Georgia and Alabama like Buffalo Music!

Cool new news: Buffalo Music has been nominated for the 2010-2011 Georgia Book Award! This award was established in 1968 by Sheldon Root, a professor at the Department of Education at the University of Georgia. The award was started to promote a love of reading in the children of Georgia. This month students across the state will vote on which book they feel should win. More info about the award, and a complete list of this years nominees can be found right here.

Also (!), Buffalo Music is being considered for the Alabama Camellia Children's Choice Award! The Alabama Camellia Award program (formerly known as the Emphasis on Reading program) selects books from three grade level categories: K-1, 2-3, and 4-6. For the full list of nominees please check out their website.

It is such a great feeling to know that so many little hands will be holding and flipping through the pages of this book. HUGE thanks to the states of Georgia and Alabama for recognizing Buffalo Music and including it on their short lists!

Buffalos nominated!

Some FUN news just in! Buffalo Music is one of 2o books nominated for the 2009-2010 West Virginia Children's Choice Book Award. This Fall, the Committee will be inviting children all across WV, who are in grades three through six, to read the list of books and vote for their favorite. The award is based solely on children's votes, which allows young readers to have a voice about the types of books they enjoy and would read more often~What a lovely honor to be included on this list :)

Check this out!

The official announcement of the June Franklin Naylor Award
Thanks again to the committee members, Dr. Barbara Immroth, Dr. Viki Ash, and Linda Plevak!

Yippie, Buffalo Music won a state award!

I received an exciting letter last month by the Daughters of the Republic Texas Library announcing that Tracey Fern and I won the 2008 June Franklin Naylor Award for our book Buffalo Music!

The Naylor Award, endowed by the family of June Franklin Naylor and sponsored by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, is given annually to the author and/or illustrator of the most distinguished book for children that accurately portrays the history of Texas, whether fiction or nonfiction. A former schoolteacher and long-time resident of Odessa, Mrs. Naylor served as President General of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Inc., from 1989-1991.

Tonight is the Historical Dinner where the award is presented. Sadly, I am not in Killeen, Texas and won't be able to accept it. I'm not sure if Tracey will be there either...unfortunate! But nonetheless, I am very thrilled and honored that Buffalo Music was chosen as this years recipient--thanks to the DRTL committee!

Notable News!

This week, at the annual Midwinter Conference in Colorado, the American Library Association made its exciting announcement of the 2009 Youth Media Awards. I am so very honored to be on the list of ALA notable books with Buffalo Music! Many thanks to the 2009 Notable Children's Books Committee!

Also, there was a little write up in True West Magazine on the first week of January!

ABC Best Books for Children

The Association on Booksellers for Children (ABC) has selected Buffalo Music as one of their 2008 best books for children, in the "Our America" section! The ABC is a national non-profit trade association dedicated to supporting the business of independent children's bookselling and quality children's books. Please visit their website to learn more. And don't forget to support YOUR local bookseller/s this holiday season!

SLJ likes Buffalo Music!

Great news! Buffalo Music is a School Library Journal Best Book of 2008. <Here> is the full list.

Buffalo Music also made the NY Examiner's list of 35 best picture books of 2008!

Buffalos on the radio!

A great review and interpretive reading of Buffalo Music by High Plains Public Radio

St. Louis enjoys Buffalo Music

Buffalo Music gets a nice shout out in STL Today

A Star from SLJ!

Buffalo Music received a wonderful review in the June issue of School Library Journal!

FERN, Tracey E. Buffalo Music. illus. by Lauren Castillo. 32p. CIP. Clarion. 2008. RTE $16. ISBN 978-0-618-72341-6. LC 2007018435.

