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Llama Llama Single Mama
Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama series has been one of the favorites of the four and five year olds in my classroom for years now.
Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama series has been one of the favorites of the four and five year olds in my classroom for years now. The fun rhymes combined with relatable stories and illustrations of the characters faces that are great at conveying emotions seem to really draw the children into the books. However, there is another aspect of the books which gives them extra depth. Mama Llama is a single mom.This fact is never explicitly stated in the books, but the character of “Daddy Llama” has yet to make an appearance. Furthermore, from the very first book, Llama Llama Red Pajama, we see Mama Llama busily having to accomplish a variety of tasks without any support. Even though I have read these books hundreds of times over the past few years, I have literally never had a student ask a question about where Llama Llama’s Dad might be and I have never brought it up.
I suspect that in most cases young children won’t pick up on the fact that Llama’s family may not be like the heterosexual families with two parents that are found in your average children’s book; but, that does not mean that there is no impact from Llama Llama being raised by a single mom. Books like the Llama Llama series that don’t prominently feature a nuclear family almost subversively normalize that family type and give young children someone they can possibly relate to. Anecdotally, I can tell you that as a child raised by a single mom, I was often drawn to books/movies/songs with that dynamic even when I was not completely conscious of it.
Thus, I would argue it is important that we include books with a variety of family dynamic in our classrooms where the deviations from the standard nuclear family is not central to the story but sits in the background of the book. (Books where the different family type are central to the story can also be helpful if done well, but I would put them in a separate genre). Unfortunately, those books are few and far between. Anyone have any recommendations for books that feature family variations but where those variations are not central to the story?
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Jennifer F
As a widowed mother to a 4 year old who lost his daddy when he was not quite 2 yet, yes, my child picked up on the fact that Llama Llama does not have a daddy represented in the show or books. Kids pick up on things that relate to them. And it means the world to him to see a family like his. My parents are very involved in his life, just like Llama Llama’s gram and grandpa. I did not point out the absence of a father to my son, rather, he excitedly told me, “Llama Llama is just like me!” He of course assumed that Daddy Llama must be in heaven like his daddy, but we talked about how families look different- like his friend who has divorced parents. It has helped us talk about different family units, and how each one is special because there is love.Posted : Jul 18, 2021 12:54
Rose Cali
Daddy Llama is at the store buying milk. Don’t over complicate a children’s book!Posted : Jul 30, 2020 04:16
Viktoriia
I love that the show has this tiny bit of diversity in it. It is important for kids to see that the definition of family is flexible, and different arrangements result in happy families. There’s more of that in Daniel Tiger’s neighbourhood, which has a single mom, an uncle raising his nephew and a variety of heterosexual couples. No same-sex couples there so far unfortunately, but even so, that is the most diverse show for kids I’ve seen so far. I also strongly believe that “Going on a bear hunt” features a single dad with a whole bunch of kids, because aside from dad there isn’t any grown up looking characters there, so there’s that. “Guess how much I love you” is about a single dad. The biographical book “Martian child” is about a single dad with his adopted son. New She Ra series have a very normal and happy two dads family. Can’t think of anything with two moms... :-(Posted : May 08, 2019 06:14
Kenneth Carter
That’s interesting that there are so many people that have commented on this.. I am a single dad with a 3 year old little girl, and my daughter watches llama llama on Netflix, it’s her favorite show, I like the show, I’ve actuallt watched it to see the content, but I was a little surprised that he don’t have a dad, so I asked my little girl where llama llama’s dad is, and my little girl told me that he’s at work, it’s kind of bothered me a little for a few days now, so I decided to look it up, and to my surprise it’s actually a great conversation topic..Posted : Mar 29, 2019 03:35
Missing_in_action
Llama llama’s dad is an archeologist in Peru.Posted : Dec 17, 2018 04:21