More Llama Drama: Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney

Mama Llama goes away.
Llama Llama has to stay.

Strange new teacher
Strange new toys.

Lots of kids,
And lots of noise.

It's up bright and early, and time to hurry, hurry. It's time for Llama Llama to go to nursery school.

It is the first of many big goodbyes for little Llama, and when Mama puts on her coat and walks out that door, it is as if the world grows suddenly darker. The teacher tries to tempt him with blocks and crafts and a ride on the Chugga-Choo with his classmates, but Llama Llama only wants to hide behind a bookcase. Teacher tries to distract him with a snuggle and a story.

Read stories on the rug?
Kids are cuddling, sitting snug.

Would the Llama like to look?
Llama Llama hates that book!

Then comes lunch time, and as Llama Llama sits around the little table with the strange kids and looks down at his plate, he quietly loses it.

Llama misses Mama so...
Why did Mama Llama go?

It's too much for little Llama.
Little Llama misses Mama.

But Teacher is there in a flash with a hug and a word of hope:

Don't forget when day is through,
She will come right back for you!

And the other kids seem to understand and add an invitation that's hard to refuse:

LLama Llama, please don't fuss.
Have some fun and play with us!

Little Llama bravely puts on his coat and goes outside to climb inside the playhouse and try out the slide, and before he knows it, Mama Llama is back!

Lots to show and lots to say!
Back again another day....

Llama finds out something new--
He loves Mama--and school, too!

As in her earlier Llama sagas--Llama Llama Red Pajama (Viking, 2005) and Llama Llama Mad at Mama (Viking, 2007)--Anna Dewdney's just published Llama Llama Misses Mama is a treat for child and parent alike. Dewdney's empathy with Little Llama and his solicitous mama is shown in their faces, with Llama Llama's worried looks reflected even in the face of his little plush llama which goes everywhere with him. Not many author/illustrators portray the trials of toddlerhood with more understanding than Dewdney, and her easy rhymes and expressive illustrations make this new one a must-have, too.