Hooray for Amanda & her alligator!

This book is about me, totally. The girl has my haircut, likes to read more than anything and gets a panda in the end.

A

Mo Willems truly gets the relationship young children have with their toys and/or imaginary firends.

LOVE LOVE that Pigeon (Mo Willems persistent, never wants to be left out character) and Knuffle Bunny also appear in the illustrations. The illustrations add energy, life and emotion to the text. I know, having loved Mo Willems books, he always tries to show emotion in the work, a small picture on

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a big page shows loneliness or isolation, lots of movement can portray anger, as well as the expressive faces of the characters. This book is an endearing story of surprises, humor and friendship.

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Great book on friendship. Amanda and alligator are best friends. Her alligator is always trying to surprise her. One day he comes into surprise her and he said "something tickles" Amanda thought is was part of the alligators joke until she realizes he has a price tag hanging off of him. When she

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takes it off he asks how much he was worth. The alligator reminded her that when friends ask you to tell the truth, you tell the truth. She told him he cost seven cents because he was in a sale bucket. When the alligator asked why nobody wanted him she replied "because everybody know that you were meant to be my best friend" A great book for learning about friendship.

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Amanda has a toy stuffed alligator that she loves to play with. In a plot reminiscent of Toy Story, the alligator doesn't like it when she leaves him alone for long periods of time and he really doesn't like it when she brings home a toy panda. The book is divided into "6 1/2 surprising stories

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about 2 surprising friends" and it has a table of contents so it is a clever introduction to a chapter book. Simple illustrations in cool tones provide a counterpoint to a wonderful story about friendship. A wonderful book for children ages 3-6 which can be read in parts or as a whole.

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Amanda loves her stuffed alligator. But what will happen when her alligator learns his true origin was...a discount bin?

“Amanda was at the library getting her books for the week.
Her alligator was not.
He was waiting for Amanda to get back.
‘I am no good at waiting.’
He paced around the room.
He

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fiddled with his tail.”

Hooray for another wonderful Mo Willems book! Hooray!

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A terrific cross between a picture book and an easy reader. Great for reading to a child but with simple language and stories for kids starting to read on their own. No one does simple stories and simple illustrations like Mo Willems.

A creative story about the connection between young children and their stuffed animals, and why a child should never own just one.

Every child will love Amanda and Her Alligator not only for the illustrations, but because her stuffed animals are "alive" and have thoughts and feelings. Great lesson on sharing and making new friends.

I had never heard of Mo Willems before this class, but now I would say he is one of my favorite authors.

This book is about Amanda and her Alligator. When she brings home a new friend, Alligator has to learn how to not be selfish and share his friend with the other toys. In the end, Panda and

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Alligator end up becoming friends and Alligator realizes that it is fun to have more than one friend.

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A book beginning readers are sure to find appealing.

Summary:
In this book Amanda has a pet alligator and brings him gifts when she has to leave him alone. But he still gets lonely. So one day after a visit to the zoo she brings home a panda friend for alligator to play with when she has to be away.

Personal Reaction:
I really enjoyed this book and

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thought it was a great story about friendship.

Classroom Extentions:
Have the students write a story about their best friend/pet.
Have the students share things they liked to do with their friends.

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Amanda and Alligator are as original and engaging as any of Mo Willems diverse cast of characters. Their five and a half adventures involving various types of surprises will hook readers from the first page. Given the fact that not all of Amanda's experiences involve Alligator (an avid reader,

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Amanda makes frequent trips to the library while Alligator stays home), the final surprise is perhaps the best one of all.

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Popular children's author and illustrator Mo Willems, a three-time Caldecott Honoree, presents 6 ½ stories in this engaging picture-book, which follows the ups and downs in the relationship between a young girl named Amanda, and Alligator, her stuffed eusuchian friend. Whether Amanda is bringing

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home a surprise for Alligator, or Alligator is plotting to return the favor, these two boon companions know how to have fun! When a third party, in the form of a fluffy stuffed panda won by Amanda's Grandpa at the zoo, enters the mix, it seems that there might be trouble ahead, until the two animals discover that they have more than just Amanda in common...

