Review - Llama Llama Time to Share

Llama Llama Time to Share (Llama Llama)
by Anna Dewdney
Date: 2012
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: hardcover
Source: library

Llama has a sharing drama!

Build a tower. Make a moat.
Nelly's dolly sails a boat.
What can Llama Llama add?
Maybe sharing's not so bad.

Llama Llama has new neighbors! Nelly Gnu and her mama stop by for a play date, but Llama's not so sure it's time to share all his toys. Maybe just his blocks? It could be fun to make a castle with Nelly . . . But wait--Nelly has Llama's little Fuzzy Llama! The fun turns to tears when Fuzzy Llama is ripped in two, "all because of Nelly Gnu!" Mama comes to the rescue and fixes Fuzzy, but she makes it clear: "I'll put Fuzzy on the stairs, until you're sure that you can share."

Fun to read aloud and helpful to children and parents alike, Llama Llama Time to Share is for any child who needs a little encouragement in sharing.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Now this is the Llama Llama I know and love.

This adorable story in rhyme is about sharing. When Nelly Gnu comes over for a playdate, Llama is forced to share his toys. That's all fine, really, until he sees Nelly playing with Fuzzy Llama (his little doll that he takes everywhere). A tug-o-war ensues, and poor Fuzzy Llama gets his arm ripped off! It's a "llama-mergency"!

Not to worry. Mama fixes Fuzzy Llama, but she sets him aside until Llama Llama is ready to share. Eventually, he learns that sharing isn't so bad, and he and Nelly have lots of fun playing together.

Unlike the last Llama Llama book I read, the posthumously published Llama Llama Loves to Read, this one captures the soul of the characters through the wonderful illustrations and bouncy rhymes. There's a lesson here (as there is in most of the Llama Llama storybooks), and I love that it's not preachy. It's just there, in the background, waiting to be absorbed as you read the cute story.

This is yet another wonderful book about the little llama and his family and friends. Highly recommended to fans of the series... or to anyone who needs a little encouragement to share.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4 out of 5