THE BUFFALO ARE BACK

Jean Craighead George’s words and Wendell Minor’s paintings and narration give an evocative portrait of the impact of the buffalo on its prairie home. The audio begins with peaceful sounds—birds chirping and soft music punctuated by occasional grunts and snorts of buffalo. Then the music turns dramatic, and the sound effects mark the rifles of buffalo hunters, the chugging of steam tractors destroying the grasses, and the disastrous chomping of grasshoppers. Wendell Minor’s voice is deep and authoritative. His pictures mirror his storytelling. Sweeping prairies dotted with buffalo give way to panicking men who try to beat off grasshoppers and then dark skies filled with dust. Finally, blue skies and grasslands with buffalo aplenty accompany Minor’s last powerful words: “The buffalo are back.” S.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2011]