I wished he could have stayed,
but he had to join up with
the other bison.
I walked with him until it was
time to say goodbye.
He looked at me for a long
while, and then he was gone.
But I knew he'd be back
when snow covered the
ground again."
I love this gentle, touching story of a young girl and her willingness to take the time to develop a deep love between herself and a wild bison. When she first sees the bison, she is filled with awe and affection for him. As the bison returns to the same field yearly, their love and trust grows. Soon, she is feeding him food she thinks he might like which he eats even if he does not. Leaving to be with his herd is difficult. She is confident he will be back.
Each winter he does return; her loneliness disappears. All is right in their world. They sit by the fire, the girl reads some stories, and tells others. The bison is attentive and quiet. There is nothing she does not love about him. There is nothing she cannot share with him.
"Year after year, my bison returned.
He never noticed I was getting older. He was too.
We were never cold in the snow."
As happens, both grow old and things change. One winter, the bison does not return and the woman must come to grips with the fact she has seen him for the last time. But she feels his presence and knows he is there, caring about her, remembering her stories, always present in her memories.
Charcoal and ink are a perfect choice for creating this nostalgic picture book. Emotional and memorable, imaginative and carefully constructed, this tale of enduring friendship and painful loss will resonate with older readers as well.
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