The Llama Who Had No Pajama

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hoberman, Mary Ann. 1998. The Llama Who Had No Pajama. Ill. by Betty Fraser. San Diego: Browndeer Press. ISBN 0152001115

PLOT SUMMARY

In The Llama Who Had No Pajama, Mary Ann Hoberman has brought together 100 of her favorite poems from over 40 years of writing. This collection offers a wide variety of poems, from silly to serious, from alligator to whale, through the seasons, and through childhood celebrations. The simple illustrations by Betty Fraser bring the poems to life as they delicately grace each page. Teachers and parents alike will find poems for every occasion to recite to and with young people.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Hoberman’s anthology of poetry covers a wide range of topics. There is a large section of animal poetry, as well as poems about family, the seasons, and many other things. The poetry is not grouped or arranged in any particular manner, although there are a table of contents and first-line index. Some poems are remarkably short, while others cover an entire page. Humorous poems are mixed among more serious poems.

Rhythmic elements are an important feature of Hoberman’s poetry. In some poems, it is easy to find the rhythm and to recite the poem aloud: Riddle: No matter where I travel/No matter where I roam/No matter where I find myself/I always am at home. Other poems felt awkward, with the number of syllables in a line breaking the flow of the poem: Brother (excerpt): But he said one little brother/Is exactly like another/And every little brother/Misbehaves a bit, he said.

Hoberman’s work does evoke images of childhood and is filled with the wonder of childhood. Poems such as Whenever bring back memories of spinning around and around until the world seems to continue spinning even when you have stopped. It is these images that make The Llama Who Had No Pajama suitable for use in a classroom.

The illustrations, by Betty Fraser, are, for the most part, as varied as the poems they illustrate. In some places, soft pastels dominate the page. In others, deep yellows, reds, blues and greens evoke a different feeling. Some drawings have an almost Oriental quality, with the look of paintings done on a rice paper screen. There is an abundance of white space on most pages, with the drawings scattered about on the page, depending on the number of poems on each page. While the drawings appear simple, upon further investigation, there is quite a bit of detail that is evident. The drawings, art themselves that could stand alone, do not distract the reader from the written word.

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

While I can see uses for this book, especially in the context of the classroom, it is not a style of book or poetry that I personally embrace. This is not a book that I would pick up, sit down, and read. I am not a fan of the style of illustration, either. As a teacher, I can see pulling out a poem or two to use in conjunction with a particular unit of study or story in reading, but I am not sure this anthology would be my first choice. I would be more tempted, I think, to choose humorous poems from Shel Silverstein, or thoughtful poems from A. A. Milne. When I actually had this book available for the students in my classroom to pick up and read, very few showed interest in it.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Best Children's Books of the Year, 1999; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Books to Read Aloud to Children of All Ages, 2003; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Children's Books of Distinction, 1999; Riverbank Review; United States
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, 2001; H.W. Wilson; United States
Children's Literature Choice List, 1999

School Library Journal: “Good for beginning or experienced readers of poetry, this should indeed become a favorite.”

The Horn Book: "This collection of some forty years of Hoberman verse is a charmer."

CONNECTIONS

ü  Use The Llama Who Had No Pajama as a resource to introduce poetry into thematic units or to pair with a story from your reading anthology

ü  Using some of the simpler poems, have students do dramatic interpretations or create visual aids to present a poem to a younger class.

ü  Create a classroom anthology of favorite poems by favorite authors.

ü  Create a classroom anthology of poems written by students.

ü  Explore other books by Mary Ann Hoberman, such as:

Hoberman, Mary Ann. The Seven Silly Eaters. ISBN 9780152024406

Hoberman, Mary Ann. A House is a House For Me. ISBN 9780142407738

Hidden

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Frost, Helen. 2011. Hidden. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 9780374382216

