A graphic novel history of the American bison in North America, the golden centuries when the Native Americans and bison lived in a well-balanced ecosystem, and how and why the population became threatened to the point of near extinction 100 years ago, and efforts to help bring the wild population in North America back up since then.

A very readable history of not only an animal but also the people and land around it. Hirsch writes and illustrates his graphic novels in such a way that you forget you’re learning things. It’s entertaining and educational. This would be a fantastic addition to history classes or science studying the American West or endangered species. The Science Comics and History Comics FirstSecond have been putting out are quite popular with both students and teachers at our school. We’ll for sure be adding this to both our Elementary and Secondary libraries. Highly recommended.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues or sexual content. (A man who decided to marry 2 different women and also saved a bison herd comes up. No sexual details.) Hunting of animals, battles between various people groups, and mistreatment of Native Americans all comes up over the course of this history. All topics are treated with respect, and nothing really gory is shown on page. (Some vague butchered meat is as bloody as it gets. Dead animals are mostly portrayed cartoon style.)

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After spending summer vacation at Yellowstone National Park, I was very excited to see this title come across in NetGalley. I love seeing the Bison roaming through the park from a far distance! Fluffy cows LOL. This series is a great way to share historical aspects that might otherwise be overlooked by the mainstream education. I recommend this series for all graphic novel fans as well as this title for animal researchers. Thanks for creating such wonderful content in a beautiful format!

This book was received as an ARC from First Second Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Our city is literally named after this amazing animal so I had to jump at the chance and see for myself the entire history of the buffalo. The History Comics series is very popular with our library community and our school teachers and when they heard about this book they keep asking my opinion so I had to give it to them straight, this was a remarkable book. The dialogue was very informative and witty which will keep readers engaged and learning at the same time. The artwork is brilliantly executed and very colorful that brought the history of Buffalos to life and along for the ride.

We will consider adding this title to our JGraphic novel collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This book details the history of the American bison. Before America was widely colonized, the bison, the Indians, and the various grasses all supported each other. Various factors led to bison being hunted and killed. A popular opinion was if you killed the bison you killed the Indians. Bison came very close to going extinct, but thanks to a few people that saw that this would be detrimental, they were saved. Bison do not exist in the wild in the numbers that they used to and their range is not nearly as large, but they are still here.