Amanda & Her Alligator

Title: Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator

Author: Mo Willems

Picture Book #1

Amanda & Her Alligator is much like any other Mo Willems book in that it is cute, funny, and entertaining for any young reader. The first thing I liked about this book is that it had a table of contents separated by “surprises” in six sections or chapters. I thought this was a neat way to incorporate this feature especially since it is not commonly found in picture books. The second thing I noticed right away were the illustrations. As with any Mo Willems book, they truly make the story. Simple yet powerful, they had me smiling throughout the entire story and really made me fall in love with the characters (especially that cute little alligator).

The story itself is about a young girl named Amanda who has to leave her toy alligator in order to go about her day. While she is gone, the alligator is lonely and anticipates her return greatly dreaming about what they will do together when she comes home. Towards the middle of the story, the alligator learns that he was purchased out of the sale bin for only 7 cents. This makes him feel even worse about himself, but Amanda reminds him that no one purchased him because they were destined to be best friends. By the end, alligator is joined by panda that, at first, seems like he will come between Amanda and alligator’s friendship. However, alligator learns that having another pal around while Amanda is gone isn’t so bad after all. In the classroom, this book would be a great read aloud story for carpet time with young students. It may teach them a thing or two about friendship and is sure to entertain them along the way.