PLOT SUMMARY

This novel, written entirely in verse, is the story of two young girls who encounter one another in scary and unsettling circumstances. Wren becomes an accidental kidnap victim when Darra’s father, West, steals the minivan in which Wren is hiding. Wren struggles to escape, aided anonymously by Darra. Years later, the girls meet for the first time at summer camp, each recognizing the name of the other. Their chance meeting allows suppressed memories about what happened to resurface for both Wren and Darra. By coming to terms with the emotions each arouses in the other, they are able to find answers about what happened to each of them as a result of West’s actions. As a result of their shared past, they manage to find a common ground on which to base a true and lasting friendship. The title, Hidden, is revealed to have many different layers and meanings throughout this story. Wren is hidden from West; Wren buries (hides) her past in her memory; Darra’s past is hidden in her words through the use of an end-word story.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Frost uses two forms of poetry to reflect the personalities, backgrounds, and experiences of the two girls. Wren, who is from a typical, happy nuclear family, is written entirely in free verse, described by Frost as flowing “musical notation.” In part one, each section of poetry is numbered to reflect the passage of time as Wren searches for a way out of her predicament. Wren’s voice is clear and concise, but reflects great depth of feeling: “Like a small rabbit/that knows a cat is close by,/I paid attention. I didn’t/twitch.”

Darra’s voice is heard through a form invented especially for this book. There is little or no punctuation, and there is an end-word story embedded in the long lines. The text looks and feels “heavier,” reflecting Darra’s conflicted childhood, a childhood with a father whom she loves in spite of his emotional and physical abuse. It is in the end-word story that the reader experiences the happy and sad times “hidden” in Darra’s past: “the/summer/I/was/ seven/Dad/took/me/fishing/on/a/lake…he/didn’t/know/I/saw/him/

crying/the/day/he/got/laid/off”.

Hidden creates a strong emotional impact through Frost’s use of vivid imagery. The reader feels Wren’s fear as she hides in West’s garage: “I’d never get out./I couldn’t stop crying./I wiped my nose on the sleeve of the sweatshirt./Smell of cigarettes. Sweat. Dead fish?/West./I cried harder. Darra’s fear is tangible when Wren loses control during a water exercise at camp: “Only--I don’t surface--I stay/under. She’s holding me down/and I can’t get away. I tap her three times--/she won’t let me up--Wren! I don’t care if she pulls out/a fistful of my hair--I need air!

Wren and Darra exhibit emotions that are born out of their backgrounds and experiences. Throughout this poem, they show great strength of character: one as she struggles to escape and survive this one traumatic experience, one as she struggles to help in whatever small way she can, in spite of living traumatic experiences daily. As they work through the feelings created by the experiences of their younger selves, they discover that the bond created through that common experience is a bond that becomes the basis for a true friendship.

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

I opened up this book expecting not to like it. If asked, I would say that I don’t care for poetry. I was wrong, and someday, I might remember to keep an open mind and be open to new experiences. This book is remarkably well crafted. I couldn’t put it down. I loved the used of the two voices of the girls, and how each form of poetry reflected the personality and life of each. It wasn’t until I read Frost’s note at the back that I made the discovery of the long line end-word story. How clever! I found the layers “hidden” within the book fascinating. This book offers an interesting view of perspective, of how we, as individuals, each experience events we share with others.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Booklist: “Like Frost’s Printz Honor Book, Keesha’s House (2003), this novel in verse stands out through its deliberate use of form to illuminate emotions and cleverly hide secrets in the text.”

School Library Journal: “Smoothly written, this novel carries a message of healing and hope.”

American Library Association Notable Books for Children

CONNECTIONS

• This book would be a great introduction to poetry for middle school students. Consider featuring Hidden during National Poetry Month in April or Young People’s Poetry Week in the third week of April.
• Use Hidden to introduce or continue work with older students on perspective. Encourage students to work in pairs, do an activity together, either teacher- or student-planned, and then write about the experience from their own perspectives. Have them compare and contrast how they each saw the event play out.
• Read other works by Helen Frost and study the forms of poetry that she uses. Other works could include:

Frost, Helen. Crossing Stones. ISBN 9780374316532

Frost, Helen. Diamond Willow. ISBN 9780312603830

Frost, Helen. The Braid. ISBN 9780374309626

• Let students try their hands at hiding a poem within a poem as Frost does with her long line end-word story.