K-Gr 4—A story based on the actions of Mary Ann Goodnight, a pioneer who made great strides in saving the buffalo from extinction in the late 1800s. Molly's first-person narrative offers alliterative descriptions of the sounds made by animals native to her West Texas home, including the "huff-huff" of buffalo breath and the thunder of their pounding feet. Soon, this everyday music is replaced by the noise of gunfire, as hunters slaughter the creatures for profit. When a cowhand brings her two orphan calves, Molly nurtures them and many more, developing the first captive buffalo herd. She even sends several yearlings to Yellowstone National Park to help reestablish their herd. The story ends with Molly wistfully hoping that the buffalo and their music will return to the plains. Fern's lyrical text and Castillo's folk-style artwork beautifully capture the era and events. Done in warm, earthy hues, the mixed-media illustrations depict a rugged landscape of grays and browns speckled with touches of color-wildflowers or bright blooms on a tree. Outlined in thick black lines, the characters shimmer with vitality and Molly's affection for her fuzzy-coated orphans is tenderly depicted. Buffalo Music is perfectly suited to a young audience, clearly conveying the magnitude of the decimation and the importance of conservation efforts.—Lynne Mattern, Robert Seaman School, Jericho, NY

Bulletin Review of Buffalo Music

Here's a new review from the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. (sorry it is so small -- if you want to read without straining your eyes, just click on article to enlarge)

BUFFALO MUSIC release

Today my book BUFFALO MUSIC, written by Tracey Fern, hits shelves! <Here> is a nice little write-up that came out today in New West. I hope you'll look out for it the next time you're in your local bookstore!

Buffalo Music Podcast

Today Buffalo Music is kindly featured on Just One More Book!! Podcast. You can check it out right HERE

Interview!

The wonderful ladies over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, kindly invited me to do one of their super-great illustrator interviews...and it is posted HERE today !!! Jules did such a fantastic job of putting it all together (I think I may even be a bit pink now, after reading it for the first time...how flattering). Thank you so very much 7 Things, for taking the time to share my work with your lovely readers!

1st Buffalo Music review!

And it's a star!!! Here's what Kirkus has to say (April 1, 2008 Issue):

*Buffalo Music. [starred] Fern, Tracey E.
Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Clarion Books (0-618-72341-2)

When Molly first settled in West Texas, she did her chores to “buffalo music,” the noises made by massive herds of buffalo grazing nearby. Soon, however, buffalo hunters arrived to slaughter the animals they thought would last forever. “Forever came fast.” In six years the buffalo were gone. Molly’s grief over their loss abates when a fellow settler brings her two orphaned buffalo calves to raise. They thrive and word spreads: Soon Molly’s herd numbers 100. When Yellowstone National Park decides to rebuild its herd, some of Molly’s buffalo become founding members. Molly’s story, though fictional, is based on the real life of pioneer Mary Ann Goodnight, whose homebred buffalo eventually populated not only Yellowstone but other wildlife refuges and several zoos. Fern’s debut is auspicious. Her homespun expressions (“fending off wolves and poachers with the long end of my rifle”) allow Molly’s straightforward sentiment to shine. Castillo’s smudgy illustrations recall Glen Rounds and invest both Molly and the buffalo calves with enormous personality. Together they make this story one with widespread appeal. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

JLG Premier Selection!

I recently got this letter in the mail stating that my upcoming book BUFFALO MUSIC ( written by Tracey Fern) will be a Spring '08 Junior Library Guild Premier Selection! I had to do a bit of research to find out just what this meant. It seems the Junior Library Guild chooses around 300 titles out of the 3,000 or so they review each year, and of those 300 there are a handful of 'premier selections'... And they then print their own separate edition of the book too -- not a bad deal at all! There haven't been any reviews for the book yet, but I am hoping that this is a sign of good things to come. BUFFALO MUSIC will hit shelves on May 19th!

Poster!

I just received a surprise in the mail from Clarion -- a stack of marketing posters for BUFFALO MUSIC! Awesome.

Buffalo Arrival!

This week I received a wonderful surprise, when a bound and final Buffalo Music (written by Tracey Fern) arrived at my house a whole 6 MONTHS early!!! Buffalo Music will not hit shelves till next May, so this early printing took my editor and designer by complete surprise as well. The book looks wonderful, and Kerry Martin, my designer at Clarion, did a fantastic job!