Llama Rocks the Cradle of Chaos, by Jonathan Stutzman, for Timeslip Tuesday

 

A fun picture book for today's Timeslip Tuesday, as my brain is somewhat fried.  Llama Rocks the Cradle of Chaos, by Jonathan Stutzman, illustrated by Heather Fox (July 22, 2022, Henry Holt).  This is the third adventure of the titular llama, but happily I am a strong enough reader that I was able to plunge right in.  

Llama is a creature of many interests.  Chief among them  is eating delicious baked goods, especially donuts.   When his birthday donut proves to be the most delicious thing he's ever eaten, the sadness of not being able to eat it again overwhelms him.  Fortunately, the time travelling pants he has on hand can solve the problem!  And so he sets off to the past to be reunited with the donut....unfortunately, without reading the instructions....

And things go haywire, ending up with Llama, his younger self, and a whole bunch of other creatures brought along by mistake in Llama's house, which is getting wrecked....All ends well though, and more treats are eaten.

It is a bright and cheerful romp, a good introduction for the very young to the central question of time travel--the peril of changing the past!  Interestingly, some reviewers on Goodreads seem to have found the time travel confusing, but I do not think children will have this problem, because of course if you have time travel pants (or a time travel diaper, as Baby Llama has), you can travel through time and of course things can get mixed up.....and of course if you are reading, as I have done, time travel books where the time travel gets confusing, the only thing to do is shrug and role with it because otherwise your head hurts.  This did not make my head hurt, and Bably Llama was adorable.