Orphaned Calves’ Real-Life Rescue Inspires New Children’s Book: Harvey and the Lightning Herd 

For Immediate Release:
October 14, 2024

Contact:
Rachel Hershkovitz 202-483-7382

Available today, Harvey and the Lightning Herd is a new children’s book by Helga Tacreiter and PETA that tells the sweet story of Tacreiter’s friendship with a tiny calf named Harvey and how nursing him back to health—after a disastrous storm left him with a disability—led her to open an animal sanctuary. The book features enchanting illustrations by Denise V. Tremblay and a surprise on the back cover: a QR code that links to “Cow Wow”—an original song by Tony Award–winning composers Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison that’s chock-full of fun facts about cows that will get kiddos boppin’ to the beat for bovines. Interviews with Tacreiter are available upon request.

Based on a true story, the book describes how Harvey was one of six calves who survived after lightning struck a tree on a farm where Tacreiter worked. She vowed to save all six calves and formed a special bond with Harvey. He became the inspiration for the faux-fur “cowches”—life-size plush likenesses of real cows—that she handcrafted and sold so she could buy an 80-acre farm, now the site of The Cow Sanctuary.

“Helga Tacreiter’s story shows how compassion, determination, and a little creativity can make a huge difference in someone’s life,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Harvey and the Lightning Herd is sure to delight young readers and perhaps inspire them to help make the world a kinder place for all animals.”

Tacreiter, who was born in Poland, immigrated to the U.S. with her family as a child. For more than 30 years, she has rescued cows and other animals typically used in the food industry. She has taken in cows rescued during PETA’s cruelty investigations, from closed-down family farms, and from 4-H programs and university agriculture classes after compassionate students saved them from slaughter. Tremblay previously worked in higher education before pursuing her lifelong interest in illustration and graphic storytelling. She went vegan 28 years ago after visiting a farmed-animal sanctuary. Harvey and the Lightning Herd is her first picture book.

Harvey and the Lightning Herd is available on Amazon and at the PETA Shop—the latter will sell a version with a plush cow toy. All profits from the book will go to The Cow Sanctuary.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.