Title:  Llama Llama Mad at Mama
Author and Illustrator:  Anna Dewdney
Publisher:  Viking (Penguin Group)
ISBN:  0-670-06240-9
Year:  2007
Flesch-Kinkaid Grade Level:  1.9

Concepts:  wants and needs, goods, markets

Review:  Llama llama, no different from other kids his age, would rather continue playing than head off with Mama to the Shop-O-Rama.  Mama probably feels much the same way, but the weekly groceries and errands need to get done.  Llama llama grows progressively more agitated during the shopping expedition, resulting in a tantrum that sends the shopping cart contents scattering throughout the aisle. Clever mama finds a way to calm her son and finish buying what they need at the supermarket.  The book, with marvelous illustrations that clearly express Llama llama’s growing frustration, can be used to teach young children about wants and needs, goods, and markets. Also essential is the message that parents can find grocery shopping just as tedious as their little ones.

Review by:  Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children.