Elf Owl: 2

by Mary Buff, Conrad Buff

Book by Buff, Mary, Buff, Conrad

Hardcover

First published March 24, 1958

About the author

Mary Buff, formerly known as Mary Marsh, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 10, 1890. Mary had an early interest in arts and poetry but only continued to study art. She studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and at the Cincinnati Art Academy and received her bachelor's degree in Kansas at Bethany College. Mary then lived in Albion, Idaho and in the 1920s settled in Los Angeles. In 1922 she married Conrad Buff. Mary was the assistant curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her income was large enough to allow her husband, Conrad Buff, to paint full-time. After marrying Conrad Buff, Mary gave up her pursuit of painting to write children`s books with him. She died in 1970.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a different kind of book. I have to confess that I really don't know who draws the pictures and who tells the story in the husband-and-wife team of Mary and Conrad Buff, but both elements in this book are certainly good.

Elf Owl is sort of a non-fiction story that is written in a flowing style that feels a lot like poetry. This approach to the life and dramatic moments of the desert range works quite well, as we see all the nuances of life that unfold in the desert, primarily from the perspective of the miniature elf owls that live in their hollowed-out nest in a saguaro cactus.

This book is sort of in-between, as far is what it might be considered: a bit long for your average picture book (seventy-two pages), but without any kind of chapter divisions and with noticeably sparse text most of the way. Whoever drew the pictures did a marvelous job, especially on the one picture right near the end, which takes up an entire two-page spread. The artistic tools used in all these illustrations are simple, but incredibly effective.

The book's writing calls out for a reader who will get really into it, who will sympathize with the plight of the animals and speak in an animated voice when suspense and danger near. Because of that, I would recommend this book to be read out loud, though I read it to myself and found it to be interesting.

I would place Elf Owl somewhere in the one-and-a-half to two-star range.

[Ben Cooley Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elf Owl was a real treat because of its unusual pacing. It was more poetic than narrative; the book seemed content to have very little happen in the way of plot. This instead helped the reader slow down and settle in to the reality of life in the desert: there is mostly waiting, and watching, and a fair amount of thirsting, and not very much can be done about this. The only plot that emerges casts the environment itself as the protagonist, with the cycle of the seasons as the narrative arc. I recommend this.