Llittle Ones Will Llove Llama Llama Red Pajama

I'm a night owl. I like to stay up as late as I possibly can, reading, watching TV or surfing the net with bleary eyes. I've always been more alert on late nights than early mornings, but there was a time when I didn't get to pick my own bedtime. Back in those days, one of my favorite books was Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now? I loved the stubborn little Marvin, who refused any and all of the creative options put before him before finally giving in and going up to bed. By the time Llama Llama Red Pajama was published, I'd been bedtime-free for years, but I recognize a kindred spirit when I see one, and if he'd been around back in those days, Llama Llama Red Pajama would no doubt have joined Marvin in my bedtime-protesting alliance.

Llama Llama Red Pajama is written and illustrated by Anna Dewdney. While Marvin hasn't yet gone to bed, Llama is there already, warm and snuggly in his red pajamas, safe and sound under a patchwork quilt. But when his mother turns out the light and says goodnight, he starts to worry. He doesn't like to be all alone - well, alone except for his little stuffed llama. He wants his mama back, and when she doesn't immediately appear, he gets even more nervous, evoking sympathy and laughs. Will his mama ever return? Will he ever be able to get to sleep?

This young llama's anxieties are beautifully illustrated throughout the book. After his mama leaves, we see him sitting up in bed, glancing around nervously as the darkness seems to swirl around him. He opens his mouth and bleats down to his mama, requesting a drink of water; later, he scrunches his eyes up, flattens his ears and hollers, leaving his four teeth clearly visible. When she still doesn't come, he uses the quilt as a shield, peering over it with wide eyes before letting out one more blood-curdling yell, for which he assumes an adorably contrite gaze after his mother, looking quite intimidating as she glares with her hands on her hips, scolds him for his impatience.

Generally, though, Mama is anything but intimidating. Bedecked in a blue dress reminiscent of the one worn by Mama Bear in the Berenstain Bears books, over which she wears a white apron, Mama cuddles her child comfortingly at the beginning and end of the book. In the interim, she busily multi-tasks, washing dishes and chatting on the phone until her son's outburst sends her into a panic in one of the book's most amusing illustrations.

The brightly colored pictures that fill each page are my favorite part of the book, but the writing is great too. Dewdney tells her tale in very brisk, catchy rhyme, leaning especially on the words "llama," "pajama" and "mama," which form a sort of chorus throughout the book, though the action in each of the refrains is slightly different. The stanzas average ten words each, and certain words, such as "alone" and "boo hoo-ing" are accentuated with bold, colored print.

Llama Llama Red Pajama is a charming book to help calm the fears of a young child as darkness falls. With sprightly rhymes, marvelous illustrations, hilarious expressions and a comforting message, it's an ideal story for a child to read with a parent while getting nice and cozy in a pair of red - or any other color - pajamas.