A Cow Stuffed Toy is Perfect For a Young Child

The animals that live on a farm are some of the most familiar to children. "Old MacDonald had a Farm" (the iconic song about a farmer named MacDonald and the various animals he keeps on his farm), is one of the very first tunes young children learn so they can identify the sounds farm animals make. Most popular among them, are pigs - "oink, oink," ducks - "quack, quack," horses - "neigh, neigh," and cows - "moo, moo." Of all the sounds heard on a farm, the easiest to pronounce amongst the animals are the cows. Not surprisingly, once a child learns the sound a cow makes, the purchase of a cow stuffed toy or two, is not far behind.

In the world of children's programming, there is one very famous cow that was first introduced on Sesame Street by puppeteer Richard Hunt in 1973 - her name, is Gladys. Throughout the '70's and '80's, Gladys was part of Sesame Street's large ensemble cast. While she made appearances in what are referred to as "street stories," she also could often be seen in inserts like on Guy Smiley's game show or Prairie Dawn's pageants. Her claim to fame is that she is a wannabe actress and singer (she has a high-pitches operatic voice) who believes she can easily compete with some of the great diva singers of the day. Despite never having appeared on the operatic stage, she nonetheless thinks of herself as a very grand opera singer. Needless to say, Gladys loves to belt out a tune and is also known to wear a wig or two.

Children familiar with Gladys the cow, know that her most famous moment is when she gives a performance of "I'm Proud to Be a Cow." The song gives a number of reasons as to why she is so proud of her species. The quote most often heard from Gladys is "I'm proud, proud, proud, to be a cow!"
When Richard Hunt died in 1992, Gladys the Cow Muppet was retired. She was revived again in 2003 when she was voiced by Jennifer Barnhart. Upon reintroduction, Gladys once again began to appear more frequently as part of the ensemble cast of characters on Sesame Street. Despite the fact that Gladys is a pushy, loud, opera-singing cow, she is a much needed Muppet, as she adds a strong female presence to the mix.

While cow stuffed toys don't all look like Gladys, there are still any number of adorable cow stuffed toys to choose from. Some online stuffed animal stores have a two and a half foot tall cow stuffed toy that doesn't look anything like a Muppet - instead, it's more like the real thing. There is the option of choosing a brown and white or black and white spotted cow stuffed toy from the MyBigPlush collection. Despite not being Gladys, these cow stuffed toys are equally as engaging and will keep a child happy for years to come.

Angeline Hope is a collector of soft cow plush stuffed toy animals. You can view a huge selection of quality giant plush stuffed toys at http://www.mybigplush.com.