communicate ...