Connect with us

Lifestyle

'Buffalo Fluffalo' has had enuffalo in this kids' bookalo

Published

on

'Buffalo Fluffalo' has had enuffalo in this kids' bookalo

Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan

Buffalo Fluffalo, written by Bess Kalb and illustrated 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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

“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


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

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.”

Buffalo Fluffalo, written by Bess Kalb and illustrated by Erin Kraan

Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan

Buffalo Fluffalo, written by Bess Kalb and illustrated by Erin Kraan

Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan

Advertisement

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.”

Advertisement

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.”

Buffalo Fluffalo written by Bess Kalb and illustrated by Erin Kraan

Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan

Buffalo Fluffalo written by Bess Kalb and illustrated by Erin Kraan

Illustrations © 2024 by Erin Kraan

Advertisement

Lifestyle

‘Evil Dead’ Star Bruce Campbell Reveals He Has Cancer

Published

on

‘Evil Dead’ Star Bruce Campbell Reveals He Has Cancer

Bruce Campbell
I’m Battling Cancer

Published

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Lifestyle

‘Scream 7’ takes a weak stab at continuing the franchise : Pop Culture Happy Hour

Published

on

‘Scream 7’ takes a weak stab at continuing the franchise : Pop Culture Happy Hour

Neve Campbell in Scream 7.

Paramount Pictures


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

Paramount Pictures

The OG Scream Queen Neve Campbell returns. Scream 7 re-centers the franchise back on Sidney Prescott. She has a new life, a family, and lots of baggage. You know the drill: Someone dressing up as the masked slasher Ghostface comes for her, her family and friends. There’s lots of stabbing and murder and so many red herrings it’s practically a smorgasbord.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Lifestyle

Smoke a joint and get deep with flowers at this guided floral design workshop in DTLA

Published

on

Smoke a joint and get deep with flowers at this guided floral design workshop in DTLA

Abriana Vicioso is the host of the Flower Hour, which takes place monthly.

(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

Each flower carries a personal history. For Abriana Vicioso, the calla lily was her parents’ wedding flower — a symbol of her mother’s beauty. “She had this big, beautiful white calla lily in her hair,” Vicioso says. “I love my parents. They’re the reason I’m here. I’ll never forget where I came from.”

The Flower Hour begins with Vicioso announcing, with a warm smile: “Today is about touching grass.” The florist-by-trade gestures behind her to hundreds of flowers contained in buckets — blue thistles, ivory anemones and calla lilies painted silver — all twisted and unfurling into the air. “Tonight is going to be so sweet and intimate,” Vicioso says, eyeing the beautiful chaos at her feet. A grin buds across her face.

Advertisement

Moments before the workshop, participants sit at candlelit tables exchanging horoscopes and comparing their favorite flowers. A mention of the illustrious bird-of-paradise flower elicits coos and awe from the women. Izamar Vazquez, who is from Jalisco, Mexico, reveals her fondness for roses, which make her feel connected to her Mexican roots.

Vicioso hosts her flower-themed wellness workshop near the iconic Original Los Angeles Flower Market in downtown L.A. In January, the first Flower Hour event sold out, prompting her to make it a monthly series. Vicioso describes the event as a “three-part journey” where participants are invited to drink herbal tea, smoke rose-petal-rolled cannabis joints and create a floral arrangement. “The guide is to connect with the medicine of flowers,” Vicioso says.

Rose petal joints, tea and flower arranging are all part of The Flower Hour event's offerings.
Herbal tea is part of the event's offerings.
Floral arranging is the main activity.

Rose petal joints, tea and flower arranging are all part of The Flower Hour event’s offerings.

The event is hosted at the Art Club, a membership-based co-working space. “The Flower Hour is really beautiful. Everyone gets to explore their creativity while meeting new people,” says Lindsay Williams, the co-owner of the Art Club.

Advertisement

The idea for Flower Hour came to Vicioso during a conversation with her mother. “We joke all the time that flowers were destined to make their way into my life,” she says. She works as a florist and models on the side, even appearing in the pages of Vogue. Vicioso grew up in a Caribbean household, where flowers and offerings were part of daily life. “In my culture and religion, a lot of my family practices — an Afro-Caribbean religion — we build altars.”

Like many cultures, flowers carry sentimental value in her religion. “I’m Caribbean, so a lot of my family practices a Yoruba religion, which comes from Africa. In the Caribbean, it’s well known as Santería.”

  • Share via

    Advertisement

Advertisement

After a difficult year and a breakup, Vicioso wanted to marry her love of flowers with community building. Because Vicioso uses cannabis medicinally, the workshop naturally includes a smoking component. “My family has smoked cannabis for a lot of reasons for a long time. It’s a really healing plant,” she explains.

In the workshop, even the cannabis gets the floral treatment. Vicioso presents her rose-petal-wrapped joints on a silver platter at each table. She rolled each by hand. “If you’ve never smoked a rose-petal-rolled joint, the difference with this is it’s going to have roses that have a slight tobacco effect,” she announces.

