A story of survival passed down from one generation to the next. Could the Buffalo Dreamers really save them or would they all starve this winter?

Its spring and the Plains Indians are waiting for the return of the buffalo. After daily searches, two young hunters are sent out and told not to return until they find the buffalo. After almost giving up they find a mysterious woman in a cave who tells them she will feed their people. They return home with the good news and the Indian people take gifts and leave at the cave. The next night the Indians are awakened by the roar of the buffalo returning.

This book is excellent at portraying how important the buffalo were to the Native Americans. I think this book would be great in a classroom especially here in Oklahoma.

I would have the class make a chart to list all of the things buffaloes were used for.

The book has a reproducible activity to make a Parfleche which is the pouch they used to carry food in. The student can color, cut and fold to make a model of the Parfleche.

Carolyn Phelan (Booklist, June 1 & 15, 1996 (Vol. 92, No. 19 & 20))
Goble, whose picture books include Buffalo Woman (1984), retells another tale about the mysterious woman whose people are the buffalo. In this Lakota myth, spring arrives, but the buffalo do not return. The hunters come back empty-handed from each search, until two young brothers go out and find Buffalo Woman, who promises to send her people to the plains again. The buffalo herds soon thunder around the tepees of the hungry people, who give thanks to the mysterious woman. Goble's artwork shows his delight in color, pattern, silhouette, and Native American motifs. Besides the large paintings on the double-page spreads, he includes small geometric designs copied from traditional parfleches (rawhide pouches) of the Lakota, the Arapaho, and the Cheyenne. Two introductory pages concern parfleches (which appear in the story), including a page to photocopy, paint, cut, and fold into a model parfleche, a project that children and teachers may find worthwhile. Category: For the Young. 1996, National Geographic, $15.95. Ages 5-8.