Tri State Young Adult Book Review Committee

Exciting introductions like this one, in which a goring is described in vivid detail, entice young readers to turn the pages of nonfiction selections. In this introduction, Lisa Owings describes a confrontation between some workers and a cape buffalo in South Africa, a confrontation which leaves one young man struggling to survive after he is gored unexpectedly. In Chapter Two, Owings describes the typical cape buffalo and contrasts his body size with a human’s. Its ferocity is described in detail and one learns that a cape buffalo will even wait for a lion in a tree for hours! The cape buffalo is not able to be tamed like the water buffalo. It is in this chapter that the support photographs are the most interesting. One shows a lion waiting to attack, and another shows two cape buffalo fighting each other for dominance. Chapter Three contains fascinating information about the reputation of the cape buffalo as a killer. Once wounded, he will kill. He will even wait for a hunter and trample him! This chapter shows children the value of the Cape buffalo and the threats to its existence. All in all, this book contains the requisite information to make it useful for research, classroom presentations and compare/contrast studies between the buffalo and other predators of the world. The extra features include vocabulary words highlighted in neon green, a layout that is pleasing to the eye, a glossary of vocabulary at the back of the book, a list of resources to consult and a short index.