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Summary
Summary
While Jomar and his brother, Franklin, are on their stoop waiting for Grandpa, friends and neighbors come by--whizzing on skates, showing off their new treads, or bouncing a ball. Whether it's W hassup? or Y o!, Jo's got a greeting for everyone--until Grandpa arrives and only classic words will do: I love you .
With a fresh new style, Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Rachel Isadora fashions an exuberant intergenerational celebration of language, neighborhoods, and family.
Author Notes
Rachel Isadora was born and raised in New York City. Rachel studied at the School of American Ballet and was a dancer with the Boston Ballet until a foot injury. She went from being a ballet dancer to an author and illustrator.
The first title she wrote and illustrated was Max. Since then she has written many others including Golden Bear, Ben's Trumpet, Nick Plays Baseball, Caribbean Dream, Mr. Moon and Not Just Tutus.
Her works have earned her several awards including the Caldecott Honor Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award. Her title Max, was named an ALA Notable Book.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In this bright and appealing picture book, Isadora successfully uses colorful collage images to introduce an urban African-American neighborhood. Two brothers wait outside their building for their grandfather to come home for dinner. The younger boy, Jomar, wanders down the street where his friends greet him in hip-hop-style slang. Isadora depicts an active neighborhood in which kids are rollerblading, jamming to music, or just hanging out to show off their clothes and cool sneakers ("Check out the treads!"). The greetings are short, colloquial, inner-city phrases that include, "Yo, bro!," "S'up, Jomar!," "Hit me with it," "Gotta bounce," and "Yo! Chillin'!" When Grandpa comes home, he questions Jomar's use of slang and gets a proper, "I love you, Grandpa" in response. The man approves, but winks, turns to the older brother and asks, "Yo Franklin, you chillin' with us?" before they go in to dinner. The illustrations depict the reality of inner-city life including graffiti, loud music, litter, and garbage cans, but the friendly greetings and bright colors moderate the scene and create a warm, family-oriented environment. Isadora welcomes readers into Jomar's world and communicates his simple joy and acceptance in a way that is contagious. Children will respond positively to the lively depiction and warmth of his community.-Carole Phillips, Greenacres Elementary School, Scarsdale, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
(Preschool, Primary) One summer afternoon, Franklin's mom tells him to watch his little brother, Jomar, and to keep an eye out for Grandpa, who is coming home soon. But when one of Franklin's buddies greets him with a ""Yo, bro,"" that's the end of his ""watching"" Jomar. As Jomar struts through his urban, multiethnic neighborhood, he hails one neighbor after another -- ""Look who's zoomin'!"" and ""Hey! Whassup!"" They respond similarly -- ""S'up, Jomar!"" ""Gotta bounce."" When Jomar finally sees Grandpa, who asks, ""How are you?"" Jomar forgets to code-shift out of street speak and responds, ""Yo! Chillin'!"" Although Grandpa expects more respect from his grandsons, he also demonstrates that he isn't as old as they think. Through her use of multicolored confetti made of torn newspapers and oil painted papers, Isadora creates a feast for the eyes. The confetti appears on both sets of endpapers, setting the mood, but as Jomar travels through the neighborhood, they also reflect his high energy, adding even more life to Isadora's wonderful collage illustrations and spare but ebullient text. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
While big brother Franklin waits on the stoop for Grandpa to arrive home for dinner, Jomar engages every passer-by in an exuberant exchange of urban slang. "Off the heazy!" "Get jiggy with it!" "Check out the B-boy!" While the lingo may be as foreign to some readers as it is to Grandpa, the infectious good humor of Jo and his multicultural friends in the 'hood comes across effortlessly. Isadora's evocation of the child in the modern urban landscape reaches back to Ezra Jack Keats, from Jo's snub-nosed brown profile to the graffiti on the walls (though Jo's dreadlocks are a distinctly modern touch). Newsprint and other printed papers share the bright collages with streaky oils, the visual cacophony of line and pattern lending the cityscape enormous energy and appeal. These scenes are set against generous white space, the genial dialogue rendered, appropriately enough, in a many-colored HipHop typeface. The depiction of a little boy so thoroughly at home in his community is a delight to see in these suspicious days of stranger danger: Jo is indeed Peter's direct--and very welcome--descendant. (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Isadora offers a spare picture book that represents the urban, African American experience for the youngest readers in boisterous colloquial language. Jomar's older brother is supposed to supervise until suppertime, but he doesn't notice when his sibling wanders. It's instantly clear, however, that outgoing Jomar has little to fear from the city streets, where he demonstrates his cozy belonging in a community whose members sport do-rags, flash bling, and warmly include the boy in their hip-hop-influenced patter: Whassup! . . . Gotta bounce! . . . Yo, Jo! True to a child's perspective, the bright, cut-paper artwork casts gritty elements of city life (graffiti, overflowing garbage cans) as matter-of-fact fixtures of a personal comfort zone. Readers whose vocabularies don't include the slang celebrated here will look in vain for definitions of words like heazy and B-boy, but many children will relate to Jomar's easy ownership of his corner of the world as well as the family interaction that brings the book to a loving close. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2007 Booklist