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jesmitch's review against another edition
4.0
Not quite as charming as the original. This, however, is an excellent choice for the first day of school for kindergarten or first grade.
raspberryjam's review against another edition
4.0
I'm going to try this one out at storytime but for a book about pre-reading I kind of can't believe how long it is.
UPDATE: I skipped half a dozen pages and the crowd still lost interest. It's too bad because it seems like it's pedagogically pretty good. It's just kinda boring!
UPDATE: I skipped half a dozen pages and the crowd still lost interest. It's too bad because it seems like it's pedagogically pretty good. It's just kinda boring!
sarahhyatt's review against another edition
1.0
Llama Llama loves to read
So do we, but this book needs
A plot, a story, something more
Overall, this book’s a bore.
My kids are fans of Llama Llama
We all enjoy him (even Mama!)
We’re at the library to look
When lo! A brand new Llama book.
The rhyme scheme falters and it lags
The Llama book soon starts to drag
Page after page of boring teaching
The book is nearly always preaching.
A hodgepodge of sight words and phonics
Learn all of these, the rhymes admonish
Sight words, “hard” words, what a bore
To read has now become a chore.
This book might help, the smallest bit
To make one simply literate.
It never quite begins to capture
A love of books - the joy! The rapture!
To raise a child to love to read
There’s something else that child will need
A love for characters and story
Beyond what is obligatory.
A book that captures being small,
Bedtime, fits at shopping malls
A day at school without his mama
A bully that mocks Llama Llama.
A lonely day with Mama far
A treasured toy left in the car
Llama is relatable
This book, however, hateable.
But G and O spells “go,” you tell us
Listing letters, overzealous
STOP! And CAT! And BARBECUE!
But random spelling just won’t do.
Spelling words does not engage
A reader’s focus on the page
An opportunity now missed
Opting instead for spelling lists.
To raise a reader, one thing’s certain
As shown to us by Levar Burton
The rules of grammar can’t compare
To books that make a reader care.
This “story” (if you call it that)
Works just the same with Pete the Cat
Or Franklin, Caillou, Bo Obama
There’s nothing here unique to Llama.
But Llama Llama saw a prize
Llama could just merchandise!
A show (just as devoid of heart)
A book to sell on book fair carts.
A book that just instructs in reading
A title -- just a bit misleading
Just enough to make the sale
Llama Llama cannot fail.
Emotional and social learning
Matters more, but isn’t earning
All the money that it could
Who cares if this book’s any good?
So do we, but this book needs
A plot, a story, something more
Overall, this book’s a bore.
My kids are fans of Llama Llama
We all enjoy him (even Mama!)
We’re at the library to look
When lo! A brand new Llama book.
The rhyme scheme falters and it lags
The Llama book soon starts to drag
Page after page of boring teaching
The book is nearly always preaching.
A hodgepodge of sight words and phonics
Learn all of these, the rhymes admonish
Sight words, “hard” words, what a bore
To read has now become a chore.
This book might help, the smallest bit
To make one simply literate.
It never quite begins to capture
A love of books - the joy! The rapture!
To raise a child to love to read
There’s something else that child will need
A love for characters and story
Beyond what is obligatory.
A book that captures being small,
Bedtime, fits at shopping malls
A day at school without his mama
A bully that mocks Llama Llama.
A lonely day with Mama far
A treasured toy left in the car
Llama is relatable
This book, however, hateable.
But G and O spells “go,” you tell us
Listing letters, overzealous
STOP! And CAT! And BARBECUE!
But random spelling just won’t do.
Spelling words does not engage
A reader’s focus on the page
An opportunity now missed
Opting instead for spelling lists.
To raise a reader, one thing’s certain
As shown to us by Levar Burton
The rules of grammar can’t compare
To books that make a reader care.
This “story” (if you call it that)
Works just the same with Pete the Cat
Or Franklin, Caillou, Bo Obama
There’s nothing here unique to Llama.
But Llama Llama saw a prize
Llama could just merchandise!
A show (just as devoid of heart)
A book to sell on book fair carts.
A book that just instructs in reading
A title -- just a bit misleading
Just enough to make the sale
Llama Llama cannot fail.
Emotional and social learning
Matters more, but isn’t earning
All the money that it could
Who cares if this book’s any good?
librarybonanza's review against another edition
3.0
Age: Preschool-Kindergarten
The act of learning to read is the main focus in this Llama Llama addition but without a true story. Lots of literacy covered here, from learning the alphabet to decoding to sight words to background knowledge to the love of reading--it all manages to get mentioned but with so much, there's no real story and the book feels strictly didactic at the end. The rhymes were fun and the celebration of reading is achieved but look elsewhere for an emerging reader story with more depth.
The act of learning to read is the main focus in this Llama Llama addition but without a true story. Lots of literacy covered here, from learning the alphabet to decoding to sight words to background knowledge to the love of reading--it all manages to get mentioned but with so much, there's no real story and the book feels strictly didactic at the end. The rhymes were fun and the celebration of reading is achieved but look elsewhere for an emerging reader story with more depth.
jmshirtz's review against another edition
4.0
My enjoyment of this book was tinged by sadness; it just seemed to be missing a special something that Dewdney brought to her books.
maunanoiln's review against another edition
3.0
We aren't even trying with the titles anymore, huh? Like it couldn't be "Llama llama reads to mama" or "Llama llama read-o-rama"? I dunno. I don't get paid for any of this. The rest of the book is pretty good. Llama learns to read. Great for library visits.
footprint's review against another edition
4.0
Good story. Canadian readers may not like being forced to read “zee” instead of “zed” for the rhyme scheme.
dragonbitebooks's review against another edition
3.0
Review originally published on my blog, Nine Pages.
Published posthumously and completed in her style by her long time partner Reed Duncan, this school time story teaches lessons about the alphabet and the words that they can spell and the sentences that are made by words, the songs, the books. This seemed a little longer, a little more didactic than some of the other Llama Llama books with its vocabulary words and its recitation of the alphabet. It’s more picture book than a primer though. Llama Llama is growing up, and he’s less in need of reassurance of his mother’s love. Now there are other lessons to be learned. The text still has the rhythm and rhyme of Dewdney’s earlier works. The illustrations seem somehow a little more cartoonish, though it is clear that J. T. Morrow tried to stay true to the character of Dewdney’s earlier works.
Published posthumously and completed in her style by her long time partner Reed Duncan, this school time story teaches lessons about the alphabet and the words that they can spell and the sentences that are made by words, the songs, the books. This seemed a little longer, a little more didactic than some of the other Llama Llama books with its vocabulary words and its recitation of the alphabet. It’s more picture book than a primer though. Llama Llama is growing up, and he’s less in need of reassurance of his mother’s love. Now there are other lessons to be learned. The text still has the rhythm and rhyme of Dewdney’s earlier works. The illustrations seem somehow a little more cartoonish, though it is clear that J. T. Morrow tried to stay true to the character of Dewdney’s earlier works.