Bess Kalb

First sentence: There once was a Buffalo Fluffalo...a snuffalo, scruffalo, surly old buffalo, who was ever so snarly and gnarly and tuffalo. I'm the Buffalo Fluffalo--I heave and I huffalo. Leave me alone because I've had enuffalo!

Premise/plot: Is Buffalo Fluffalo as tough as he wants you to believe? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not. Is he adorable? Always and forever.

My thoughts: This picture book is written in rhyme. It is absolutely adorable in the most precious of ways. It is probably more for younger readers than older ones. (It may be "too cute" for some.) I liked this one. I did. I didn't love the text in a love, love, love way. But I did think the illustrations were so incredibly adorable and cute and precious. So I definitely liked it and am happy to recommend it.… (mere)

I loved this so much. As someone who also has a strong matriarchal narrative tradition in my family, Bobbie's voice through Bess felt familiar.
Our matriarch died several years ago and while we don't have voicemail recordings I can still hear her Jersey accent in my head, "How yah doin'? You good? You gotta a man yet?"
Bess Kalb's family story is fascinating and fun, even with all the challenging parts and the heartache we know is coming.
I finished it and immediately handed it off to my mother who I knew would recognize the stories and the voice very much like the women in our family.
The ending is especially powerful as we collectively grapple with how much is truth? How much do we really know what someone wanted? How much do we really know those we love? High recommend.… (mere)