The Buffalo Are Back by Jean Craighead George and Wendell Minor

George, J. C., & Minor, W. (2010). The Buffalo Are Back. New York: Dutton Children's Books. ISBN: 978-1430109785.

Annotation

Jean Craighead George’s picture book that details the almost eradication of the buffalo and how that effected the plains Indians and the near destruction of the Great Plains environment.

My thoughts

"In the mid-1800s seventy five million buffalo roamed in North America. In little more than fifty years, there would be almost none." “What happened? The answer is a story of the American Indians, the buffalo, and the grass.”

In The Buffalo Are Back, Jean Craighead George (Julie of the Wolves and The Wolves Are Back) explains in detail the historical events that lead these majestic animals to the edge of extinction. In a very clear narration, the reader is taken back through an eco-history of the Great Plains. The journey begins in the 1800s with the birth of a single orange buffalo then tells the story of the Native Americans/Plains Indians, the white fur hunters, and westward expansion. In a mere fifty years, the Great Plains was an environmental disaster. 

This is a great book to use for discussing the environment and ecology. This is the story of not only the rescue of the buffalo and Great Plains but also the history of American Conservationism with a very important message.

Curricular connections

Subjects: History, Science/Ecology, Biology/Life Sciences, Science/ endangered species, History/environmental history, Biology/environmental issues.

Grade: 5-12

Literary devices

Use of Simile:

"A lark flew to the top of a six-foot blade of grass and sang as sweetly as a panpipe".

"The green-gold grasses of the plains rippled like waves from horizon to horizon.

Use of Repetition:

"A lark flew to the top of a six-foot blade of grass and sang as sweetly as a panpipe"(2). “A lark flew to a blade of grass and and as sweetly as a panpipe.” (17) "A lark flew to the top of a six-foot blade of grass and sang as sweetly as a panpipe." (27)

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 3 and up.

Reviews and Awards

Junior Library Guild Selection

Teacher’s Choice Award / Intermediate Readers, 2011

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 2011 (Books published in 2010) Life Science division

Author website: http://www.jeancraigheadgeorge.com/

Illustrator website: www.minorart.com/

Media: Watercolors (based on photographs taken by Charlie Craighead and Thomas D. Mangelsen).

Genre: Nonfiction

Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection by Matt Dembicki

Matt Dembicki - author. Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection. Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Pub., 2010. ISBN: 978-1-55591-7241

Author website: http://matt-dembicki.blogspot.tw/

Ilustrator website: There are 21 different illustrators.

Media: Various medias mainly pen and ink, watercolor, pencil.

Genre: Graphic Novel, Anthology

Annotation
 Twenty-one folktales based on various ‘trickster’ characters from a span of Native American tribes.

My thoughts

I’m constantly revising my opinion about this book. Right now, it is neutral and even though it is not a personal favorite, it is a book worth knowing about to recommend to younger readers because it might appeal to them and teach them some valuable lessons.

Originally, I checked out the 2010 edition, Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection. Perhaps, part of the problem is that I was excited about this book and had high expectations. I think that there is a very rich tradition of Native American tales and art to be preserved and that the majority of stories in this book failed in representing both. There were some very good successes, some that were acceptable, and some that failed. This pattern of successful and those that aren’t as good seem to be typical of anthologies.  

Instead, a few stories represented good concepts and stories with cartoonish and commercialized illustrations that were not so good and added text that seemed too silly (like in the "Rabbit's Choctaw Tail Tale"). I understand that it not meant for adult connoisseurs and see that this humor might potentially be amusing for children learning about Native American folklore and are interested in the Trickster character. I did like "The Coyote and the Pebbles", "Raven the Trickster", "Azban and the Crayfish", "Rabbit and the Tug of War", and a couple of others.

My personal opinion is that the folklore would have been better served with art other than American styled cartoon art. But, in hindsight, I guess if that is what it takes to bring these stories to younger reader then so be it. It would probably be better to recommend this book and encourage an interest and supplement it with other Native American books than to dismiss it entirely.  

Overall, maybe I’m being too harsh and judging it more for myself than for its intended audience. I think that it is great that there was an attempt to make this anthology. In addition, I am aware that there aren’t too many folklore books being published for this demographic and there are even less on Native American folklore. That does add a few good points to this book. In addition, the range is impressive. There are over twenty stories and over twenty artists to illustrate those stories. And of course, it is interesting to compare the idea and representation of the trickster from the differing folklores. Short folklore stories provide a quick window into the tribes that might otherwise be lost.

Curricular connections
This book can act as a supplement to the academic studies of Native Americans or suggested to children interested in folklore, tricksters, Native Americans, cartoons, history, etc. Native American Studies grade 5-8.

Literary Devices
Use of Metaphors: (an example: the Raven kicking the sea anemones because he can and because he delights in disorder can serve as a deeper metaphor for the need of a good leader.)

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 3/ Age 9 and up

Rewards

2010 Cybil’s nominee