The artist and actor Armin Mueller-Stahl is well-known for movies such as Night on Earth, Avalon, and Music Box and has been nominated for the Oscar numerous times. Long ago he also began showing his talent for subtle drawings, paintings, and prints. This new little book for literature enthusiasts unites Mueller-Stahl’s talent for painting with his gift for writing and playing music. The Blue Cow is a colorful book of watercolors and charcoal on paper drawings based on the quirky ballad of the same name about an independent-minded cow who drinks up her own milk first, and then herself. Mueller-Stahl wrote and sang the piece, which, at second glance, proves to be a heavily symbolic fable, already fifty years ago. The symbolism of the Blue Cow that engulfed itself, was also understood by the GDR authorities—who were not at all amused.