A cross between a chapter-book and a picture-book - or, more precisely, a longer picture-book with chapters - Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator is yet more proof that this author/artist really knows how to enter into the pre-school mindset. I loved that Amanda and Alligator have a relationship that is simultaneously loving and taunting - go get your thinking cap, and try again, Alligator! - as that felt very true-to-life to me, and also elicited a good chuckle. The artwork is pure Mo Willems, which is to say: not my personal favorite, from an aesthetic perspective, but perfectly suited to the story (and story audience) at hand. Any child with a special toy or doll will appreciate this story, especially if they've ever wondered what that companion got up to, when they weren't around.

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Amanda and Alligator enjoy reading books and trying to scare each other. Alligator learns that he came from a bargain bin at a garage sale. One day, Amanda brings home a new friend, a panda bear, and Alligator has to learn to get along with this new friend.

I really enjoyed this book for a few different reasons. The first reason that I enjoyed the book is because of the illustrations. Since the story was so abstract, I thought the illustrations were essential and enhanced the written text. Additionally, it was entertaining to see a visual of the

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alligator doing all the different things that it did. Another reason that I enjoyed this story was because of the written text. I really liked how the story was split into a few different short stories. Not only were the stories short but they also could be read as one longer story and I thought that was really cool. Additionally, I liked how the author included the alligators inner thoughts throughout the book. Overall, I found this book to be very humorous. I would say that the overall message of this story is to not judge a book by its cover because you can find new friendships when you least expect it.

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Amanda and her alligator love surprises. That is, until Amanda brings home a special surprise. The outcome is sure to be surprising!

This delightful Mo Willems creation contains six and a half surprising stories about two friends who love to surprise one another. The simple illustrations are just

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enough for the easy and funny tale. A very entertaining read!

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Mo Willems's short stories combined in one book make for a good read. This book is easily made into lessons for the audience about a range of subjects, as well as a lesson about friends throughout the whole book. Another Willems Classic.

This book reminded me of Calvin & Hobbes, but not as funny and not as many points of imagination in the story. It is put together cleverly with miniature chapters for different stories of friendship. I could use this as a read aloud to discuss characters in a story. The counselor could also use

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this book at the beginning of the year to talk about making new friends in all kinds of situations.

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This is a very cute story about Amanda and Her Alligator. I always like books about friendship and this is definitely one of those.
It could fit in a curriculum almost anywhere. Books about friendship are a go-to for me.

This is a sweet story between Amanda and her Alligator and eventually alligator and panda. The story is divided into chapters or short stories which felt kind of unnecessary to me. I found myself wondering if the breaks served some other purpose that I just wasn't seeing. I loved the different

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books that Amanda read throughout the course of the story and appreciated the crayony aspects of the art style and it's general simplicity.

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This is a sweet story between Amanda and her Alligator and eventually alligator and panda. The story is divided into chapters or short stories which felt kind of unnecessary to me. I found myself wondering if the breaks served some other purpose that I just wasn't seeing. I loved the different

Show More

books that Amanda read throughout the course of the story and appreciated the crayony aspects of the art style and it's general simplicity.

Show Less

This is a sweet story between Amanda and her Alligator and eventually alligator and panda. The story is divided into chapters or short stories which felt kind of unnecessary to me. I found myself wondering if the breaks served some other purpose that I just wasn't seeing. I loved the different

Show More

books that Amanda read throughout the course of the story and appreciated the crayony aspects of the art style and it's general simplicity.

Show Less

This is a sweet story between Amanda and her Alligator and eventually alligator and panda. The story is divided into chapters or short stories which felt kind of unnecessary to me. I found myself wondering if the breaks served some other purpose that I just wasn't seeing. I loved the different

Show More

books that Amanda read throughout the course of the story and appreciated the crayony aspects of the art style and it's general simplicity.

Show Less