“Maria had a little llama Maria tenia una llamita” by Angela Dominguez is based off of the classic nursery rhyme, Mary Had A Little Lamb. Every line in the book is followed by the Spanish translation making it interesting to follow the story line throughout. In the story Maria has a little, white llama that she really likes. The relationship between the girl and the llama is shown by the way the llama follows her to school and then waits around for her when it is kicked out of the classroom. Since the author writes the book in such a way to show both the Spanish and English language it is a great book for children who have English or Spanish as a second language. It is very cultured in the way of the text and the illustrations. One page half way through the book shows an illustration of Maria walking to school and the little llama following her with no text. On this page the culture of the little town Maria lives in is clearly shown through the towns people playing music on guitars, selling crops on the side of the road, and everyone moving around on feet. The book is also educational in ways other than culture and language. On a page close to the end of the book the llama is sitting on the grass waiting for Maria to get out of school. Across the page a clock is shown multiple times, each time with a progressing time displayed. This allows the children to realize the systematic process of a clock and can help them with counting. When reading this book to a child you could stop on this page and have them count how many hours the llama waited for Maria. Text-to-Self: I remember as a little girl loving the nursery rhyme "Mary had a little Lamb". I used to sing it all the time. I am sure that many of us knew this 'song' when we were little. This is the main reason why I picked this book because it was similar but different to that song. I liked that it was about a different culture and that I got a different perspective on the book. Text-to-Text: This book is just like the nursery rhyme "Mary had a little Lamb" but instead of a lamb it is a llama and instead of Mary it is Maria. It also has English and Spanish on each page while it tells the story. Text-to-World: This book could be used to show younger kids in school a different perspective about the same story they already know in a different culture. Students would be able to relate to either story in either language because they both will understand the story. This provides a connection between two different cultures and how they can intertwine some of the time.
I loved the illustrations and the bilingual text. I can definitely see using this one in storytime.
—dtactics
Beautiful illustrations and bilingual text provide a fun twist to this classic rhyme.
—Sarah
Answers the question: what if Mary had a llama instead of a lamb?
—karlapc333
Beautifully illustrated, jaunty and perfect for a read aloud.
—RollingForPeace
