Lifestyle
'Buffalo Fluffalo' has had enuffalo in this kids' bookalo
Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan
Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan
One day comedy writer Bess Kalb was reading a book to her son about national parks that her husband had brought home.
“To indoctrinate him into becoming a camping person,” Kalb explains. “So far it hasn’t worked, which is great.”
But there was a buffalo on one page. And she read the word “buffalo.” She remembers her son looked at her with a little twinkle in his eye because “buffalo” — of course — is an extremely silly-sounding word. So, she pushed it.
“I said ‘Yeah it’s a “buffalo fluffalo,’ and he cracked up.”
Like any comedy writer worth her salt, Bess Kalb — who writes for Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show — knows how to read a room. She wrote Buffalo Fluffalo, her first children’s book, that very night.
It’s about a buffalo who believes he has to bluffalo and puffalo himself into appearing big and tough to his neighbors. He rebuffalos every neighbor who tries to offer him friendship. Until a huge rain cloud comes and dumps a ton of water over Mr. Buffalo and all his fluffalo goes puffalo.
“When it’s revealed that he’s just a little pipsqueak — a word that makes my oldest child laugh a lot — his friends and community tell him he doesn’t have to act tough,” says Kalb. “And they love him anyway.”
Buffalo Fluffalo
Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan
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Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan
For this book, Bess Kalb knew she needed an illustrator who got that yes, here was a story about toxic masculinity, but that it was also a funny book about toxic masculinity.
“I wanted to give my child a book that helped him understand kindness and empathy,” says Kalb, “with a laugh.”
And the joke hinges on the reveal page — when the reader and all the other characters see just how wee Buffalo really is.
“That joke needs to land and it can only land with a picture,” says Kalb. Erin Kraan understood the assignment.
She made all of the characters in Buffalo Fluffalo out of woodcut prints. The process starts with a well-sanded flat piece of wood. “I take my sketch and I’ll take… a solvent and I’ll transfer the sketch onto the wood,” Kraan explains. “From there I take all of these different kinds of chisels and carve the lines of the character in the wood.” Buffalo’s fur, for example, is made of lots of little swirls and whorls that Kraan carved by hand.
Once she’s done, think of the woodcut like a big stamp. Kraan takes a roller of ink and rolls black ink onto the wood, and then onto thick paper. She colors everything in digitally. Buffalo Fluffalo was also Kraan’s first time mixing woodcut and paint in her art.
“I really wanted the clouds, the environment in this book to have a character of their own,” Kraan explains. “because nature is what humbles Buffalo in this book.” So she used an acrylic wash and hand-painted every cloud to give each page a unique look — soft and fluffy before storm, dark and bold as the sky is opening up over Buffalo’s head.
“Then, with one final thundery, blundery blupp, the humpiest, heaviest cloud opened up, And down came the rain with a splash and a spluffalo, right on the head of old Buffalo Fluffalo,” Kalb writes. You can just just barely make out Buffalo’s eyes on the page — the rest of his body has disappeared in the downpour —but he looks mad, indignant.
Then, on the reveal page, the skies have cleared and there Buffalo is in all his scrawny glory — wet and scraggly, looking more shell-shocked than huffy, as if he forgot to wear clothes to school.
“It’s so beautiful and dramatic,” Kalb adds. “But there’s also comedy and silliness without it being gross-out or over the top.”
Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan
Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan
Kraan says coming up with the final look was a team effort. How to make Buffalo small and pathetic but also cute and funny?
“I think I did, like, 30-plus character designs of Buffalo,” says Kraan. Kalb would send notes in the vein of “Smaller! More puff! Push the comedy!” which she acknowledges were probably hard for Kraan to follow. Early in the process, Buffalo was a bit older, to really lean into the toxic masculinity theme. But eventually Kraan drew a younger, sweeter Buffalo, to better match the story. “Because the text was so sweet and charming,” she explains.
“Like any insane mother, we worked and worked until he looks exactly like my son,” laughs Kalb. “I’m just a dance mom.”
Including that face Buffalo makes when he’s trying to be tough which, actually, all kids make that face.
“I was just at a reading,” Bess Kalb says, “one of the kids was like, ‘I act like this all the time… and this is the face I make.’ And then it started this chain reaction of kids showing me their meanest face.”
It’s almost like that mean face is a mask, Erin Kraan observes. “You know when you see a kid dress up for Halloween? They have this new confidence about themselves,” she explains, “and then you take that off… you feel more vulnerable.”
Kalb hopes that Buffalo Fluffalo can be a mirror for kids, and a character that they can relate to. “I wanted to give my kids a book that showed them that they can take that mask off,” she says. Because only when you take the mask off can you be a happy little buffalo snuggling with your friends. “And now I’m just thinking about them parading around in a shark and lobster costume at Halloween.”
Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan
Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan
new video loaded: Fashion Highlights From the 2026 Golden Globes
By Vanessa Friedman, Chevaz Clarke, Gabby Bulgarelli and Jon Hazell
January 12, 2026
My husband and I live in Pasadena. We moved from Los Feliz about 10 years ago. We have struggled to find LGBTQ+ events this far east. We can only hit up Boulevard so many times (although we love it). Any advice for finding LGBTQ+ events in Pasadena, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Glendale or the SGV? I feel like there are bars out here that may host weekly events that I just don’t hear about. — Will Birnie
Looking for things to do in L.A.? Ask us your questions and our expert guides will share highly specific recommendations.
