Yo! Yes? Book

Truth be told, illustrations of Chris Raschka's award winning Yo! Yes? do not really appeal all that much to me on a personal and aesthetic level (for while bright and lively, the facial expressions in particular do feel a bit overly vague and flatly washed-out), but indeed I do have to absolutely and with pleasure admit that they do work exceedingly well with the sparse but effective text (mirroring its simplicity, but also somewhat expanding on the bare-bones printed words by also showing the changing emotions of the two lonely boys, from shyness, from surprise, to delight and joyful anticipation). And while Chris Raschka's presented narrative might, indeed, be almost ridiculously short (only thirty-four words in total and yes, I counted), and is also not really all that philosophically deep and probing, the important message of friendship and that making friends is both essential and often not even all that difficult if but the will and the desire for this are present, this shines with an eternal flame, brightly and sweetly. And while the last page of Yo! Yes? is by necessity and nature a bit open-ended with regard to the future progression of the two boys' emerging companionship, it does leave the distinct and positive, hopeful impression that there will now be fun and joyful playtimes for each, for both. Recommended!

Now I do (and personally) find it somewhat off-putting to say the least that the book description for Yo! Yes? makes such a point claiming that Chris Raschka is supposedly celebrating differences and diversity. For sorry, but EXCEPT for the entirely cosmetic difference that one of the boys is African American and the other is Caucasian, there are really NO major differences between the two, but rather very many similarities (yes, the one child is perhaps a bit less shy and thus likely a bit more extroverted, but both are obviously lonely and in need of friendship and fun). And in my opinion, Yo? Yes! (aside from celebrating friendship) is therefore and first and foremost also a glowing paean to the fact that similarities usually outweigh differences and that the latter are often on the surface and thus only skin-deep anyhow (and therefore, in my humble opinion, the book description, somewhat and indeed quite in error seems to focus on a concept that I do not really believe is in any way the main moral, the main theme presented by, featured in Yo! Yes?, as I personally feel that both Chris Raschka's text and his illustrations mostly and primarily focus on equivalences, demonstrate how most children are very much akin and alike, no matter what their ethnic backgrounds and cultures happen to be).