Ring! Yo?

Yo!

by Chris Raschka

The two friends of the Caldecott Honor Book Yo! Yes? meet again...telephonically. We see one side of their conversation, shown through the simple words and body language of one boy (and can make up our own story for it) -- then, at the end of the book, the other boy's side is shown as well. The mood moves from cheerful to miffed and back again -- in a way kids will instantly recognize.

Genres: Picture Books, Cultural, Friendship, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2000

About the author

Chris Raschka is the illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He is also the illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book Yo! Yes?; Charlie Parker Played Be Bop; Mysterious Thelonious; John Coltrane’s Giant Steps; Can’t Sleep; and The Magic Flute. He lives with his wife and son in New York City.

Reviews

[Rashanda Ravenel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Raschka continues to impress me! This book is so fun to read. It is a great way to practice reading with inflection. It can also be used to have a lesson focused on punctuation. I would like students to come up with there own version so that the other students can guess at the topic of conversation. It was fun for me because I have often tried to figure out what is being said based off of one side of a phone conversation.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a super awesome way to get children talking and using their imaginations. The book allows us the reader to see one aspect of the story which will allow teachers to prompt students to create an alternate conversation and possible ending. Love the book.

[Shakeema Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how my teacher read this in class. This is a phone read aloud . At the end the children can talk about what they thought the conversation was about. They could make up their own version with a partner.

[Grace Willits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ring! Yo? is the dialogue from one side of a phone conversation. The boy is on the phone with another boy who is shown on the page prior to the title page. His phrases never exceed two words, for example, “Then?” or “Uh-huh”. The reader is able to understand what type of voice inflection to use based on the boy’s facial expression and posture. At the end of the phone conversation, Chris Raschka asks, “Hey! What just happened there?”, exactly what the reader is thinking. This creates a very interactive vibe to the book. Provided at the back is a potential second side to the conversation. This book makes me think of a fun classroom activity when students can invent their version of the other side of the conversation. There could even be dramatic presentations to the class! I love how much imagination this book allows a reader. Also, I think it is inspiring that Raschka has created an entire story about something that we hear every single day. Everyone has experienced the curiosity while over hearing a phone conversation. Check out "Yo! Yes?" another Chris Raschka original using simple dialogue, displaying the power of punctuation.

[Kyra Calnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ring! Yo? is the dialogue from one side of a phone conversation. The boy is on the phone with another boy who is shown on the page prior to the title page. His phrases never exceed two words, for example, “Then?” or “Uh-huh”. The reader is able to understand what type of voice inflection to use based on the boy’s facial expression and posture. At the end of the phone conversation, Chris Raschka asks, “Hey! What just happened there?”, exactly what the reader is thinking. He then provides a potential second side to the conversation. Students will have fun coming up with their own possible idea for the conversation. The class can work with a partner to come up with what the boy on the other line was saying to warrant the main boy’s responses, as a fun way to practice writing skills. Punctuation is very important in this story, and students can focus on using punctuation to help show emotion.

[Zequoia Hyche · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first when I read this book, I thought to myself okay, I have no clue what is happening. The text was cute, and it is pieced together quite skillfully in the form of a conversation, but I still cannot make out what this conversation is about. However, the element of surprise was hidden at the end of the story. This aspect alone tied everything together for me. This story can be used as a great learning tool when getting to children to understand how to create conversations using a phone just like in the story. We can even play the game, "telephone," so every child can participate and get the feel of receiving a message and passing it on to a friend. Another great tool for peer interaction, and language skills.

[Emilye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that allows one to use the imagination. There are a minimal amount of words but yet so much can be determined from the lack of words. Only one side of a telephone conversation is heard and therefore so much is left up to the imagination of children. Children can create their own story which is typically something children like to do. I think this book would be great for children because it truly allows them to just be a child and not have to do a lot critical thinking. However, thinking is still necessary when the child creates their own stories all from their previous knowledge. This could be used as a interactive book and I like that.

[Liz Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok.. this book was such a surprise adventure for me. I didn't think I would make it through the first read--it's just one side of a phone conversation. However, once we discovered the 2-sided conversation at the end of the book, we enjoyed reading that together in 2 voices. THEN the fun began. It was so much fun to try to create the "other" side of the conversation! Really, really enjoyed the 2nd and 3rd reads of this book. Fun times. We also liked that the characters were our old friends from Yo! Yes?

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique concept for a book here. Readers see and hear one side of a telephone conversation. By the end of the story it's unclear what has happened over the course of the phone call so the author gives readers a hypothetical script, then encourages readers to create their own script.

Watercolor, pastels, and cut paper were used to create the artwork. I liked how the artwork reflected the slight differences in emotion over the course of the conversation. It added complexity to the stunning simplicity of the story. PreK-2.

[Jordan Starr · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 'Ring! Yo?' the author, Chris Raschka only tells half of the story, or one side of a phone conversation. Until the end, when both friends are shown, young listeners will have the chance to fill in for themselves half of the phone conversation. Of course, the body language of the boy is eloquent in the pictures as well. His friend is peeved, feels rejected. And so this afternoon he'll be playing with someone else. The young boy goes from angry, to upset and sad, to happy again. Children and inventive grown-ups will eagerly follow.

