There are books that are absolute classics and have been for decades now. I just reviewed some of them. Goodnight Moon fits that. The Very Hungry Caterpillar fits that. Every bookstore you'll ever go to will have those posted up somewhere in the kids section, highly visible, and they live on every single bookshelf across every single house that has kids in it. Then there are books that are trying to become classics. A little more modern, but trying to fit into that niche of just must-have books that exist on every single bookshelf. That would be Llama Llama Red Pajama. It's pretty widely known as a very popular children's book at this point, and it's pretty obvious why. It's the mixture of the rhythmic prose along with the fact that it's done with the word llama, which is unique, it stands out, it's an animal. I understand why it's a contender to be one of those new modern classic children's books.
But it falls flat in one major area, at least in the bookish dad household, and that is on child engagement. That's not to say it isn't a good book in other ways. It's definitely a book that I probably enjoy more than the kids.
The story goes that Mama kisses baby Llama to bed, and she goes off and does some chores and a telephone call. Llama Llama is struggling to go to sleep. I think he has some separation anxiety and wants his mama there one more time, presumably to maybe fall asleep with him, or who knows. And he just progressively gets more and more frantic, wishing his mom was there as he screams down to her, and she tells him to wait, and then he screams even louder, and she's busy, and then all of a sudden he has a total meltdown. Mom comes screaming up like Llama Llama fell out a window or something, gives him a stern talking to, and then magically he just decides to go to sleep afterwards.
Fuzzy Llama has a knowing look about whats about to transpire tonight.
Prose first, story second
The writing is fun to say after you've said it a few times. You start to get a cadence going of how to say it. It's funny, songy, bouncy, and makes the tongue happy in the way that a Dr. Seuss book would make the tongue happy. There's something about the writing that's more than just your typical rhyming book. I've seen the videos of rappers rapping Llama Llama Red Pajama, for instance, and it just hits harder. It's very well done in that way, and overall that's why I can see it being that classic. Five out of five on the prose. It's super fun to read.
The plot is more of a side piece to the rhythm though. It's a little unclear exactly why baby Llama is freaking out, and it almost seems like a book where the rhythmic aspect was built first and then a story was fit in underneath it. The plot on its own is maybe a three out of five, but that's not really why the story exists.
Llama Llama officially starting to lose it.
The performance aspect is honestly pretty good too. I get parts where he's weeping and wailing, and I get to perform for my kids and do my best weeping and wailing and whispering and boo-hooing type of voice. I get to pout and shout, and then I get to yell as well when he shouts down to his mom. Maybe yelling isn't the best thing for bedtime. I've made that mistake before.
The problem is little Llama
Aaaaaand he lost it.
Every time I pull out this book for both my oldest and my youngest, neither one ever wants to read it. And I've been spending the last few years trying to understand why. On the outset the book is pretty lighthearted, fun, relevant to issues children might face, on top of the fact that you'd presume it would be very fun for a kid to listen to because the whole thing rhymes. But neither of my kids ever really seem to like this book, and I think I've now nailed down why. The problem is little Llama. He's just not particularly likable.
When my kids read this, I don't think they see themselves as Llama, even though they've had plenty of nights where they've called out for their mom or their dad to come give them one more kiss or tuck them in. I think when they see baby Llama, they almost look at him as that baby who is making all this trouble for his mom. They're not necessarily questioning it out loud, just reflecting on the fact that this is not how kids should act. They should just be able to go to sleep after getting a kiss, and they certainly shouldn't be having a major meltdown that causes a panic attack from his mom.
I love books that have images that remind me of me at various times in parenting. This is one of them.
The overall story in some ways reminds me of some TV shows the kids will watch from time to time. Maybe Daniel Tiger is a good example, where it's a character who on a surface level seems like he could be likable, but there's this whininess or babiness to it that just doesn't resonate with my kids. And that sticks out. It overrides any of the other fun aspects of this book, the rhythmic prose or the honestly pretty funny pictures of Mama Llama in a panic running upstairs, and ultimately makes this book not come off the shelf very much in our household. When it does get pulled out, it often gets rejected. That also makes it impossible to ever really build up good re-read value, even if my brain is firing up the parts of my memory excited to do the right cadence, voice, and rhyme. I unfortunately haven't said it as many times as I would have liked, because it keeps getting vetoed. It's really the one out of five on kid engagement that sets this book back.
On the message side, I guess there doesn't really need to be a reason for baby Llama to be freaking out. That's just kids. They don't need to say he's scared of the dark or has separation anxiety or anything like that; it's just something kids do. But it all fits together maybe a little too neatly at the end, where all he needs is mom up there one more time, giving him a talking to saying he's fine, here's a kiss, go to sleep. There is a bit of a moral when Mama Llama says she's always near even if she's not right there, and a kid can walk away from that thinking they don't need to be super attached to their mom at all times. But it's not a book that any kid has ever walked away from having felt like their separation anxiety has gone away.
Big pages, big faces
It also has really great images. The copies we have are really sizable, large books, and each page has a very large spread where we can see facial expressions up close. All the worry baby Llama has as his eyes look around a dark room, his fuzzy llama right next to him. We get some really great images of Llama Llama weeping and wailing, and then a spread without any words where Mama Llama quickly dumps the phone and sprints upstairs. And of course Llama Llama is totally fine, and then you get her stern mom face telling him what a tizzy. I'd give the illustrations a four out of five.
It really makes me wonder why more books don't do this size. That's not to say it's rare; we definitely have a good number of large picture books that put great illustrations on display. There is a cost factor. I'm sure these books are more expensive to produce and then more expensive to buy, and then maybe don't get purchased as much by parents. But it makes the reading experience really enjoyable. When you hold the large style book, the kids can really see it. They don't have to lean their heads in, they can keep their head back against the pillow as you read it, and all the images are big enough that they can see the details very clearly.
From the dad side, this is a book I really want to bring out more often. It's fun, it's big, and (sometimes this is the most important piece) it's short. Only 3 minutes per read.
So it's a mixed bag for me. I want to give it a higher rating because from my perspective it is a good book, and I could see a lot of families really enjoying it. It might be a modern classic for some, but not for us. Overall I'd give it a three out of five, and I'd still recommend people at least pick it up from the library, read it, and then see whether or not it's something that vibes with the kids. It really is going to come down to kid engagement. Do they love rhythmic books so much that they're willing to overlook a lackluster main character? Or maybe they're the type of kid who gets attached to a character like Llama Llama, sees similarities in him and can relate, or feels bad for him in a way and is rooting for him. Mine aren't, and so this one mostly stays on the shelf.
