The Buffalo Are Back
by Jean Craighead George, Wendell Minor (Illustrator)
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Description
"In the mid-1800s seventy-five million buffalo roamed in North America. In little more than fifty years, there would be almost none." The death of the buffalo and the settlers' farming and ranching practices endangered the prairie, as drought made the farmland crumble to dust. To help repair the land, the buffalo had to be saved.Tags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Elegantly and effeiciently relates the interdependent story of the wealth of the the Great Plains and how the buffalo influenced the ecological--and financial--health of the people and the land.
This book is filled with many historical fact and it is a good book to read when studying about history, Theodore Roosevelt, or just interested in buffalo in general. The story is honest and slightly depressing because it has true facts that you wish would not have happened. However the story is a great educational tool and ends on a happy note because of the revival of the buffalo. It tells the story through someone observing the birth of a calf and fallowing it's historical journey in the plains. It also explained how buffalo helped the grass grow. The painting in this book realistically portrays the story without loosing the texture of the paintings. Overall I enjoyed this book because it was a learning experience and was an example show more of how humans can help nature triumph. This book is recommended for 4th and 5th grade. show less
This book emphasizes how the buffalo became an endangered species. The book states that when settlers took land away from the Indians they hunted buffalo for their fur and for fun. This in return hurt the land the settlers were trying to harvest. Buffalo's hooves help the rain reach deep into the soil. The buffalo's importance explains how essential it is to protect the animals of the land. People may not realize, but the animals might have qualities that improve aspects of the environment. The author clearly shows how environmental protection is needed and animals need to be protected.
I liked this book because it was written in a story form versus the others I have read. But at the same time it was informative about the buffalo and how their population went down dramatically.
This book had good illustrations and told an important story about how buffalo almost disappeared in the United States due to overhunting. I just found the text to be dry and not very engaging to read. The book is by Jean Craighead George.
A beautiful account of the prairies and buffalo being restored.
Your personal response to the book: The book was excellent. I would like to see the library acquire this book for the collection.
Curricular connections: The curricular connections include Native Americans, wildlife, ecology, history and Montana. A TL could use the book to enhance a Native American unit here in Montana.
Curricular connections: The curricular connections include Native Americans, wildlife, ecology, history and Montana. A TL could use the book to enhance a Native American unit here in Montana.
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Published Reviews
ThingScore 25
...it is one of the many books that---when the lens is focused on the way the book represents American Indians---it falls far short of being a book that I can recommend. I think Craighead George tried hard to approach the book with an interest in being unbiased. ...but bias is there nonetheless...
In the end, authors have to do both: be fair, and, be accurate. ...the dates are off, which makes show more the related information problematic. show less
In the end, authors have to do both: be fair, and, be accurate. ...the dates are off, which makes show more the related information problematic. show less
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Author Information

166+ Works 56,410 Members
Jean Craighead George was born on July 2, 1919 in Washington, D.C. She received degrees in English and science from Pennsylvania State University. She began her career as a reporter for the International News Service. In the 1940s she was a member of the White House press corps for The Washington Post. During her lifetime, she wrote over 100 show more novels including My Side of the Mountain, which was a 1960 Newbery Honor Book, On the Far Side of the Mountain, Julie of the Wolves, which won the Newbery Medal, Julie, and Julie's Wolf Pack. She also wrote two guides to cooking with wild foods and an autobiography entitled Journey Inward. In 1991, she became the first winner of the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association's Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature. She died on May 15, 2012 at the age of 92. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Buffalo Are Back
- Original publication date
- 2010-05-13
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 248
- Popularity
- 130,426
- Reviews
- 8
- Rating
- (4.46)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 1
























































