No No Yes Yes: (A Gentle Introduction to Manners, Behavior, and Making Good Choices for Babies and Toddlers)

Leslie Patricelli Board Books

by Leslie Patricelli

YES! This must-have toddler title sheds light on some concepts with a comical flair.

Yanking cat by no NO. Gentle pat on yes YES. And it’s funny how dumping a bowl of food gets a very different reaction from mastering the use of a spoon. An expressive baby demonstrates familiar behaviors — and their predictable responses — in an amusing board book that merits a giant YES!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Kids, Fiction, Storytime

24 pages, Board Book

First published February 4, 2008

About the author

Leslie Patricelli is the American writer and illustrator of the best selling line of toddler books, starring her inimitable Baby character, including Potty, Toot, Yummy Yucky, Big Little, and Hair. She has more than 30 books for children, including her preschool books, Higher! Higher! (a Boston Globe Book Honor Award winner), Be Quiet, Mike!, Faster! Faster! and The Patterson Puppies and the Midnight Monster Party; as well as a middle-grade novel, The Rizzlerunk Club: Best Buds Under Frogs, published in 2018. Leslie Patricelli grew up in Issaquah, Washington close to Pine Lake. Leslie Patricelli majored in Communications at the University of Washington and took classes at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. Leslie Patricelli created and animated Rover the Dog for Windows XP help installed on more than 60 million computers worldwide.

Reviews

[Karina]

NO means NO naked baby! He's having a blast being a little brat while the YES pictures are him mad. If this kid is gonna teach my kids to plug up the toilet with a roll of toilet paper HE WILL BE BANNED FROM MY HOUSE!! His mom will say what a great kid he is and how he NEVER does anything bad while I know the truth, Baby Chucky. No more play dates. Your non disciplinary mom will be excommunicated forever. Think hard about your next action Naked Baby!

[Shannon McCarty]

We've renamed this The Naughty Toddler Instruction Manual because without a doubt, my toddler will recreate a No No! scene from this book shortly after reading this book.

[Cheryl]

The baby on the "no" side of each spread is having *much* more fun than the baby on the "yes" side. And that smile, goodness, that's just creepy, like that doll in the horror movie.

I thought about giving this two stars, but asked myself why, and couldn't come up with an answer. It's truly w/out redeeming qualities, in *my* opinion.

[Jack]

I have two words for the book “no no”. I could barely get past the first page but grandma made me listen to the whole thing.

[Elizabeth K.]

It entertains me, that's for sure. Sometimes, I feel that I am the intended audience and that the point of the book is to provide empathy for the "no no" moments of my day, and give me hope that more "yes yes" episodes are on the horizon. (Also, by Lu's bedtime some days, I feel that "no, no, yes, yes" is about on par with my own level of reading comprehension.)

[Emily Briano]

Adorable and clever pictures will surely spark discussion of what is and is NOT allowed in the house. I love her books.

[Fatima Seraj Alam]

I should have read this to my one year old but she wasn’t interested so my six year old proceeded to describe the actions as I said No no and Yes yes. The kid seems happier being naughty. We enjoyed seeing all the shenanigans he got up to.

[معصومه توکلی]

عنوان ترجمه فارسی: کدوم خوبه کدوم بد؟

[Kirsti]

Pulling kitty's tail: No No. Petting kitty gently: Yes Yes. You get the idea.

[Chrisanne]

I've largely sworn off including picture books if I don't love them but I disliked this one enough to record it. Thank you for giving my toddler lots of ideas that didn't need to be in their head.

[Carla Lopez]

No!
Yes!
No No!
Yes Yes!
No No No!

[T S]

A prosy, incredibly boring book! My 15 mo and I grabbed it off the library shelf because the illustrations are adorable - but then the book is awful.

It's another 'list-book' - that is a book that is basically just a long list of things. And a particularly stuffy list of no's and yes'es! She was turned off at once and so was I!

Books are for pleasure not for training little ones. Or they ought to be!

Disappointed. Took a peek at the author's potty book too and it's terrible too - my 15 mo loves her potty and pooping on it (who knows why?! - but hallelujah!) - she liked the illustrations at first but then when I began to read (and act out and explain) she toddled away (she usually LOVES to be read to).

[d]

On the first 100-ish readings, it perfectly fine and enjoyable. After the 100th+ reading, well, it's a lot harder to get through without your soul dying a bit.

This book is ultimately a kind of sad, desperate grasp as a parent to try to reinforce general concepts of things that are good and bad, but I feel that the book falls woefully short. Totally not the book' or author's fault. It's probably hard to illustrate a 3 month old goldfish that's been crammed into the crack(s) of the arm chair for months and basted in assorted smells, only to fall out underneath and frolic with dust bunnies before the toddler eats it...as a "no no."

[Laura]

Since the baby can say "no no," this is one of her favorites right now.

[Seon Kim]

After reading this book, I can discuss about positive and negative behaviors with children. Also, I can create lists of postive classroom behaviors with children.

[Haley Shaffer]

My kids adore all of these books.

