LLAMA LLAMA MEETS THE BABYSITTER

Will it be your child’s first time with a nonfamily babysitter? Get great advice from Mama Llama.

When Mama Llama must go out one evening and Gramma Llama can’t come instead, Llama Llama worries about who the babysitter will be. Will she be fun? Will she read the books he likes and play games? At first, Llama Llama feels sad, but then he gets mad, so mad his “brain starts to fizz.” Luckily, the doorbell rings, and the babysitter arrives. It’s skunk Molly, whom Llama knows from the ice cream shop and who just happens to have a bag of ice cream sundae samples. When it’s clear the evening is off to a great start, Mama Llama leaves, and Llama Llama and Molly begin a fun-filled time. Llama Llama’s initial emotional reactions to having a babysitter will ring true with children, as will Mama Llama’s explanations as she acknowledges two big concerns head-on. First, even though a babysitter is not the same as having family, Mama Llama clearly states the babysitter “will take good care of you.” To the second—“And what if you do not come back?!”—Mama immediately reassures Llama Llama that she will, reinforcing her commitment when she returns home. The text is done in rhyming couplets, but many near rhymes and an inconsistent meter may hinder reading aloud without practice. As has become expected after Dewdney’s passing, Morrow’s paintings nicely emulate the late author’s style. Endpapers feature before-and-after pictures of yummy sundae ingredients. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 19.6% of actual size.)

A spot-on description of a child’s babysitter jitters and comforting discussion should calm everyone’s fears.