Here’s what we suggest:
Will, you are so right. While there are several queer bars around your former neighborhood (Hi Tops in Los Feliz, Akbar in Silver Lake, Club Bahia in Echo Park and Honey’s at Star Love in East Hollywood), they are few and far between in the eastern part of L.A. County. But your question sent me down a rabbit hole and I’m proud to report that I’ve found a handful of spots and regular events that you should check out in your area. (Shout out to my colleagues and everyone who responded to my request for help on Instagram.)
Highland Park is home to the Offbeat, which is one of my friend Jaycen Mitchell‘s favorite bars in the area. The beloved dive bar hosts karaoke nights, drag shows, live music performances, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” screenings and other themed nights throughout the week. “I’ve been able to see all of my favorite drag queens there in more intimate settings, and the DJs have had me and my friends dancing until we were the last ones there,” Mitchell tells me. Also in Highland Park is Blind Barber, a speakeasy that hosts Homo Happy Hour on Thursdays. Mitchell says the happy hour is always a good time and a chance to “show up as your authentic self, be in community and queen out with your girls.”
Then in Glendale, there’s Junior High, a nonprofit art gallery and inclusive gathering space that hosts a variety of events, including music shows, artist showcases, comedy nights, pottery workshops and more. A standout event is Fantasy Suite, a pole dance show that features queer dancers with varying body types. Cherry Jayne and Jax “Lil Sumthin” launched the queer strip club experience in 2022 after struggling to find work due to “fatphobia that plagues traditional strip club hiring,” they told me. The next event will take place Feb. 7 and will feature Valentine’s Day songs of love, lust and heartbreak.
At Footsies in Cypress Park, Latino queer artist and DJ Mino Sanchez and his boyfriend, Ivan Castaneda, who also DJs, have been hosting Gay Night for nearly four years. The event, which happens on the second Saturday of each month, features BIPOC queer DJs who spin house, disco, Spanish dance music, electronica, pop and international sounds. There’s also a drag performance at midnight. In El Monte, the San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center hosts Gayme Night on the third Thursday of every month. The all-ages event features karaoke along with video and board games.
And you already know and love Boulevard — it really is a gem (and it’s the only gay bar in Pasadena). Though it was at risk of closing during the pandemic, the 45-year-old bar survived and continues to host a drag trivia night on Tuesdays and a drag show on Friday nights hosted by Borgia Bloom Facade. Times food columnist Jenn Harris writes that the Boulevard bar has served as a “safe haven for the gay community in the area and an alternative to the West Hollywood bar scene.”
If you’re looking for a different type of community beyond bars and events, my colleague Jaclyn Cosgrove recommends Throop Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena. “My pastor, Rev. Tera Landers, likes to say she doesn’t like religion, but she loves church,” says Cosgrove, who also lives in Pasadena. “That’s in large part because of the community we have at [the church] including our choir, which has a large number of transgender and queer members. It is where I go to refill my cup every Sunday.”
I hope this list helps you and your husband find more spaces around your neighborhood to build community and have a great time.
Ariana Grande arrives at the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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The brightest stars in TV and film kicked off the 83rd annual Golden Globes tonight in Beverly Hills, Calif. with Ariana Grande, Noah Wyle, Teyana Taylor and George Clooney are just some the names who walked the red carpet. This year’s ceremony was hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser.
Here’s a glimpse of what some of the attendees are wearing tonight.
Michael B. Jordan
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Ryan Coogler and Zinzi Evans
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Jean Smart
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Teyana Taylor
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Jenna Ortega
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Owen Cooper
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Sara Wells and Noah Wyle
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Claire Danes
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Stellan Skarsgård and Megan Everett-Skarsgard
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Amy Poehler
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EJAE
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Amanda Anka and Jason Bateman
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Paul Mescal
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Adam Brody and Leighton Meester
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Laufey
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Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons
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Chris Olsen
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Lisa Ann Walter
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Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song
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Jacob Elordi
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Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco
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Ryan Destiny
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Jennifer Garner
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Rose Byrne
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Kate Hudson
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Snoop Dogg
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Timothée Chalamet
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Miley Cyrus
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George Clooney and Amal Clooney
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Leonardo DiCaprio
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Michel Martin
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Steve Inskeep
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Leila Fadel
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A Martinez
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Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy
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Amanda Seyfried
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William Stanford Davis
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Jayme Lawson
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Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson
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Emma Stone
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Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall
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Nischelle Turner
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Parker Posey
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Vince Gilligan
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Chloé Zhao
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Mark Ruffalo and Sunrise Coigney
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Hannah Einbinder
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Sheryl Lee Ralph
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Justin Sylvester
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Judd Apatow and Lesley Mann
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Keltie Knight
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Sarah Snook
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Glen Powell
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Piper Curda
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Justine Lupe
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Helen Hoehne
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Natasha Rothwell
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Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
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Minnie Driver
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Orlando Bloom
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Hudson Williams
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Connor Storrie
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Erin Doherty
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Wanda Sykes
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Nikki Glaser
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Julia Roberts
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Emily Blunt
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Chris Perfetti
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Rhea Seehorn
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Dakota Fanning
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Queen Latifah
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