Buffalo Music

Starred review from June 1, 2008
K-Gr 4-A story based on the actions of Mary Ann Goodnight, a pioneer who made great strides in saving the buffalo from extinction in the late 1800s. Molly's first-person narrative offers alliterative descriptions of the sounds made by animals native to her West Texas home, including the "huff-huff" of buffalo breath and the thunder of their pounding feet. Soon, this everyday music is replaced by the noise of gunfire, as hunters slaughter the creatures for profit. When a cowhand brings her two orphan calves, Molly nurtures them and many more, developing the first captive buffalo herd. She even sends several yearlings to Yellowstone National Park to help reestablish their herd. The story ends with Molly wistfully hoping that the buffalo and their music will return to the plains. Fern's lyrical text and Castillo's folk-style artwork beautifully capture the era and events. Done in warm, earthy hues, the mixed-media illustrations depict a rugged landscape of grays and browns speckled with touches of color-wildflowers or bright blooms on a tree. Outlined in thick black lines, the characters shimmer with vitality and Molly's affection for her fuzzy-coated orphans is tenderly depicted. "Buffalo Music" is perfectly suited to a young audience, clearly conveying the magnitude of the decimation and the importance of conservation efforts."Lynne Mattern, Robert Seaman School, Jericho, NY"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2008
Like Joseph Bruchacs Buffalo Song (2008), this picture book is based on the life of an early conservationist who helped save the buffalo from extinction. The storyis toldthrough the fictionalized viewpoint of Molly, a character based on Mary Ann Goodnight, who remembers hearing the huge buffalo herds when she and her husband first settled in the lonely Texas Panhandle in 1876. Then the shots of hunters fill the canyon, and within six seasons, the buffalo have nearly vanished.Molly raises two orphancalves. Cowhands bring her more, and she find herself fending off wolves and poachersand caring for hercharges until theybecome one of five foundation herds in the U.S. The mixed-media illustrations, in thick black linesfilled in withcolored pencil, show Mollys hardscrabble daily life; her stubborn resistance as settlers, fences, trains, and cattle crowd in; andher nurturing of calves in a world of slaughter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)