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Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator

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Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator

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Overview

6½ stories about 2 surprising friends.

Having a stuffed alligator for a best friend can be surprising.

Sometimes Amanda surprises her alligator with books. Sometimes Alligator surprises Amanda by eating them.

But what happens when Amanda brings home a special—and not entirely welcome—surprise? The result might be unexpected indeed.

Beloved author-illustrator Mo Willems has created a funny and tender portrait of friendship that readers of any age will love.

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062004000
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/26/2011
Pages:	72
Sales rank:	441,615
Product dimensions:	8.06(w) x 10.76(h) x 0.56(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mo Willems knows a Good Idea when he sees one. A three-time Caldecott Honor winner (for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny, and Knuffle Bunny Too), he also won two Geisel Medals and two Geisel Honors for his Elephant and Piggie books. His books are perennial New York Times bestsellers, including Knuffle Bunny Free, Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator!, and the Cat the Cat series. Before he turned to making picture books, Mo was a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he won six Emmys. Mo lives with his family in Massachusetts.

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Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator!

Editorial Reviews

Six and a half short stories make up this expertly paced page-turner about a girl and her toy alligator, laced with the kid-centric humor on which Willems has built his career. Willems presents everyday, indoor interactions between Amanda and her teal-blue, nontoothy pal, drawn in grainy black crayon with watercolor wash. Alligator waits impatiently for Amanda to return from the library, then asks, "Do you have a surprise for me?" Amanda indulges him by shouting, "Boo!" Then, in a bit of turnabout, while Amanda reads her library books Alligator observes, "Something tickles," followed by "I do!" Another ticklish subject arises when Alligator discovers his price tag and that he came from "the sale bucket" ("Nobody wanted to buy you," Amanda admits, adding, "because they knew you were meant to be my best friend"). The emphasis rests on quiet, ordinary events and the characters' comfortable alliance, which is temporarily threatened by a rival panda toy who bears a resemblance to Knuffle Bunny. As in his Elephant and Piggie books, Willems ends on a generous note, showing how Alligator and Panda overcome their superficial differences and giggle together. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Amusing and heartwarming, it will leave Willems’s fans totally satisfied.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“Six and a half short stories make up this expertly paced page-turner about a girl and her toy alligator, laced with the kid-centric humor on which Willems has built his career. ” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The pacing, word volume and wide trim size are all inviting and encouraging, bringing readers close to the cozy friendship between Amanda and her impatient stuffed friend. ” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Willems knows how to keep things interesting and his audience engaged.” — Horn Book (starred review)
“Willems may not have the market cornered on best friends, but few do them better.” — ALA Booklist
“This is a perfect stealth early reader, a story that will begin as a chapter-by-chapter readaloud and then get converted by the audience when experience and determination make it time to fly solo. ” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

This is a perfect stealth early reader, a story that will begin as a chapter-by-chapter readaloud and then get converted by the audience when experience and determination make it time to fly solo.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Willems may not have the market cornered on best friends, but few do them better.

ALA Booklist

Willems knows how to keep things interesting and his audience engaged.

Horn Book (starred review)

This is a perfect stealth early reader, a story that will begin as a chapter-by-chapter readaloud and then get converted by the audience when experience and determination make it time to fly solo.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This is a perfect stealth early reader, a story that will begin as a chapter-by-chapter readaloud and then get converted by the audience when experience and determination make it time to fly solo.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Willems knows how to keep things interesting and his audience engaged.” %COMM_CONTRIB%Horn Book (starred review)

"Willems knows how to keep things interesting and his audience engaged."

Horn Book

This is a perfect stealth early reader, a story that will begin as a chapter-by-chapter readaloud and then get converted by the audience when experience and determination make it time to fly solo.

The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books

PreS-Gr 2—These "6½ Surprising Stories About 2 Surprising Friends" expand on the bond between child and toy that Willems captured so well in "Knuffle Bunny." In the first tale, the turquoise stuffed alligator, endearingly pictured clutching his tail, anxiously awaits young Amanda's return from the library. When he asks her for a surprise, she delivers expertly, yelling, "BOO!" Though his first attempt to return the favor is an "un-surprising surprise," Alligator follows Amanda's suggestion to put on his Old Thinking Cap—a kind of Viking helmet with lightbulbs attached—and succeeds. Alligator later overcomes his disappointment at discovering that he was taken from the discount bin when Amanda tells him that no one else bought him because he was meant to be her best friend. Finally, he discovers a new pal in a potential rival toy. The humor in these stories suits both children and adults, as when Amanda notices Alligator chewing on her head while she is reading You Can Make It Yourself: Jet Packs! White pages with partially outlined background elements set the scene, while the characters take center stage. In the author's trademark charcoal and watercolor illustrations, characters once again strike just the right pose to convey a maximum of information with a minimum of artistic sweat. This book is best suited to older preschoolers or beginning readers ready for a transitional-length story that is in between tidy picture-book tales and more complex chapter stories. Amusing and heartwarming, it will leave Willems's fans totally satisfied.—Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI

School Library Journal

An exploration of the nature of surprises between good friends.
The point of view belongs firmly with Amanda's stuffed alligator, whose patience wears thin whenever Amanda is away and he is waiting for her return, and whose generosity is taxed when Amanda brings home a new stuffed panda from a zoo visit. Resourceful Amanda plows through a stack of library books with enticing titles (Whale Songs for Beginners;You Can Make It Yourself: Jet Packs!) as her alligator thinks of ways to engage her attention. When Alligator begins chewing on Amada's head, she tells him "Books beat boredom," but he still thinks her head tastes better than a book. Alligator's worry over his price tag (he came from the sale bin) and the introduction of the new "friend" add emotional complexity to the simple friendship tale. The pacing, word volume and wide trim size are all inviting and encouraging, bringing readers close to the cozy friendship between Amanda and her impatient stuffed friend. The figures are set against plenty of white space, giving them an appealing kinetic energy and encouraging the eye to move, or sometimes gallop, across the page.
Silly, warm and inviting, the six-and-1/2 short episodic chapters are just right for reading aloud as well as for beginning readers who are steady on their reading feet.(Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews

Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator

Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator

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