Book Review - The Llama Who Had No Pajama

 

  1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hoberman, Mary Ann. (2006). THE LLAMA WHO HAD NO PAJAMA: 100 FAVORITE POEMS. Ill. by Betty Fraser. Clarion Books. New York. ISBN: 9780152055714

  1. PLOT SUMMARY

In this collection of poetry, Mary Hoberman writes about everything ranging from family to winter time to animals. The lengths of the poems are mixed with short, medium, and long alike. Each poem is accompanied with delicate illustrations by Betty Fraser that help give context to the story. 


  1. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

One of the benefits of this collection is the varying lengths of poems as it allows the reader the option to pick what to read either to themselves or an audience. The shorter ones could also be memorized or recited easily, leaving the listener with a take-away. The nonsense words like “eggular”, “wumberly”, and “higgly” make the reading fun for both the reader and the listener. This also helps with child development in understanding sounds and pronunciation. 


The distinguishable styles of poetry is also a positive as it allows the reader to see and feel the rhythm and the cadence of the poems. For example, in Time the words “one, two, three” are written in a decreasing order with an increasing indentation, making the reader subconsciously drop their voice pitch as they go through the poem. Or like in Opposites, when it breaks the pattern of saying the opposite words, the line is italicized making the difference stand out on the page and add an emphasis when reading aloud. Another example is from B, Click Beetle, and Rabbit when the author has certain words line up vertically on the page, which helps that word stand out and is visually pleasing.


There are pictures for every poem even if it’s just used as a border, or in some cases there is one picture that goes with multiple poems. The majority of the pictures add some fun or cuteness to the poem such as the mice running around in a circle with the poem Mouse. Other times, the images help the poem make sense. In Riddle, there's a speech bubble associated with a turtle where he says in one line, “I always  am at home,” and the snail responds, “‘This fact is true / Of me as well”. The illustration of the snail and turtle give context to this poem that helps the reader understand the joke. A second example is in Who Am I?, which is the shortest poem with only two lines, “A big buzz / In a little fuzz.” While this may be simple, the drawings of the bees associated with the poem give insight to what the author is referring to and helps young readers with solving the puzzle.


The various illustrations, no matter the size, help with grasping the concept of the poem. Poems can be hard for young readers, but these images are simple and straightforward as well as being pretty and interesting to look at. For the poem Whenever, it shows a child in multiple poses revolving around the stanza as it says she’s twirling. Even students who might not understand the vocabulary or can follow, they can make the connection between the images and the words. 


There are many more poems in this collection that offer the same comprehension and pleasing visuals and with a funny rhyme or two. This book would be good for a wide variety of young readers with new discoveries to be made every time it’s read.


  1. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

POETRY FOUNDATION: CHILDREN’S POET LAUREATE 2008-2010

NAPPA GOLD AWARD 1998


  1. CONNECTIONS

*Have students pick their favorite poems by drawing and decorating the title and then display them on the wall or window. 

*Have students use a poem as inspiration to create their own that they then can display around the library or classroom.

*Good for reading in a group setting to the class for the phonetic awareness, the rhythm, and the nonsense words.

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