Buffalo Wild!

Another picture book story with a First Nations theme, this one from Annick Press.

A Cree boy named Declan has always been fascinated by Buffalo (the word is always capitalized in the book). His Kokum (grandmother) tells him that the Buffalo have left the land and gone to live in the sky. She relates:

“Our world will tremble when the Buffalo finally

draw near, ready to come home.”

One night, as Declan kneels at his window, this prophecy seems ready to be fulfilled.

Outside the street lights trembled.
Inside, Declan’s roof began to vibrate…

Yes! The Buffalo were there, stampeding across a

shimmering field that lay next to the moon –

heading for home…

Except, a gate of stars held them back.

Eager to bring the Buffalo down to earth, Declan shoots several small Buffalo figurines into the sky with his lacrosse stick, breaking the gate and releasing the animals. And the Buffalo do come down to him in huge numbers, wild, wonderful beasts.

The outcome is not such a satisfactory one. The mass of running, jumping animals tramples hedges and gardens, breaking Kokum’s favorite sculpture in the process. Declan realizes that the modern land where he lives cannot hold all of the Buffalo. “This land must have been less crowded a long time ago” he muses. He calls on the Creator.

“Your Buffalo are wild and I want them to stay.

But it’s Buffalo wild down here. Wild in the wildest way.”

Up in the sky, a star twinkled just right. The Buffalo

understood.

With that, most do leave, storming up to the heavens and disappearing “across the shimmering field that lay next to the moon”. But as readers discover by looking at the pictures on the last pages, a few have stayed behind to amble up steps into a large building adorned with a Buffalo plaque to admire their likeness in the statue in a gazebo in the square and to rest on rooftops and at windows. Kokum and Declan revel in their company.

The author has included an extensive note about her inspiration for the book and a copy of The Buffalo: a Treaty of Cooperation, Renewal, and Restoration, signed by a number of Western Canadian First Nations in 2014.

Buffalo Wild! is an engaging modern tale with roots in an indigenous creation myth, clearly a most personal story to the writer. As Havrelock says in her note, “Since our loving Creator formed our union with the Buffalo specifically for our well-being, our shared journey is not destined to end in heartache and extinction.” But the story is sadly let down by the illustrations. Kokum shows some unexpected traits, with her iPod and yoga mat, and Declan, in his onesie and slippers, does exhibit some differing emotions, but overall the human and animal figures are executed in a childish fashion. The rounded shapes of the buffalo make them appear more cuddly than majestic. A palette of bright blues and reds is lurid to the point that the reproduction makes the pages and cover look like poor quality colour photocopies.

Buffalo Wild! is a book for schools and libraries judiciously collecting the broadest range of First Nations literature for young readers.