Timothy and the Strong Pajamas
Written and illustrated by Viviane Schwarz
Timothy does everything he can to get stronger. When his mother wants to replace his favorite pajamas with new ones, he begs her to fix the old ones. She fixes them so well, they make Timothy Super Strong. He spends the next day doing Super Heroic deeds. He is tired from all the good deeds but the last one rips his pajamas. He’s back to being an ordinary kid but all the people he helped make sure he gets home.
The story problem is multi-faceted. Timothy must deal with wanting to be stronger and suddenly getting that wish. Then when the “spell” is broken, he is helped by the characters he helped during the day. There’s lot of good karma here that kids appreciate. They like for impossible dreams to come true, but they also like for the world to be fair. Timothy never lets the fame and glories go to his head. He stays likeable. His sock monkey sidekick is even more likeable with his witty “asides.” In the final conflict, Timothy must rescue Monkey. Timothy also proves that nothing is more important than friends. Feel good messages through-out.
This story could be used to compare/contrast other hero stories as a reading activity. Timothy says he will use his powers for good so a reading list of his deeds could be mixed with other deed and then graded on whether the deeds were good or bad, or if they were done by Timothy or some other “superhero.” This would be a fun class read aloud even though it’s well within the second grade reading level.
If you can’t see this video, click here.
- TITLE: Timothy and the Strong Pajamas
- AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Viviane Schwarz
- PUBLISHER: 2007, Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, 32 pages, fantasy
- REVIEWER: Risa Brown
- ISBN: 978-0-545-03329-9