Genre 1: Yo! Yes?

Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka
Orchard Books, 1993
ISBN 0-531-07108-1

Summary:
Two boys of different cultures negotiate their way to friendship using fewer than 20 words.

Critical Analysis:
Chris Raschka manages to convey both the vulnerability and power kids feel when they make new friends using only a few words, some well-chosen punctuation marks, and illustrations of the main characters without any background.
The drawings are somewhat stereotypical: an outgoing African-American boy dressed in basketball clothes and a shy, nerdy Anglo boy wearing his pants pulled up too high. The stereotypes bothered me until both characters displayed the uncertainty that is natural when attempting to be accepted by a potential friend. At that point I ceased looking at the outside and could see the inside, which, I suppose, is the message Raschka is trying to present.

Review Excerpts:
"Once or twice the dialogue seems less than natural ('What's up? Not much. Why? No fun'), but overall, there's a novel's worth of drama in these exchanges, and Raschka's charcoal and watercolor characters pop with longing and vitality. The African-American kid is hip-hop cool, with posture that reveals the vulnerability beneath his exuberance; the little white boy (who was clearly dressed by his mother) definitely needs a friend."

Sutton, Roger, reviewer

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 46 (April 1993) p. 262

Raschka exhibits an appreciation of the rhythms of both language and human exchange in his deceptively simple story. The boys appear on facing pages, physically separated, until the final two pages in which they cross boundaries to choose friendship over isolation.

Parravano, Martha V., reviewer

The Horn Book v. 69 (May/June 1993) p. 323

Connections:

• Caldecott Honor Book
• Have students explore how the use of different punctuation, text color, and text size affects to the meaning.
• How does the author convey characterization with such simple drawings and so few words?
• Use as a springboard for discussing how the idea of friendship is similar or different across various cultures.
• Compare "Yo! Yes?" to other picture books with simple drawings and few words such as Mo Willems' Pigeon books.