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Singer, Marilyn. 2010. Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. Ill. by Josée Masse. New York: Dutton Children’s Books. ISBN 9780525479017

PLOT SUMMARY

In Mirror Mirror Marilyn Singer has created a fairy tale wedding as she brings together two genres and seamlessly blends them into a new and exciting form. Using carefully chosen words and a new poem structure that she calls “reverso,” Singer presents 12 popular fairy tales in an exciting and innovative manner. Each reading offers differing points of view of the same fairy tale event. For example, in Longing for Beauty we hear: A beast/can love/beauty; while in the reverso we hear: Beauty/can love/a Beast. The first and last reversos invite the reader to view the world differently and to follow the road upon which they are led.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Singer has created a fascinating new style of poetry. By its very nature, the art of creating poems that can be read both forwards and backwards while retaining sense requires structure, carefully chosen words, and a minimalist attitude. With changes only in punctuation and capitalization, each line reads the same in each direction, with an entirely different meaning. Singer gives a clever interpretation of popular fairy tales, and also offers the opposing point of view.

These 14 poems are well-suited to both reading silently and aloud. The rhythm can be hard to find during the first read, but once familiar with how the intonation should sound, works well. The use of rhyme is limited, but where it is used, flows well within the structure of the poems. Some of the poems present excellent word arrangements and emphasis to completely change the meaning. For example, in the poem In the Hood, Little Red Riding Hood is “In my hood,” while the wolf is “in my ‘hood.’”

While these reversos can stand alone, Masse’s brilliant illustrations add considerably to the fun of reading this book. Each illustration provides a visual representation of each pair of poems; the illustrations themselves are reversos. One half supports one side of the story and the other half the other side, but when viewed as a whole, each contains elements of the other. For example, the shape of Sleeping Beauty’s dress is on both sides of the drawing, but on one side it is her dress, while on the other side it forms the forest the prince travels through to reach Sleeping Beauty. The colors Masse uses are rich and deep, and draw the eye into the picture. Be sure and look at the pictures both close up and from a distance; you will be surprised by what you see.

The book is also laid out in a manner that is appealing to the reader. Poems and pictures face each other, but are on alternating leaves with each turn of a page. The final page of the book contains an explanation by Singer as to how reversos developed, with an invitation for readers to try a few on their own.

PERSONAL RESPONSE

I love this book! Again, I am struck by the creativity and cleverness of an author in producing this kind of work. The thought and care that must have gone into the choosing of each word or phrase must have been painstaking. The illustrations are also extremely well done. When sharing this book with my second grade students, I would get caught up in looking at the pictures myself instead of sharing them. My students, especially the girls, really enjoyed this as well. They kept asking for it over and over again, and were disappointed when I had to bring it home.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Cybil Award, 2010

Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts, 2011; NCTE Children's Literature Assembly; United States
Notable Children's Books, 2011; ALSC American Library Association; United States
Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books, 2010; United States
Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, February 8, 2010; Cahners; United States
School Library Journal Starred Review: “This appealing collection based on fairy tales is a marvel to read.”

Booklist starred review: “A must-purchase that will have readers marveling over a visual and verbal feast.”

CONNECTIONS

Ø  After reading this book, have students try writing their own reversos. With the aid of the art teacher, illustrate the reversos using the same techniques that Masse employs in her fine illustrations.

Ø  Read other books by Marilyn Singer.

Singer, Marilyn. Twosomes: Love Poems from the Animal Kingdom. ISBN 9780375867101

Singer, Marilyn. Shoebop! ISBN 9780525479390

Ø  This would be a fun book to use to offer yet another look at perspective.

Ø  This would also be fun to do as a choral reading, having one half of your group of students reading one side of the reverso, and the other half reading the reverse of the poem.

