Is+Your+Mama+a+Llama


 * Is Your Mama a Lama?**

Title: Is Your Mama a Lama Author: Deborah Guarino Illustrator: Steven Kellogg Translator: Aida E. Marcuse Reading level: Grades K-3 Age range: 4-8 Paper back: 32 Pages Publisher: Scholastic, 1989 ISBN: 9780590413879 Language: English
 * Bibliographic data: **

A baby llama is the star of this picture book series of rhymed riddles about animal characteristics. As Lloyd the llama meets each animal friend, the friend describes its mama. They give him hints of what his mama looks like. The riddle has a moment of suspense just before the name of the animal is revealed. Children will enjoy chiming in at these key points and moving the story along. Through the riddles and pictures, children meet babies and mamas who are bats, swans, cows, seals, kangaroos, and, of course, llamas. In details from the pictures, children can also spot baby and mother owls, seagulls, turtles, rabbits, koala bears and opossums. In the end, he finds out his mama is a llama.
 * Summary: **

Deborah Guarino was born in 1954 in Newark, New Jersey. She was known as the writer in her family, and growing up, she did not disappoint. As a child, she read, wrote, and drew constantly. Guarino studied at the Academy of American Poets and the City Center of Literature in London, England. Deborah later lived in New York and London, where two of her original works were produced and broadcast by the BBC’s Radio 4. In addition to writing for children, she’s an artist and actor who also works as a freelance advertising copywriter, editor, playwright, actor, director, and professional speaker who frequently visits schools, libraries and literacy events across the U.S., giving fun, interactive presentations on writing and the creative process for children and adults alike.
 * Author biography: **

Is Your Mama a Lama is a children's story I have never read before. I enjoyed this book because it was very engaging and can get students to participate during a read aloud. It is a delightful picture book, full of rhyme, riddle and educational animal facts. It is a great story for young readers to read themselves as well. The story has great illustrations that go along with the text. The plot is also simple to understand and will get children guessing. Children can identify with the thoughts and feelings of baby llama and make text to self connections.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Review: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-The illustrations portrayed each animal and their habitat very realistically. They did a great justice depicting where the animals would actually be found in the wild and how they would look if you found them. Some illustrations had a dark or cool palate to depict a cool and wet place and a warm palate and colors to depict a warm and dry place. The illustrations went along with the text as students can connect and refer back to. Readers are able to understand and feel the atmosphere at the time. The illustrations make the story very engaging for students. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-The writing style was made up of rythmic verses. It includes end rhyme and internal rhyme. This rhyming text had fill-in-the-blank style pauses at the end of each stanza to engage and help early readers learn to read. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-Recurring imagery in various juvenile animals and their mamas. (plus a small brown llama) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-The moral or theme in the story is that it is not unsual to look different from your family or others. Each person has differences and uniqueness to them. When differences are accepted among others, it is more likely you will all get along. This story reveals that as llama tries to find out what mama is through asking his friends. His friends are all different from him, get along with him, and they realize those differences as they help llama find out what mama is.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Analysis of a literary element: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Related links:]


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Created by: Kelly Marcal **