[Amber]

Two simple words is all this concept book needs to tell the fundamental story of No No Yes Yes!, by Leslie Patricelli. Simple illustrations of a young toddler showing different activities that either fall under "No No!" or "Yes Yes!" take you through this book of teaching and discovering rules and right from wrong. Pull a cat's tail? No no! Pet it gently? Yes yes! The big and bold illustrations makes it very easy for the littlest readers and listeners to understand what is happening. The bright background makes the young toddler stand out, so there is no mistaking what his actions are. A critique would be that the illustrations may be a little confusing in that the young toddler is always happy and smiling, whether he is acting out a "no no" or a "yes yes". This could make it difficult for the youngest readers (ages 2-3) to decipher which is which, especially since they cannot yet read those two key words and there are no color signals (red and green could have worked wonderfully as a signal here) to depict a "yes" or "no". Depending on the audience, it may also give children ideas of "no no's" that they could want to act out since they look fun in the story, and would need parent/teacher guidance and discussion as to why each scene is a "no" or a "yes". This book could easily be used to teach and discuss rules, right from wrong, and appropriate play. Recommended for ages 2-5.

[Amy Layton]

Patricelli’s board book speaks to very young children about not only what is socially acceptable, but also what is safe for them. Through a cartoonish style made with acrylics, Patricelli highlights through pictures only (besides the words “no” and “yes”) what is appropriate, somewhat similar to a Goofus and Gallant comic. This board book is big enough to be perfect for reading before bed, but small enough for tiny hands who want to explore its pages. Additionally, by choosing to focus on the two words “no” and “yes,” this book puts physical words to the vocal ones, helping the child distinguish what their parents’ expectations are. Great for ages 2-4.

Review cross-listed here!

[Ms. Kate]

A fun little book for mischievous wee ones. I like that she starts with the Nos before showing an equally fun but less destructive alternative. Patricelli's opposite books are my favourite, there's just enough irreverence for kids to feel like they're getting away with something and keep them engaged. This board book is lovely for little ones but it's fun for older children too and could be an ideal book for an older child to share with a younger sibling.

[Sarah Alamer]

We're so proud of you for reading "No No Yes Yes"! You learned something really important – knowing which things are okay to do and which things aren't. The book shows us that making good choices helps everyone feel happy and safe. You discovered that being kind and following rules makes the world better! You can use this every day – like sharing toys, being gentle, and listening to grown-ups. Keep reading, sweetie! We love watching you learn and grow.

[Faith]

One thing I've learned about myself in the last year, my first as a preschool teacher, is how easily I become exhausted by repetition. I've also had to learn to overcome that as a professional requirement. So, is this book annoyingly repetitive? Yes. Is it on level and relatable for the average two year old? Yes. They love it.

[Lou]

We have the English/Spanish version to help my daughter learn both languages. It's fun but simple. She objected to being told not to pull the cat's tail and slammed the book shut both times so far.

I wouldn't bother with it as a bilingual book again because let's face it, even with my very basic Spanish I could translate the actual text in this one.

[Veronica]

Yanking the cat's tail: no NO. A gentle pat on the back: yes YES. And it's funny how dumping a bowl of food gets a very different reaction from mastering the use of a spoon. The expressive Baby demonstrates familiar behaviors in an amusing board book that merits a giant YES.
Loved the idea of playing with this book and with my baby about what to say yes and what to say now.

[E & E’s Mama]

Elliot loved this book, but I had to hide it after he started mimicking all the No No things the baby was doing, like pulling the toilet paper, throwing food, etc… stuff we’d specifically worked on to stop and then he restarted because it was funny in the book. I like the author’s other books, but I just think Elliot was too “inspired” by this one 😖

Read at age 2.

[Kiyoko]

Miss Alice the two year old LOVES to sit down and read this book. She chirps "No no baby!" and "Yes yes baby!" and talks about when the baby is using the potty. (that is good)

Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with this board book because it shows so clearly how baby can recreate the No No scenes in my home, but it speaks on a toddler level. Thus it remains.

[Shannon Williams]

I love that the scenarios depicted are real things that kids might be do that they shouldn’t, and that it doesn’t just show what they should not do, but also what they should do instead. This helps encourage your little one to reproduce the behavior the young child demonstrates throughout the novel, giving you chances to correct them and reinforce the model behavior you expect.

[Doniell]

My son loves this book, and will read it to himself, even though he can’t read. I love that the pictures are open ended so you as the parent can inject your terms. Such as “no playing in the toilet, no-no!”

[Amy]

Mom and dad appreciate the images and messages particularly at this stage in toddlerhood (pulling the cat’s tail!! Throwing food!)

Lainey isn’t too impressed by all the “no’s” and threw the book to the side several pages in and has refused it ever since 😆

[Shayanna Moore]

Great book that teaches children about what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not. Things like pulling a dog's tail is not acceptable, but rubbing a dog behind his ears is acceptable. Very good read.

[Lee]

Well, my buddy seemed to enjoy it. He listened with careful attention the whole way through. That being said, he was older than the intended age for this, and also seemed to be paying closer attention to the "no" pages, so there is that.