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Scieszka, Jon. 1989. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! Ill. by Lane Smith. New York:

Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0590443577

PLOT SUMMARY

In this amusing version of the traditional three pigs story, Alexander T. Wolf attempts to portray himself as a sympathetic character that is framed based on circumstantial evidence and coincidental events. Mr. Wolf’s story, as told to Jon Scieszka, is that he was simply trying to borrow a cup of sugar from his neighbor, a pig, in order to bake his dear granny a birthday cake. Unfortunately, Mr. Wolf is in the throes of a sneezing cold, which wreaks havoc on his neighbor’s poorly designed straw house. From Mr. Wolf’s perspective, there is no reason not to eat the pig, which has been accidently killed in the collapse of his house. After all, Mr. Wolf explains, the reader would eat a cheeseburger that was just lying around. The second pig doesn’t fair much better than the first, and when the third pig insults Wolf’s granny, Wolf goes berserk, resulting in his arrest. The wolf lays the blame for his being framed at the feet of the press, claiming that the real story didn’t sound exciting enough, so the reporters “jazzed it up.”

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs is an excellent example of perspective. The author uses the same elements found in the more traditional three pigs story: three pigs, houses made of straw, sticks, and bricks, and the huffing and puffing of the wolf, and gives them, from the wolf’s point of view, a rational explanation. The wolf, as storyteller, invites the reader to be empathetic to the plight of all wolves: their diets consist of cute, little animals. He points out that, “If cheeseburgers were cute, folks would probably think you were Big and Bad, too.”

Lane Smith’s illustrations are reminiscent of sepia-toned photographs of the late 19^th century. The stark, yet dream-like quality of the pictures adds credence to the wolf’s story. Smith documents the progression of the story, with elements that move the plot forward, while at the same time incorporating amusing details. One such detail is the portrait of the wolf’s granny on the wall behind the wolf as he is preparing his cake ingredients. Granny is clearly the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. The reader also sees the wolf walking jauntily down the road, whistling, with not a care in the world as he seeks out his cup of sugar.

While this version of the three pigs is considerably less violent than many, some people may be disturbed to see the policemen portrayed as pigs. Those sensitive to events of the sixties might feel that this is an insult to those called to protect. However, in the scope of the book, it is evident that, with the exception of the wolf, it is a pig’s world: the reporters are also pigs, the newspaper that breaks the story of the wolf’s arrest is The Daily Pig, and the wolf is incarcerated in the Pig Penn.

Even the young child will recognize each pig’s house and the huffing and puffing of the wolf. Scieszka’s use of things familiar to children (baking a cake, cheeseburgers) go a long way in helping them make a connection with the wolf. Those children who are of a more mature age will be amused by this look at a familiar story from a different point of view, and can participate in discussions about perspective and point-of-view.

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs was the first fractured fairy tale that I ever read. I found, and still find, it to be highly amusing. It became a tool for me to use in the classroom to springboard discussions about perspective and point-of-view. Details in the illustrations continue to amuse me, even after several readings: the small animals in the wolf’s sandwich and cake mix, the thoughtful look on the wolf’s face as he considers whether he should leave a ham dinner just lying around, and the pink sheep on his handkerchief.

I also like that Scieszka keeps the essential story elements the same; he doesn’t change the characters, the pigs’ building materials, or the outcome for two of the pigs. By keeping these elements, he is ensuring that children will recognize the traditional story. Because of this, children just might begin to realize that every story has two sides (at least!).

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Baker & Taylor Hot Picks - May 1996

NY Times Children's Books - Best Illustrated Children's Books 1997 (And Ongoing)

Notable Children's Books 1990

Parents' Choice Award, 1996

Publisher’s Weekly: “Designed with uncommon flair, this gaily newfangled version of the classic tale takes sides with the villain.”

CONNECTIONS

• The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs is an excellent choice to start a discussion with children about point-of-view and perspective. After reading this book aloud, have children look at other “misunderstood” characters in traditional literature and have them write or tell the story from that point of view.
• This book would also be a great addition to a book study of the many versions of the three pigs. Other versions to include might be:

§  Marshall, James. The Three Little Pigs. ISBN 9780448422886

§  Trivizas, Eugene. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.

ISBN 9780689815287

§  Wiesner, David. The Three Pigs. ISBN 9780618007011

• For those interested in building and construction, this version of the three pigs, along with any others, would be a fun jumping off point for introducing types of houses and building materials. Students could construct houses of different materials and take turns “huffing and puffing” to see which houses are made of the sturdiest materials.