[Bee]

I thought this book was funny, it is actually a little boy (shown) having a telephone conversation with someone else that you cannot see. When I read the book, I thought that the words on the pages were between two people going back and forth, and not one-side of the conversation.

This book opens up opportunity for abstract thinking. It allows the child to try and construct a conversation from what they heard the boy in the story say.

[Arica Newcom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ring! Yo? is a good book to use with young readers. It only shares one side of a phone conversation so readers are interested with what is happening on the other end of the conversation. The only words in the story are words such as ring and yo so it is a great fit for young readers who are still learning sight words. The end also shares the other side of the conversation so students can guess and then see what the characters were actually talking about.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of energy as Raschka infuses his one-side-of-the-conversation story with street vernacular, watercolors, pastels and cut paper. The engaging aspect is the reader needs to invent the comments from the unheard speaker on the other end of the phone. If there's a drawback, it's that the final pages actually fill in the other side of the conversation, rather than leaving us wondering and inventing. I wonder whether that was Raschka's idea or his publisher.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting little book- On each page it looks as if there is a phone conversation going on- What the reader has to do, it infer what was said on the other line. At the end of the book, there is a conversation that could have happened along with the book- or you could have a whole different conversation. A great, fun book to teach inference, in an elementary classroom. Later after the students decide what the conversation was, they could write their own version.

[Spencer Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very unique and well written book. Of course the illustrations are amazing because they are done by Chris Raschka. It is done in a different way than I have ever seen done and is through the point of view of one person until the very end. I like it because it keeps the reader wanting to know what is being said on the other line. This book is contemporary realistic and in the kindergarten-1st grade range

[Brandy Locchetta]

This is a really cute boom full of opportunities to use expression and enthusiasm in a read aloud. In class this book was paired with phonics phones for a great prop to use with children. When reading the book the children could repeat using the phone and listen to the change in their voices when they whisper, speak loudly, question, etc...

[Kendra Kinnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book can help students learn inference skills. The dialogue featured in the book is just one sided. It is our job as the reader to guess or infer what the boy on the other side of the phone is saying. This could be a great starter to a response activity. The back of the book gives a suggested conversation but the students could easily make up there own.

[Ashley Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a children's book that is a one-sided conversation consisting of one-word phrases. This book is a great tool to let children imagine what is going on on the other side of the telephone. In the back at the end, there is an actual conversation for those who can't imagine themselves with the real conversation on the other side.

[Katrina Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

* Introduces dialouge
- How conversations are constructed

* Opportunity for imagination and abstract thinking
- Boy is having a conversation with someone, but the other person's dialouge is not present

* Teaches syntax : quatation marks, exclaimination marks, question marks, capital letters, periods, etc.

* Have students make up their own conversations

[Carly Gates · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of this book before. I think it has a good text-to-world connection for children, because they can walk outside, into a grocery, or even into their living room and hear someone talking on the phone. When they do, they are only hearing one side of the conversation. Sometimes it's easy to guess what the other person is saying and sometimes it just sounds silly!

[Lakeira King]

This was a very interesting book! I thought it was very cool writing a book about a phone conversation that you only hear one side of. A great teaching idea i think would be to have the children write what they think the person on the other line is saying. Then later you can read what the author had in mind about what the person on the other line is saying.

[Sharlene Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts with a one sided conversation. In the end the author reveals the dialog between the two friends. This book is fun because you can be creative with the conversation. It is a good book to use when introducing punctuation.

[Asha Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a short book. It is more for fun. It would be confusing for young readers because you have to wait until the end of the book to find out the real meaning of the book. The humor is for older children.

[Sharena]

This book was genius to me. You see one character talking on the phone the majority of the time and you don't know what the other person is saying. It gives the child an opportunity to create a phone conversation from the responses that are given on the pages. This is such a fun book.

[Glennisha]

Not until the end of the book when both friends are shown, young listeners will have the chance to fill in for themselves half of the phone conversation. This lets the kids imagination run wild...Just read it to the children and you will see.:)

[Lajune Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my absolute favorites! This book is so funny and fun to read. I enjoyed this book so much because I could relate to the phone conversation the little boy was having on a personal level. This book is awesome and bound to keep children and adults laughing.

[Gloria]

This book is great for making predictions. The book keeps us guessing about the conversation. Children can make up their own version about what happened on the other end. Also good for practice the expression of excitement. Yo!

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the back of the book is the whole conversation
In a telephone conversation--of which the reader at first only hears one side--two friends, one black and one white, have a disagreement and then make up.

[Beth]

I honestly don't know how I feel about this book so I'm not going to rate it. Perhaps it needs the benefit of reading it to a class full of young kids but sitting on my couch by myself at home, it didn't really do anything for me.

[Kellie Hennessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for children to engage in their imaginations. Because it only has one end of the conversation there are so many different way to complete the conversation. Children will come up different scenarios based on the the knowledge and experiences they come in with.