For children’s book author Deborah Guarino, the road to literary success began with a simple rhyme at New York City’s Central Park Zoo.
While teaching her then 2-year-old son about gender differences, she asked him if the animal they were visiting was a “papa llama” or a “mama llama.”
“As soon as I said, ‘mama llama’ out loud, it made me laugh,” the author said earlier this week from her home in New Jersey. Guarino composed the first stanza of her rhyming book, “Is Your Mama a Llama?” on the bus ride home. “I like to play with words the way other people play with clay.”
First published in 1989, the children’s classic picture book “Is Your Mama a Llama?” has over a million copies in print. It also has been chosen for the 2011 Preschool One Book, One Denver literacy program.
Many of Denver’s preschool children will begin reading the book this week through a series of school and library events that began Friday and run through April 30. Local celebrities, including Denver Mayor Guillermo “Bill” Vidal, will attend readings at locations including the Denver Zoo, The Children’s Museum of Denver, and multiple branches of the Denver Public Library.
During Guarino’s readings, the author includes songs, activities, dances, rhymes and a Q&A session with her audience. She also enjoys turning the tables on the children in the audience by directing her own questions at them. “I love to surprise them and make them think,” she said.
One of her favorite stumpers is to ask audience members how long they think it took her to write the book. “I tell them it took 45 minutes to write, but it also took 32 years of experience. . . . That usually gets kids thinking.”
The preschool version of One Book One Denver is a partnership between the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs, which launched the citywide book club in 2004, and the Denver Preschool Program, which is the result of a ballot initiative approved by Denver residents in November 2006 to provide a universal preschool tuition credit for the year prior to kindergarten.
“We know that reading is a huge component of school readiness,” said Eileen Piper, acting chief executive of the Denver Preschool Program. “We selected this book because it has received national recognition and it’s very accessible to all children.”
To ensure that the book is readily available, more than 1,500 copies have been donated by the Kaplan Early Learning Co. for distribution to participating Denver preschools.
Her book’s selection was an honor for the author.
“I’m thankful that my book has touched so many children’s lives,” Guarino said. “Early literacy is so important because you cannot write until you read.”
2011 Preschool One Book One Denver
Deborah Guarino, author of, “Is Your Mama a Llama?” is in Denver to help launch this year’s citywide kids reading initiative.
10:30 a.m. Today: The author will read and sign books at The Tattered Cover Bookstore, 2526 E. Colfax Ave.
2 p.m. Today: The author is at “Llamapalooza” at the Denver Public Library Central Branch, 10 W. 14th Ave.; includes celebrity readings and a petting zoo.
Details: For a complete listing of upcoming readings for Preschool One Book One Denver and information about the Denver Preschool Program, go to .
