In the Small, Small Pond; Is Your Mama a Llama?

By their very nature, many children's picture books--especially those aimed at very young readers--tend to be formulaic. So, what separates the merely formulaic from the truly noteworthy? In two words, artistic sensibility. Based on Denise Fleming's 1993 Caldecott Honor picture book, the iconographic animated In the Small, Small Pond, sparklingly narrated by Laura Dern and backed with an infectious soundtrack by Jerry Dale McFadden, is comprised of a dozen-plus rhyming stanzas ("wiggle/jiggle/tadpoles wriggle") capturing the kinetic activity of insect, animal and aquatic life in a "small, small" pond. Simplicity itself: but the combination here of gorgeous artwork (and inspired animation), Dern's wonderful voice, McFadden's cool music, and Fleming's beat poetic impressionistic take on geese, dragonflies, herons, minnows, swallows and more, together conjure up a magical impression that lingers in the mind long after the credits roll. Highly recommended. Aud: K, E, P.Is Your Mama a Llama?, Virginia Wilkos' animated adaptation of the 1989 picture book written by Deborah Guarino and illustrated by Steven Kellogg, is a formulaic "who's your mama?" story, narrated by Amy Madigan and featuring a solid musical score by the wonderful Ernest V. Troost. One by one, Lloyd the llama approaches his friends asking if their mama is a llama and receiving the same, differently worded, response: i.e., due to [fill in the characteristics] their mama couldn't be a llama (Jane the cow says, for instance, "she grazes on grass/and she likes to say "moo"/I don't think that's what a llama would do"). While admittedly cute and professional-looking, that elusive magical artistic spark (so clearly evident--at least to me--in the equally formulaic but wondrous In the Small, Small Pond) seems absent here, making this an optional purchase. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)