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Release date: July 29, 2008 | Age Range: 3 - 6 years | Series: Yoko
Yoko is so excited for the first day of school. She’s just learned to write her name. But when Mrs. Jenkins asks Yoko to show everyone, Olive and Sylvia make fun of her Japanese writing. “Yoko can’t write. She’s only scribbling!” The teasing continues as Yoko shares her favorite book at show and tell, and reads it back to front.
That evening, Yoko declares that she can’t go back to school. “How can I when my reading and writing are a failure?” she asks. Luckily a little wisdom from her Mama, a little cooperation from Mrs. Jenkins, and a lot of enthusiasm from her classmates teach Yoko the most important lesson of the year: that friendship can bridge cultural differences.
Not only does Yoko learn to read and write in English and graduate Kindergarten with her classmates, but everyone’s name appears in two languages on their diploma—even Olive’s and Sylvia’s!
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*Starred Review* When Yoko writes her name in Japanese instead of English, two classmates mock her and gleefully predict, “She won’t graduate from kindergarten.” Worried, Yoko hides under a table and is discovered by Angelo, who wants to learn how to write Japanese. In return, he shows her how to write her name “in ABCs.” Soon the entire class is learning how to write Japanese words, and graduation day has a distinctive Asian flavor, cheering even Yoko’s tormentors. In the sunny illustrations, Japanese and English labels on familiar objects invite children to write in both languages. Any child who has coped with being different, especially those from other cultures, will identify with Yoko’s painfully realistic dilemma, and others will understand Yoko’s palpable fear of failure. Once again, Yoko shares her Japanese culture in a story that can spark discussions about accepting and honoring differences. Meaningful and delightful in equal measure. Preschool-Grade 2. --Linda Perkins
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."
I am a retired teacher, who now teaches Japanese children to speak English. YOKO WRITES HER NAME is a wonderful book to use with Japanese students, especially the younger ones. It has common words on the corner of each page in both English and Japanese, which helps the teacher and students learn some Japanese, while teaching English. The story line shows how Yoko is accepted into her class by all the students first by Yoko teaching them how to write their names in Japanese. Subsequently, the class ends up learning Japanese as a second language. What a wonderful way to make a foreign child feel important and special.
My 3-year-old, who has some linguistic and ethnic difference issues to deal with herself, loves these books, appears to understand them and asks for them again and again.
I have one criticism on this book. The book shows Japanese characters but not very clearly and doesn't do much to help a child see them as a writing system just like ABCs. The graphics on that could be better.
