Ladybug Nominee

A Couch for Llama

Author/Illustrator:  Leah Gilbert

ISBN: 978-1454925118

Publisher: Sterling Children's Books (February 6, 2018)

The Lago family really loves their couch. It’s perfect for reading, snuggling, playing, and jumping. But all good things must come to an end, and, one day, the family realizes the time has come to replace it. As they drive home with their brand-new bright-red couch, though, it gets knocked off the top of their car into a field . . . where a llama tries to make sense of this new thing. At first confused—It doesn’t talk! It doesn’t taste good! It doesn’t budge!—the llama soon realizes how comfy the couch is and settles right in. Can the family get its furniture back—and keep llama happy, too? Leah Gilbert has written and illustrated a warm picture book that touches both the heart and the funny bone. 

About Leah Gilbert

From a small town in Wisconsin on Lake Michigan, Leah Gilbert took her love of art and books to school earning a bachelor’s degree in illustration and graphic design.  She then moved to Colorado and spent a decade as a designer for a greeting card company. Still living in Colorado in the Denver area, this is her debut picture book.

Website: leah-gilbert.com

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/BKkOsHHZxnA

Big Ideas: Problem Solving & Compromise

Questions: 

• Talk about making concessions or adjusting your position or opinion to reach a settlement or an agreement.
• How might you investigate an item you have never seen before?
• What are some things to take into consideration when transporting a couch? (Science-Math)

Vocabulary:  Piled, Brayed, Stubborn

Activities & Crafts:  Reminder “L” is for Library and Llama

• llama mask 
• footprint llama 
• llama stick puppets  and more llama puppets 
• cardboard llama
• Coloring sheet for December 9 - National Llama Day

Companion Titles:

• A great companion title full of positive affirmations: Llive Llaugh Love, Llike a Llama by Alena Tkach (Pop Press, 2018)  

• Stay calm with Be a Llama and Stay a Little Calmer by Sarah Ford; illustrated by Anita Mangan (Spruce, 2018)

• Therapy Llama: Rojo: the Perfectly Imperfect Llama by Shannon Joy Hendrickson (Mascot Books, 2016)

• South American culture and folklore:

o   The Llama’s Secret: A Peruvian Legend by Argentina Palacios Ziegler; illustrated by Charles Reasoner (Troll Communications, 1993)

o   Maria Had a Little Llama (English/Spanish) by Angela Dominguez (Henry Holt, 2013)

o   Tales of Latin America: Retold Timeless Classics edited by Paula Reece; retold by Peg Hall; illustrated by Margaret Sanfilippo (Perfection Learning, 2000)

• Any book in the Llama Llama series by Anna Dewdney is sure to please the llama lovers. It begins with Llama Llama Red Pajama (Viking, 2005)

• Silly and about cutting hair: When Your Lllama Needs a Haircut by Susanna Leonard Hill; illustrated by Daniel Wiseman (Little Simon, 2018)

• Need some llama poetry? Try The Llama Who Had No Pajama: 100 Favorite Poems written by Mary Ann Hoberman; illustrated by Betty Fraser (Harcourt Brace, 1998)

• Get crafty with Crafty Llama by Mike Kerr; illustrated by Renata Liwska (Bloomsbury, 2018)   

• Educational resource: Living Wild: Llamas by Melissa Gish (Creative Education, 2018)

 Other Links and Resources: Ages and Stages: Learning to Resolve Conflictby Scholastic 

This is one of ten titles nominated for the 2019 Ladybug Picture Book Award. This info sheet post was created by Deborah Dutcher, Youth and Adult Services Librarian, NHSL and Karen Landsman,  Library Media/Tech Integration Specialist, Hooksett School District.