Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Book Review: THE LLAMA WHO HAD NO PAJAMA by Mary Ann Hoberman. Ill. by Betty Fraser

Image Source:
Books in Print (via TWU Databases). Accessed October 6, 2013. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2125/DetailedView.aspx?hreciid=|993250|1958951&mc=USA#


Hoberman, Mary Ann. Ill. by Betty Fraser. (1998). The Llama Who Had No Pajama. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780152001117

          Mary Ann Hoberman creates a delightful series of 100 poems for children in The Llama Who Had No Pajama. Illustrated by Betty Fraser, this poem picture book contains images in a watercolor array of everything from animals to family life. Children can enjoy the simple rhyme that introduces poetry to the very young with fun topics. Although there are 100 poems total, they are not lengthy and the illustrations enhance each one. The organization contains a table of contents for use when choosing poems from the selection. A reader can also select from the list of the first lines of each poem.


          The target audience is pre-school to second grade, but all ages can enjoy these poems.  Hoberman suggests humor and rhyme with the idea of a having a birthday each week, “the songs you’d hear…would feel queer!”  This selection is useful in story times, as many children will understand the poem that suggests we not use an armadillo as a pillow! Also, each story time can include a few selections so that poetry is introduced each time children experience a new book. One comment by Susan D. Lempke in her Booklist review is the playful repetition of sounds in this selection (Books in Print, 1998).
          This Gold Award Winner (1998) can be a favorite as children advance to longer poems. The poem The Birthday Bus contains longer verses with more of a story to tell. Children will relate to the child on the bus turning six who will accept the “gift of a bus…without a fuss!” This is also an example of the assonance used in the poetry with repeated vowel sounds. This allows for learning literacy skills in children, without sacrificing the quality and message of the verse.
           
References:
Books in Print (via TWU Databases). Accessed October 6, 2013. http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2125/DetailedView.aspx?hreciid=|993250|1958951&mc=USA#
Hoberman, Mary Ann. Ill. by Betty Fraser. (1998). The Llama Who Had No Pajama. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780152001117

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