Teach Your Buffalo to Play Drums

by Audrey Vernick, Daniel Jennewein (Illustrator)

Overview

Does your buffalo pound on pots and pans?
Tap out rhythms at the dinner table?
It’s not as unusual as you might think.
He’s simply at the start of an exciting new journey.
A very loud musical journey that begins by teaching your buffalo to play drums.
(Did we mention it might be loud?)

From the author and illustrator of Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? comes this hilarious musical romp about encouraging your buffalo to find his inner rock star.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061762536
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/28/2011
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Audrey Vernick is the author of more than a dozen books for young readers, including Is Your Buffalo Ready For Kindergarten? and She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story. She is also the coauthor of the middle grade novels Two Naomis and Naomis Too. Audrey enjoys visiting schools to speak with young readers and writers. She lives with her family near the ocean in New Jersey. Visit her online at www.audreyvernick.com.

Daniel Jennewein is also the illustrator of Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? Although he does not have a buffalo, he does have two very bratty Birman cats named Emmy and Finn. Daniel lives in Frankfurt, Germany, with his wife, Lenore.

Editorial Reviews

Several small pictures appear on most pages, surrounded by ample white space, showing the huge animal trying to engage in human activities like skateboarding and showering, resulting in some very funny scenarios. ” — School Library Journal

Praise for IS YOUR BUFFALO READY FOR KINDERGARTEN?: “This story’s simple lesson about individuality is cleverly expressed through Vernick’s gentle wit and Jennewein’s crayon-outlined kindergartners—most of all, the furry and ungainly reader surrogate with whom kids will readily relate.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Praise for IS YOUR BUFFALO READY FOR KINDERGARTEN?: “As an embodiment of school anxiety, this buffalo leads the herd-plus, he’s got a hump.” — Kirkus Reviews

Praise for IS YOUR BUFFALO READY FOR KINDERGARTEN?: “Vernick’s amusing tale will prove handy as a first-day-of-school book recommendation for children and teachers alike.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Buffaloes are always funny, which makes them unlikely subjects for a self-help book.

When a buffalo hits a drum, the drum goes SCASH! It's such an endearing sound that the buffalo turns cross-eyed with glee. (Jennewein's soft-edged drawings of a goggle-eyed buffalo are hilarious.) Still, some people may be nervous about teaching their buffalo to play the drums, so Vernick has provided an instruction manual. Very reluctant buffaloes may need the drumsticks handed to them or even tied to their hooves with yarn. They may need cheering on. Some readers might suspect that this is a metaphor for child-rearing, and a few may even think the book is aimed at parents. The Electric Company had Paul the gorilla for comic relief. This book has a buffalo, a xylophone, juggling and heart-shaped sunglasses, and yet it still feels educational. Sample lines: "Don't let your buffalo get frustrated! Cheer him on! Encourage him!" At times, this instruction manual feels more like, well, an instruction manual than a gag.

Buffaloes may be funny, but they are not, it turns out, the most inspiring educators, and readers may long for a few more SCASHes and TATTA TAT TATs. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews