About the Book
Book: Meow Meow Milks the Cow: A Towers of Light Read to Me
Author: Allen Brokken, Illustrated by Reace Erbe
Genre: Christian Fable
Release date: March 15, 2025
When disaster strikes the family farm, Lauren gets a big job. She has to milk their cow, Clarabelle, all by herself! Her only help might come from her new feline friend Meow Meow, but how can such a little kitten help with such a big job?
This read-aloud will help you share the timeless truth from the Bible that God can use the least of us to solve big problems.
Click here to get your copy!
Author Interview
Time on my hands. When I have no deadlines or far away deadlines, I just
end up with fanciful ideas bouncing around in my head with no outlet. Give me
a deadline, even a self-imposed deadline and words fill the page.
2. When did you become a writer?
As a kid, I always had an active imagination and took to writing as soon as I
learned how. I began the Towers of Light Series as a story for my kids. I
traveled for work 4 days a week and spent a lot of lonely nights in hotels
across the country. I started writing a story about them in a fantastic setting
and then shared it on the weekends. They loved it.
3. Where do you get your ideas for your books?
A couple of years ago I hired a family friend, Heather Freeman, to be my virtual
assistant. In our first official business meeting, she told me she thought Towers of
Light needed stuffies and picture books. While I thought it was a fun idea there’s a
huge difference between writing novels and picture books. Plus, I was working on
book 4 in a series of 6 and didn’t see how I would ever get to write a picture book.
However, there was a scene that I really liked in my first book, Light of Mine that my
editor made me cut out because it didn’t flow well from a storytelling perspective. It
basically pulled all of the intensity from the story, so she insisted that I pull it. But it
always bugged me. One day I was talking to a picture book author, Pam Halter and
she said she could help me adapt that scene to a picture book format all I needed was
an illustrator.
Well, my soon-to-be daughter-in-law had just drawn a nice set of characters depicting
the children in the Towers of Light series and I thought, WOW that style would be
perfect for a picture book. So, I had my story and my illustrator!
4. What is your work schedule/routine when you write?
I was in the Military, so I write between 5:30 and 7:00 a.m. before I start work
at my full-time job.
5. Do bits of yourself/friends show up in your characters?
The main characters are based on, and named after, my three children. There are even
characters that show up in the books who were friends of my children in real life.
Also, their favorite stuffed animals make an appearance. In this case, Meow Meow
was my daughter’s stuffed tuxedo kitty. He’s still around, but nowhere near as cuddly
and fluffy 20+ years later.
About the Author
Allen Brokken is a teacher at heart, a husband and father most of all. He’s a joyful writer by the abundant grace of God. He began writing the Towers of Light series for his own children to help him illustrate the deep truths of the Bible in an engaging and age appropriate way. He’s dedicated 15 years of his life to volunteer roles in children’s ministry and youth development. Now that his own children are off to college he’s telling stories and sharing clean humor on social media and through his blog.
More from Allen
Sometimes, a story just HAS to be told. When I first wrote the book that became Light of Mine, book 1 of the Towers of Light series, there was a scene in which the main character, Lauren, and her newly found kitten are trying to milk the cow. It was a sweet moment in a chaotic story, and I had fun writing it as an homage to my kitten squeaker, who made trying to work around home very challenging at times. However, my editor was pretty clear that as cute as the story was, Meow Meow’s interlude with the milk cow Clarabelle just didn’t fit the story’s action. So, unfortunately, that scene found its way to the cutting room floor.
After a few years, I started having mothers of children who loved the Towers of Light Series ask the same question over and over….”But what about my littles?” Do you have a story for me to read to my younger children? After thinking about it, I realized Meow Meow’s adventure might be a perfect read-aloud. So I reached out to a fellow Realm Maker, Pam Halter, who has a really fun series of books with Willougby the Dragon, to see if she could help me turn my 2500-word novel scene into an 800-word picture book…and she did a fantastic job! So now we have Meow Meow Milks the Cow.
Another fun fact is that the character Ethan in this book is all grown up now and engaged to be married to Reace Erbe, and this is her first illustrated work in print. So we all hope you enjoy this Tower of Light read to me.
Blog Stops
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, April 9
For the Love of Literature, April 10 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, April 10
By the Book, April 11
For Him and My Family, April 12
Tell Tale Book Reviews, April 13 (Author Interview)
Vicky Sluiter, April 14
Hannahbandanarama, April 15
Blossoms and Blessings, April 16 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, April 17
Locks, Hooks and Books, April 18
Labor Not in Vain , April 19
Texas Book-aholic, April 20
Pause for Tales, April 21
A Reader’s Brain, April 22 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody, April 22
Giveaway
To celebrate his tour, Allen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.