cover image Buffalo Girls Rlb

Buffalo Girls Rlb

Bobette McCarthy, Bobbette McCarthy. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $10.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-517-56568-1

McCarthy has rewritten and adapted her own verses to the well-known song. Here readers find great yet dainty female buffalo, who live in a wild West town, getting ready for the annual moonlight ball. These are not your average buffalo girls: they can swim in the lake, bask in the sun, dance the Hoochie Coochie and make covered wagons. But there's nothing they like better than to have a good hot meal and dance by the light of the moon. McCarthy's unusual watercolor illustrations perfectly reflect both the bulk and the delicacy of her dancers. But while the illustrations and the images she conjures up in the text are superb, the cadence of the verses is somewhat awkward and does not always fit easily with the tune of the song. Ages 4-8. (February)