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.

"A Llama?! He's Supposed to be Dead!" "Yeah, Weird..."

The first time I saw a preview for The Emperor's New Groove, I thought, "Boy, does that look weird." I mean, a movie about a prince who turns into a llama? Wow. And weird it is. But it's also funny, with the humor making up the bulk of the film.

Kuzco (David Spade) is a young South American prince about to turn 18. He is arrogant and self-centered, putting his silly whims above the needs of his people. I confess that I find Spade terribly annoying, so I wasn't too unhappy when his narration caught up to the scene in the beginning and we didn't have to hear his commentary anymore. It was funny at times, but mostly I found it distracting.

Kuzco's attitude doesn't win him a lot of friends. In the space of only a few minutes, he boots an old man out of the castle for throwing off his groove, informs a village leader, Pacha (John Goodman), that he will be building a resort over his town, and terminates the employment of his advisor, Izma, who is beginning to take too many liberties with her post.

Furious, Izma plots revenge. Enlisting the aid of her gentle buffoonish sidekick, Kronk, she sets about poisoning the impetuous prince. The plan is much complicated, however, when Kronk accidentally uses the llama serum, leaving a very much alive prince who happens to look like a llama.

Charged with the task of disposing of the prince once and for all, Kronk knocks Kuzco out but is unable to finish the job by throwing him over a waterfall; his confused consciences are little help, but Kronk decides on his own that he doesn't have the heart to kill the prince. As he ponders his next course of action, the sack containing the prince tumbles out of his arms and onto Pacha's cart. Hoping this won't come back to haunt him, Kronk walks away from the crowd and back to the castle.

When Kuzco awakes, he is on a mountaintop surrounded by llamas. When Pacha discovers him, he warns the prince that the way down the mountain is perilous; he agrees to guide him if the prince will nix the resort idea. Of course, this is unacceptable to Kuzco, so he continues on his way alone. It's not long, however, before the prince discovers that what he needs most right now is a friend, and he may just be able to find that friend in the form of a common villager.

The remainder of the film is an action-packed account of Kuzco and Pacha's journey back to the castle to reclaim Kuzco's humanity. With Izma and Kronk hot on their trail, the new friends overcome obstacles with wit and style. In one of the film's funniest scenes, Both the bad guys and the good guys are in the same diner during lunch, and they very nearly bump into one another on several occasions. Kuzco still hasn't quite learned to trust Pacha, but before the film is over he will need his new buddy to beat Izma on his own turf.

I had just watched Jackie Chan Adventures with my brother the day we rented this, and I felt a sense of deja vu. In that episode, Jackie and his niece capture a talisman that allows them to change into different animals, and throughout the episode they use it constantly, populating the island on which they're stranded with some very strange animals. In this movie, Izma has a shelf full of animal serums. Only one is the human potion. As Kuzco tries to locate the correct potion, a hilarious chase scene ensues that leaves the audience wondering what the characters will turn into next.

All in all, this is a film chock full of laughs, and I'd certainly recommend it. It was, at times, a little too tongue-in-cheek for my liking, and it could have used a couple more songs, but other than that it's a fine addition to your Disney collection, and certainly one of the most original films you'll find on your shelf. A prince that turns into a llama...weird.