A llama learns that differences can be strengths.Like the other members of her flock, Lana is wooly and has four legs and a fluffy nub of a tail. However, her legs are much longer, and her neck is taller. Lana is, in fact, a llama amid a flock of sheep. Lana tries everything to blend in. She crouches low, hunches over, and never makes a sound (her bleating sounds "like the barn door on a rainy day: ‘Reeaaa!' "). But one day, a dog visits the flock and won't stop barking. Lana sees how upset her sheep friends are getting and realizes that her height just might turn out to be useful after all. Literally standing up for herself-and her friends-Lana raises up on her spindly legs and the dog flees. Expansive backdrops of a simple blue sky and rolling green fields (with a pop of red for the barn) evoke the leisurely pace of nature. Lana's big emotions are conveyed through her tiny, delicately drawn frown. This sweet tale of an awkward hero who comes into her own may be especially reassuring to children who have hit growth spurts before their peers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)A fuzzy tale of self-acceptance. (Picture book. 3-7)

PreS-Gr 2 The cute but conflicted title creature (not to be confused with Sonica Ellis's Lana Llama or Barbara deRubertis's Lana Llama) hates the ways she's unlike "her flock"who happen to be sheep. Lana is aware of their similarities, but embarrassed by her differences, minimizing them by contortions. Absorbed in these efforts, she misses her friends' anxiety: they are being harassed by a bully. Finally taking note, all she has to do is stand up to her full height to scare off the dog. Being herself doesn't seem so bad. The title gives the game away (we might have noticed Lana's species for ourselves). Better known in Canada, Doody has a spare, naive style, using depthless compositions and bright flat-color techniques (but is that William Carlos Williams's famous wheelbarrow among the carmine highlights?). The endpapers would make delightful wallpaper. VERDICT The themes of self-acceptance and standing up (quite literally) for friends will help this quiet book to resonate with many.Patricia Lothrop