During the workshop, Vicioso stresses the importance of buying cannabis from local vendors. The cannabis provided was purchased from a Northern Californian vendor. The wellness workshop aims to reclaim the healing ritual of smoking cannabis. “This is a plant that has been commercialized,” Vicioso says. “There’s a lot of Black and Brown people who are in jail for this plant.”

The resulting workshop is what Vicioso describes as “an immersive wellness experience that is the intersection of wellness, creativity, community and an appreciation of flowers.” The workshop serves as a reminder to enjoy Earth’s innate beauty in the form of flowers — including cannabis. “It’s this gift that the universe gave us for free and that I have this deep connection with,” Vicioso says.

Conversation cards to generate discussion among participants (left). The workshop serves as a "third space" for Angelenos to engage in tactile creativity and community building outside of traditional nightlife settings.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- FEBRUARY 22, 2026: Participants smoke marijuana during The Flower Hour, a floral design workshop + floral smoke sesh at The ArtClub in downtown. Photographed on Sunday, February 22, 2026. (Jennifer McCord / For The Times)
LOS ANGELES, CA -- FEBRUARY 22, 2026: The Flower Hour is a floral design workshop + floral smoke sesh at The ArtClub in downtown. Photographed on Sunday, February 22, 2026. (Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

Conversation cards to generate discussion among participants (top, letf). The workshop serves as a “third space” for Angelenos to engage in tactile creativity and community building outside of traditional nightlife settings.

Advertisement

After enjoying lavender chamomile tea and smoking a joint, Vicioso introduces the flowers to the group before inviting them to pick their own. She emphasizes each flower’s personality traits, describing green dianthus as a “Dr. Seuss” plant. Then, there are calla lilies with their “main character moment.” It gets personal. “Start thinking of a flower in your life that you can discover,” she says. “If you’re feeling like you need inspiration, you can always remember that these flowers have stories.”

Vicioso infuses wisdom into her instruction on floral arrangements: There are no mistakes. Let the flowers tell you where they want to go, she urges. Intuition will be your guide — the wilder, the better.

“Hecho in Mexico” reads a sticker on a bunch of green stems. “Like me,” says Vazquez with a laugh. “They’re all doing their own thing. Like a family,” she says later, arranging stems.

Advertisement
The Flower Hour participants and Vicioso, center, chat as they build their own floral arrangements.

The Flower Hour participants and Vicioso, center, chat as they build their own floral arrangements at the sold-out event.

Two participants — Vazquez and Rebeca Alvarado — are friends who run a floral design company together called Izza Rose. Like Vicioso, the friends have a connection to flowers through their Latin American culture. They met Vicioso in the floral industry and were overjoyed to discover her workshop.

“This is a great way to connect with other people,” says Vazquez.

Alvarado agrees, adding: “You’re getting to know people outside of going to bars. You can connect in different ways when there’s an activity.”

Vazquez uses flowers to stay connected to her Mexican heritage, adding that she prefers to support Mexican vendors. In recent months, the downtown L.A. flower market has struggled to recover from ongoing ICE raids. “Some are scared to come back,” says Vazquez.

Advertisement
Hand-rolled cannabis joints wrapped in rose petals are presented on a silver platter at The ArtClub (top, right). The Flower Hour aims to reclaim the healing rituals of cannabis and flowers.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- FEBRUARY 22, 2026: The Flower Hour is a floral design workshop + floral smoke sesh at The ArtClub in downtown. Photographed on Sunday, February 22, 2026. (Jennifer McCord / For The Times)
LOS ANGELES, CA -- FEBRUARY 22, 2026: The Flower Hour is a floral design workshop + floral smoke sesh at The ArtClub in downtown. Photographed on Sunday, February 22, 2026. (Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

Hand-rolled cannabis joints wrapped in rose petals are presented on a silver platter at The ArtClub (top, right). The Flower Hour aims to reclaim the healing rituals of cannabis and flowers.

Another participant, Barbara Rios, was attracted to the workshop for stress relief. “You can hang out with your friends, but it’s nice to do things with your hands,” she says. “I work a stressful job, and it’s nice to have that third space that we’re all craving.”

On this February night, the participants were predominantly women, save for one man. In the future, Vicioso hopes that more men learn to engage with flowers. “There’s a statistic about men receiving flowers for the first time at their funerals, and I think we have changed that,” she says.

To conclude the workshop, Vicioso encourages participants to build lasting friendships and incorporate flower arranging into their daily practice — even if it’s just with a small, inexpensive bouquet.

Advertisement

“Get some flowers together, go to the park, hang out with each other and hang out with me,” she says. Participants leave with flower arrangements in hand. In the darkness of the night air, it briefly looks as though the women carry silver calla lilies that are blooming from their palms.

A finished floral arrangement.

Continue Reading

Trending