This is my favorite Laura Numeroff book because it is more zany than the rest. It’s short, cleverly rhymed and poses a question at the end for the pondering of little listeners or readers. No, chimps don’t wear glasses and llamas don’t shop, but your imagination and Joe Mathieu’s illustrations help.
Use this book to teach rhyme, rhythm and analogies (which the book purposely skews as in a chipmunk being a king and a lion bowing down). It’s also a great story starter–pick any line, put it in the positive, add a setting and have your students write a story. For the title, it might work like this: In Brazil, chimps wear glasses because…Have fun with it. See if the kids can come up with a variety of settings and work to put the phrases in the positive. It’s a great way to get older kids to read picture books!
