Yoko
Wells, R. (1998). Yoko. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Genre: fiction children's literature
Age Level: K-3rd grade

Summary: 
     This story is about a cat, with human characteristics, named Yoko.  When she goes to school, she brings sushi for her lunch, as well as red bean ice cream for her snack.  The other students in the class make fun of her and cause her to feel embarrassed about "being different."  The teacher decides to have an International Food day and all the children bring their cultural food to school to share with the class.  The day does not go as planned until the end of the day when another student, Timothy comes over and tries Yoko's food.  This opens up a friendship between Yoko and Timothy, founded on a  mutual respect of each other's cultures.


Reflection: 

      I like the overall message that this book sends and I think it does it in an elementary kid-friendly way; open-mindedness and  the idea that everyone is different.  I asked myself throughout this book, why Wells did not have the class of students become more open-minded.  The twist in the story, which I am not sure if I liked, was that only Timothy accepted Yoko's heritage and food.  The rest of the students in the class never tried her sushi and Yoko still felt bad after the International Food day.  I think the theme of the story is an important lesson to teach- accepting differences and open-mindedness.  This book would relate well to students because food is something that is very different across cultures.  As an educator, after reading this book, I would ask the questions; Who packed your lunch?  Why do you think that you may have chosen or like the foods that you eat?  These questions could be the beginning discussion about accepting each person's differences because it is our culture that causes differences.  We do not choose where we were born or what culture we are in, so why can we judge this?  The illustrations in the book are also very creative, detailed, and bring the animals to life.  For instance, when Yoko is showing Timothy how to eat the sushi, you can see his confusion with the chopsticks because Wells does a good job with the expressions on the animals faces and the motions with his hands as he is discovering this new tool.