Llama Pajamas

Here's a poem I love by Mary Ann Hoberman from her book "The Llama Who Had No Pajama - 100 Favorite Poems"

The llama who had no pajama
Was troubled and terribly sad
When it became known that he had outgrown
Every pair of pajamas he had;
And he tearfully said to his mama
In a voice that was deep with despair:
O llamaly mama
I need a pajama
Or what in the world will I wear?
Or what in the world,
In the wumberly world,
In the wumberly world will I wear?

The llama who had no pajama
Looked up at the evening sky.
It will soon, he said, be time for bed
And all will be sleeping but I.
And all will be sleeping but I, but I,
And all will be sleeping but I.
For how can a llama go bare to bed,
The little pajamaless llama said,
When the rest of the world,
Of the wumberly world,
Are all wearing pretty pajamas?

The poor little llama's sad mama
Got out her needle and thread.
I'll try to enlarge your pajama,
The llama's sad mama said.
And she stitched and she sewed those pajamas
Till she ran out of plum-colored thread.
But they still were too small for the llama.
O what will we do? Mama said.

For you must have a pair of pajamas
As you cannot go naked to bed;
But where in the world,
In the wumberly world,
Will we find you a pair of pajamas?

They looked in each nook and each cranny;
They looked on each hillock and mound;
But though they saw bathrobes and bonnets,
Pajamas were not to be found.
The clock struck a quarter to seven.
The llama lay down on the ground.
I know I won't sleep, he sniffed sadly,
And his nose made a staying-up sound.

But he did sleep. He dozed off at seven.
And he slept for the rest of the night;
And when he woke up in the morning
To his mama he said with delight:
What a wonderful sleep I've been sleeping all night!
My head feels so clear and my eyes feel so bright.
When we looked for pajamas, how foolish we were.
Why, I sleep so much better in nothing but fur!
It fits me so nicely; it's light as the air;
It's the practical thing for a llama to wear.
And since goats don't wear coats
And doves don't wear gloves
And cocks don't wear socks
And bats don't wear hats,
Well, why in the world,
In the wumberly world,
Should llamas be wearing pajamas?


Encantadas Jack in his pajamas.