Llamas

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

"Meet the Llama!" This "Farm Animals" series has a distinctly personal and almost nostalgic aura: Farms are small, animals are clean and neat and, in the case of llamas, four thousand years old—it's definitely not agribusiness! In each volume, ample pages bordered in a design of that animal's footprints offer engaging color photographs like one here showing a brown, black, and white llama posed at Machu Picchu. Ten sections present topics ranging from descriptions of breeds through feeding, training, and caring for the animals to life cycles and history. Llama colors (there are no breeds) include bay, black calico, and paint; readers will learn that all llamas derive from wild guanacos, first tamed in Peru thousands of years ago. A two-page spread illustrates llama features: feet, ears, eyes, and fleece. Caring for llamas includes providing these herbivores with hay and vitamins, shelters against bad weather, and fences too high to jump. Future farmers and city kids will discover that llamas feature in many South American myths and legends; a short retelling introduces readers to a Peruvian folktale about a llama who saved all humans. For inquiring minds, a short quiz and two recommended books point to further research, while a "Frequently Asked Questions" section answers queries like "How do I know if my llama is ill?" Unusual for the variety of information presented, the freshness of its graphic appeal, and recognition of the antiquity and traditions of animal husbandry, this series is an exceptional value for its reasonable price.