The cover does not do this book justice. The story and illustrations inside of the cover are both worthy of a good read. A young boy goes on a quest to discover where the buffaloes begin, rides with them, and his village is saved. ( )

A Caldecott Honor picture book. Over the blazing campfires, where the wind moaned eerily through the thickets of juniper and fir, they spoke of it in the Indian tongue—the strange lake to the southward whose waters never rest. And Nawa, the medicine man, declared that if you arrived at the right time, on the right night, you would see the buffaloes rise out of the middle of the lake -- the sacred spot where the buffaloes began. Ten-year-old Little Wolf is determined to see this.

Summary: This story is about a young 10 year old boy that they called little Wolf. He had no fear and was the fastest child out of his friends. He began to get curious and started searching for danger. He discovered so buffalo and called to them. The buffalo spotted the boy and began coming his way. The boy tried to go as fast as he could but the pony was too slow. HIm and the pony fell and luckily the buffalo passed them and he was safe again.

Personal reflection: I enjoyed this book. IT had a lot of great pictures even though it was black and white. This story had great detail and had a suspense moment.

Extension Ideas: I would use this story in my classroom to describe the Buffalos and the Native American culture back in the day. This is a great story to tell when talking about having fear or being scared. I would use this with a lesson about buffalo as well.

Summary: This Caldecott honor book is based on an Indian boy who discovers where buffaloes begin. Down at the lake in the South, Little Wolf watches as the buffalo emerge out of the water and onto the prarie land. Little Wolf then leads the buffalo to victory against his people's enemy.

Personal Reaction: This book reminds me of Oklahoma history class I had to take whenever I moved to Oklahoma from Texas. There was a lot of Indian history that took place here in Oklahoma, where buffalo still roam.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Have the children create a drawing of a buffalo.
2. Discuss what they know about buffalo.

Where the Buffaloes Begin takes us on a journey alongside of Little Wolf, as he becomes victorious to his enemies. Illustrator, Stephen Gammell, completed phenomenal work! The illustrations were magnificent, and brought the story of Little Wolf to life. I particularly enjoyed how the author portrayed his audience to feel like Little Wolf himself. It was extraordinarily easy to get lost in Little Wolf’s adventure and relate to him throughout the picturebook. The introduction of Where the Buffaloes Begin provided background knowledge of the setting, teaching me more about Native American’s and their culture. After finishing this book, I truly learned more! This was a wonderful read, I would fully recommend this book as a teaching tool for Native American based units. This book was lengthy, so I would suggest reading it in segments to our younger audiences. ( )