Buffalo Music [Hardcover]

Tracey Fern (Author), Lauren Castillo (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

When Molly first settled in Palo Duro Canyon in Texas in the late 1800s, millions of buffalo roamed the land. Molly lived and worked to their music. She stirred the fire to the huff-huff of buffalo breath clouding the chill dawn, swept the dugout to the thunder of hooves. Then different sounds filled the air—the boom and blast of rifles. Before long, the buffalo were gone.
But Molly, as stubborn as the buffalo themselves, found a way to save the species. She adopted and raised orphaned calves, and gradually grew her own herd. Some were sent to Yellowstone National Park, where their descendants still roam today; others
stayed in the canyon, where Molly could once again hear the music of the clatter of clashing horns, the bellowing of bulls, and the muffled thud of hooves.
An evocative story of determination,conservation,
and the ability of one person to make a difference.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 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 © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Like Joseph Bruchac’s Buffalo Song (2008), this picture book is based on the life of an early conservationist who helped save the buffalo from extinction. The story is told through 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 orphan calves. Cowhands bring her more, and she find herself fending off wolves and poachers and caring for her charges until they become one of five foundation herds in the U.S. The mixed-media illustrations, in thick black lines filled in with colored pencil, show Molly’s hardscrabble daily life; her stubborn resistance as settlers, fences, trains, and cattle crowd in; and her nurturing of calves in a world of slaughter. Preschool-Grade 2. --Hazel Rochman

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books; First Edition edition (May 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618723412
• ISBN-13: 978-0618723416
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 10.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,284,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WELL DONE AND INSPIRATIONAL - GREAT CLASSROOM READ, December 13, 2008

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Buffalo Music (Hardcover)

Having camped and hiked Palo Duro Canyon tin Texas in the late 1950s and early 1960, and being particularly fond of Buffalo, I enjoyed this little tale, based on true fact, quite a lot. The story was inspired by the work and life of Mary Ann Goodnight and takes place in the 1800s.
As with all of the American West, as settlers moved in, as towns were built and as normal human greed raised its ugly head, the buffalo went he way of so many things in our country; they were almost completely destroyed. The area known as the Texas Panhandle was not different. The buffalo were hunted for their hides, and later, their bones in order to make fertilizer.

This is the story of a young rancher's wife who had an affinity for wild things; loved hearing the noises of the buffalo herds as they passed and listed as she worked and did the backbreaking work common in those days off all ranch wives. Finally the day came, after only a very few short years of continual slaughter, and the buffalo were gone. A cowhand found two half starved buffalo calves and brought them to the young wife as he knew of her love for wild things.

Mrs. Goodnight raised these two calves; along with a number of others that were found and started one of the original captive herds (I believe there were only three or four in the entire country. Later, as her herd increased she sent some to Yellow Stone Park and other National Wild Life Refuges, and thereby helped reestablish this truly American animal and rescued it from complete extinction. Many of the descendants of this small herd still exist today.

The author has done a very nice job of documenting, in fictional form, the work of Molly and captured the feeling of the country and this little book is quite inspirational in nature. This makes a wonderful read for a classroom of children and opens the door for many good discussions. The writing is very well done and the art work is excellent.

This is a nice addition to any school library or child's library and I do recommend it highly.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

4.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, January 12, 2010

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Buffalo Music (Hardcover)

Among the early settlers along the rim of Texas's Palo Duro Canyon in the 1800s, Molly and her husband Charlie worked hard on their homestead. As she worked, Molly found comfort in the sounds of the buffalo that roamed abundantly in the surrounding prairie. Life changed drastically, however, when buffalo hunters decimated the local herd, leaving but a few orphaned calves to fend for themselves. Determined to nurse the calves back to health, Molly soon found herself caring for more calves that cowhands had rounded up all over the Panhandle. The captive herd that she and Charlie tended grew, and they wound up shipping four buffalo to Yellowstone National Park as it rebuilt its own buffalo herd.

Based on the true story of Mary Ann and Charles Goodnight, this informative work of historical fiction makes an excellent vehicle for teaching children about wildlife preservation. Books such as Buffalo Music can teach young children about the economic rationale behind buffalo hunting and some of the key individuals who saved the buffalo from extinction.

4.0 out of 5 stars The New Herd, September 30, 2009

By 

Catherine W. Hughes (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buffalo Music (Hardcover)

Molly, based upon the real-life pioneer, Mary Ann Goodnight, in Palo Duro Canyon, West Texas, lived to the tune of buffalo music, until buffalo hunters decimated the population to near extinction. Then, buffalo music was no more. Finding two buffalo calves, Calico and Chester, by her home, Molly nursed them to health and started a herd of her own. When Yellowstone National Park started to rebuild its buffalo herd, Molly loaded the boxcar with buffalo. Buffalo music played on. Children ages 6-9 will engage with this historical fiction account of the American Frontier.