Snail and Buffalo

Set on the prairie wetlands, Latimer's (Fox Under First Base) worthy but wordy story pairs curious Buffalo with insecure Snail. ``What are you?'' asks Buffalo, unintentionally intimidating the tiny creature. He brags about all that buffaloes can do: thrash and charge, swish their tales and run 32 miles per hour. But when Snail slowly enumerates her own talents, including ``whorling'' and walking ""on one foot,"" Buffalo is duly impressed, and even defends his new pal after a pompous reindeer dismisses Snail as slow, a ""slug wearing a seashell."" ``Snails are fast,'' he says. ``Compared to a buffalo walking on one foot, a snail is lightning.'' Despite such imaginative recapitulations, the theme is a familiar one and the text too long. Painted with an acrylic drybrush technique on hardboard, debut artist Curry's stylized illustrations--though overly dark and often static--offer some playful perspectives on the characters' relative sizes. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)