The Llama Who Had No Pajama: 100 Favorite Poems

Wow. What a terrific overview of Hoberman's oeuvre. Some of these we've all seen before, but most wound up being new to me... I'm so glad they got collected before they got too old-fashioned. I mean, I like to think that most are timeless, but I do recognize that times, and perspectives, do change.*

This is truly a lot of fun, with plenty of choices for everyone. Short as a haiku, or long as a two-page spread. Tongue-twisters, jokes, a counting out rhyme of insects, and others that are poignant or resonant.

And the illustrations are terrifically charming. And the book design, well, let me tell you, that's a challenge for poetry collections, and even more so for 100 poems in a picture-book format... but this succeeds beautifully!

My show more favorites are Anthropoids and Procyonidae. (And they would have been when I was young, too.)

Recommended to all educators and learners. I wouldn't mind owning a copy.

*(And no, I don't mean to excuse ones that have any 'isms. None of those are here.) show less

This book is filled with individual poems about different things that children encounter in their everyday life. Such as playing with bugs, or eating applesauce or going to a birthday party. This book is great for younger grades because of the simple language and colorful pictures. But could also be used in higher grades to provide fun and interesting examples of poetry. This has recently become one of my favorite books because the creative and interesting poems convey the experiences of childhood with a fresh timelessness.

I enjoyed this poetry book for two different reasons: the language and the writing. When writing poetry books, it is difficult to write for the proper age group; however, I believe that this author did a great job. Hoberman attempts to draw in her readers by using simple, yet descriptive language. In "The Birthday Bus," she writes, "My birthday is coming and I will be six; I'd like a new bike and some peppermint sticks." I enjoy this line because rather than simply saying that it is the child's birthday and that he/she wants a present, the author decided to be more descriptive. Using words like "peppermint sticks" and "new bike" allows the reader to picture exactly what the child in the poem is asking for. Similarly to this, I also show more enjoyed the overall writing in this book. I believe that the topics were all engaging and well paced. For example, one poem discussed the school bus, another discussed whales, and one last one discussed snow. All of these topics (among many of the other ones) are relevant to young readers. As a result, the writing engages students and they are interested in learning more about topics that they see in their every day lives. The overall idea of this book is to portray the experiences of childhood through poetry. show less

This book is excellent!!! When I glanced at the cover I thought the book was only going to be about a Llama. When I opened it, I found 100 other poems about different things. Most of the poems were about animals, some were about the weather and people too. This book is a great read for children or adults. If you are doing a poetry unit this would be a great book to use. The poems are simple and easy to understand. They also include pictures and are written in creative ways. Some text is indented, and some text is written in bubbles, or zig zagged. It is fun to look at and children don't have to spend a lot of time analyzing each poem. It gives children the idea of what poetry looks and sounds like. If you are a parent, these would be show more great poems to read to your children before bed. I mean what kid doesn't love animals? Overall I feel that this book of poems is fun and exciting for children of all ages, whether its sitting on a bookshelf for anyone to read, or used for a poetry unit, an art lesson, or a lesson about animals. show less

This is a collection of one hundred favorite Mary Ann Hoberman poems. Reading them made me wish I was back in my kindergarten classroom sharing them. She as reteamed here with Betty Fraser, who has illustrated other of Hoberman’s books, including A House Is a House for Me. I found myself reading these aloud to fully appreciate the rhythm and rhyme, and I wondered what Hoberman’s writing process is like—how does she make these rhythmically perfect poems? Another thing I appreciate about Hoberman’s work is her ability to take subjects which normally would not interest me in the least (various insects, for example) and write poems that I like.

In classroom with young children, I would share this book with children so they could show more hear and enjoy the sounds of the language—the rhythm and rhyme, as well as the occasional repeated phrasings. But my purpose would be for them to enjoy it; I don’t see myself dissecting the poems with young children.

With preservice teachers I would introduce the book in talking about phonological awareness and ways to engage young students in language play, rather than doing some sort of phonological awareness drill. For working with older students, I would ask preservice teachers to consider all the various kinds of poety that exist and how to introduce them to kids. This type of poetry is certainly worthy of inclusion, especially as older students think about how she works to make them sound the way they do. It would also make for interesting talk to consider the topics she chooses, which are everyday things. This would help to bring poetry, which is often considered lofty and distant, back down to earth. show less

This book contains 100 poems for children on various subjects, ranging from birthdays to nature to siblings. All of the poems are light-hearted fun, even a little silly at times, with lots of repetition that children will enjoy. Most are fairly short, so even the book contains many poems, it could be read (by an adult at least) in less than an hour. These sing-song poems are particularly suited for being read aloud, so this book makes for a good story time either in a library or school setting, or a one-on-one parent or other adult with child(ren) situation. The simple, bright illustrations depict the poems’ subjects perfectly. Overall, this is an entertaining (and occasional informative) read that both children and adults will love.

When I plucked this book off the shelf, I did not know what to expect. The title sounded funny and engaging so I decided to give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I I enjoyed this poetry book. Each poem is only about a page long and s accompanied by a colorful picture. It really helped me visualize the silly little poems. Hoberman uses simple, yet descriptive language to make her poems effective yet fun to read. She often uses rhyming words which is good for younger readers. This allows reader to become even more engaged with the poem. I also enjoyed the overall writing in this book. The topics were all kid appropriate and topics that kids would love to read about. The overall idea of this book is to describe different show more experiences in childhood. show less