Yo! Yes?

When I first saw this book I immediately purchased it at the Scholastic book fair. I then translated it in French & Spanish (available upon request!). It makes a great beginning ESL book as is & foreign language pronoun and pronunciation book because of its simple question/answer and comment structure between two buddies, appropriately of different ethnic/racial backgrounds. Kids really respond to this ( & even adults!) in foreign language classrooms, wanting to mimic the dialogue. I often separate the class (left/right or boys/girls) to do so. Great fun way to memorize dialogue and learn proper intonation.

"Yo! Yes?" is a unique picture book that uses only 31 words, usually no more than 2 on a page, to tell a whole story involving two boys who discover they can be friends. Beautiful in its simplicity, the book also makes good use of Raschka's expressive art style. Indeed, the book is his masterpiece; since then he has applied his visual talents to a series of minor disasters, among them the picture books "Arlene Sardine" and "Like Likes Like." It's a shame that his reputation has had to dwindle so, but I still keep hoping he will come up with another good one like this. He has done a sequel called "Ring! Yo?" which is slightly more complicated than this one.

This book was my 6 year old daughter's favorite book in 1996 and now it has quickly become my 22 month old son's favorite book too! He already knows all of the words. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with small children!

My 17 month old daughter adores this book and will probably have it memorized, gestures and all, within the month. Inflection is key here and it's something babies start to work on even before they know words. The story is meant for an older (pre-school) audience, but the fun-with-language aspect of this book makes it great for even the littlest listeners.