Book cover titled 'PUFF: My First Winter on the Prairie' by John Cayden, featuring a prairie dog standing on snow with mountains in the background and snowflakes falling.

PUFF

This is the story of Puff, a small groundhog who lives in the grasslands of North America. Puff recounts his first twenty days of winter by watching the other animals around him prepare for the coming of a long, cold season after experiencing the joy of a beautiful, hot summer and a cool colorful fall.

Clues to their preparations are not only in what he sees them doing, but what he sees them eating and the small changes to their bodies he is witnessing as the fall of the first flakes of snow touch his nose.

My First Winter on the Prairie

A crow with outstretched wings flying over a snow-covered field during snowfall, with a small animal in the distance and a tree on the right side, against a cloudy sky background.
Paperback Available Here
Hardback Available Here
Sample Page from Puff My First Winter on the Prairie

Sample Pages from Puff My First Winter on the Prairie

A digitally altered image of a desert landscape with a standing anthropomorphized ferret upright on its hind legs in the foreground.

Animals Featured in Puff My First Winter on the Prairie

  • Bald Eagle | Haliaeetus leucocephalus

  • Bison | Bison bison

  • Buzzard | Buteo buteo

  • Coyote | Canis latrans

  • Crow | Corvus brachyrhynchos

  • Elk | Cervus canadensis

  • Ferret | Mustela nigripes

  • Gopher | Geomys bursarius

  • Groundhog | Marmota monax

  • Grasshopper | Melanoplus femurrubrum

  • Grouse | Tympanuchus cupido

  • Mountain Plover | Charadrius montanus

  • Pheasant | Phasianus colchicus

  • Prairie Dog | Cynomys ludovicianus

  • Pronghorn | Antilocapra americana

  • Sheep | Ovis canadensis (or generic)

  • Prairie Falcon | Falco mexicanus

  • Rattlesnake | Crotalus viridis

  • Swift Fox | Vulpes velox

  • Turkey | Meleagris gallopavo

  • Weasel | Mustela frenata

  • White-Tailed Deer | Odocoileus virginianus

  • Yellow Jacket | Vespula maculifrons

A group of male birds with bright plumage and a female bird in a natural landscape with grasses and a cloudy sky.
A digitally illustrated bee flying over a dry, desert landscape with small bushes and two smaller bees in the foreground. There is also a large bee in the background with detailed wings and black and yellow stripes.
Puff a young groundhog watches from a far a male rattlesnake move past on a trail on the prairie
An elk watches a buzzard above laying down for rest on a prairie dusted with light snow on a cold overcast day
Book cover titled 'PUFF: My First Winter on the Prairie' by John Cayden. Features a prairie dog standing on snow with snowflakes falling, mountain backdrop and winter landscape on a prairie.

experimental flip book

Not sure if these flip books work. I tried to make something so folks can see the book innards before they buy. Drop me note if it works or if it doesn’t let me know what happened and what platform you are on. If I get enough input I may look for an alternative method. Set your viewer to two page view so it looks like an open book. Thank you.

Experimental Flip Book PDF