Yoko & Friends School Days: Mama, Don't Go! - Book #1 (Yoko and Friends--School Days) [Hardcover]

Rosemary Wells (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: K and up | Series: Yoko and Friends--School Days

Yoko simply can't wait for her first day of school. She wants to make new friends, feed the goldfish, and string a necklace of colored beads. But Yoko doesn't want Mama to leave! What is she never returns?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The favorite feline stars in Rosemary Wells's Yoko & Friends School Days series, which debuts with two titles, Mama, Don't Go! and The School Play, illus. by Jody Wheeler. In the first, Yoko won't let Mama leave the classroom until her classmate gives her courage. In the second, an unhappy Yoko is assigned the role of the cavity in the class play about dental hygiene, but an inspired idea creates sweet success. Simple text and familiar fuzzy-faced characters soothe the school-age set.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-These books feature the same characters and setting as Wells's Yoko (Hyperion, 1998). Mama, Don't Go is especially enjoyable. Yoko is eager to begin school. She looks forward to meeting new friends, learning songs, and enjoying all of the activities in Mrs. Jenkins's classroom. She does enjoy it, except that she cannot bear to be separated from her mother, who agrees to stay. This continues until the fourth day, her mom's birthday, and, with the teacher's guidance, Yoko agrees to let her mother leave and return for a surprise at the end of the day. By Friday, the kitten is ready to be on her own, with a little help from a new friend. Wells and Wheeler's expressive animal characters, done in pen and ink and watercolors, convey a great deal of recognizable emotion. Yoko is a prim little cat; her large green eyes alternately crinkle with worry or shine with curiosity. In the final image, she looks as relaxed as her confident friend, Timothy. In The School Play, when Mrs. Jenkins assigns parts about dental hygiene, everyone is happy except Yoko-she is cast as an unglamorous cavity that just sits on stage and is silent. However, she finds a way to make her role more interesting. Though the story is a bit slight, these characters are as charming and winsome as ever. Both books are well crafted for beginning readers, or as read-alouds for young children preparing for school.
Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (September 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786807202
• ISBN-13: 978-0786807208
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,445,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( W ) > Wells, Rosemary

More About the Author

Born in New York City, Rosemary Wells grew up in a house "filled with books, dogs, and nineteenth-century music." Her childhood years were spent between her parents' home near Red Bank, New Jersey, and her grandmother's rambling stucco house on the Jersey Shore. Most of her sentimental memories, both good and bad, stem from that place and time. Her mother was a dancer in the Russian Ballet, and her father a playwright and actor. Mrs. Wells says, "Both my parents flooded me with books and stories. My grandmother took me on special trips to the theater and museums in New York. "Rosemary Wells's career as an author and illustrator spans more than 30 years and 60 books. She has won numerous awards, and has given readers such unforgettable characters as Max and Ruby, Noisy Nora, and Yoko. She has also given Mother Goose new life in two enormous, definitive editions, published by Candlewick. Wells wrote and illustrated Unfortunately Harriet, her first book with Dial, in 1972. One year later she wrote the popular Noisy Nora. "The children and our home life have inspired, in part, many of my books. Our West Highland white terrier, Angus, had the shape and expressions to become Benjamin and Tulip, Timothy, and all the other animals I have made up for my stories." Her daughters Victoria and Beezoo were constant inspirations, especially for the now famous "Max" board book series. "Simple incidents from childhood are universal," Wells says. "The dynamics between older and younger siblings are common to all families."But not all of Wells' ideas come from within the family circle. Many times when speaking, Mrs. Wells is asked where her ideas come from. She usually answers, "It's a writer's job to have ideas." Sometimes an idea comes from something she reads or hears about, as in the case of her recent book, Mary on Horseback, a story based on the life of Mary Breckenridge, who founded the Frontier Nursing Service. Timothy Goes to School was based on an incident in which her daughter was teased for wearing the wrong clothes to a Christmas concert. Her dogs, west highland terriers, Lucy and Snowy, work their way into her drawings in expression and body position. She admits, "I put into my books all of the things I remember. I am an accomplished eavesdropper in restaurants, trains, and gatherings of any kind. These remembrances are jumbled up and changed because fiction is always more palatable than truth. Memories become more true as they are honed and whittled into characters and stories."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get your child ready for school, September 19, 2002

By 

Scott D Gauss (Winfield, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yoko & Friends School Days: Mama, Don't Go! - Book#1 (Yoko and Friends--School Days) (Paperback)

I've read a lot of 'first day of school' type books recently, getting my daughter prepared for preschool. I'd rate this as one of the better books we read, and if your child likes Yoko and the other kids in Wells' Hilltop School books, I strongly recommend it. What I like about the book is that it gently repeats the reassuring idea, that parents "will come back. They always do." Once Yoko accepts that, she's ready to be left at school by herself.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, June 9, 2004

By 

TRat (Orinda, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yoko & Friends School Days: Mama, Don't Go! - Book #1 (Yoko and Friends--School Days) (Hardcover)

While all of the books in the Hilltop School series by Rosemary Wells are excellent, this book is exceptional. The message that parents always come back is delivered in a particularly effective manner. The book also shows how Yoko separates from her mother in an incremental process over which she has some level of control. A truly brilliant book.