  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 05/01/2015 Gr 1–3—The cartoon illustrations of Bell's stab at eliminating a grammatical error are more engaging than her text, and it is probable that the intended audience will not grasp the lesson she's put forward. A donkey states, "I yam a donkey!" and a yam protests the improper use of the word yam. In the ensuing conversation, the donkey repeatedly uses yam when he should be saying am and the tuber becomes increasingly perturbed. Bell's drawings, done in china marker and acrylic, are lively and convey emotion through her judicious use of line, but the grammatical issue is less common now than in Popeye's heyday, and the joke goes on so long that it becomes tiresome. VERDICT Despite its inviting illustrations, this book misses the mark.—Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 05/15/2015 A bespectacled yam and a donkey engage in a protracted “Who’s on First?” discourse about grammar and identity until, well, it doesn’t end well—for the yam. Our officious yam means to teach the donkey a lesson about pronunciation (“The proper way to say that is, ‘I am a Donkey’”), while the donkey, not the sharpest tool in the barnyard, almost willfully misunderstands, again and again (“You is a funny-looking donkey”). Eventually, a group of rubbernecking vegetables gets drawn into the argument. The yam conjugates them, by way of example, and the donkey has an epiphany: “OH! You is LUNCH!” The moral of the story? Some things are more important than others (“If you is going to be eaten, good grammar don’t matter”). Bell’s flat, jocular illustrations, with their heavy outlines and hand-drawn word balloons, fill the frames. Occasional panels structure the story’s progress, but most of it happens across bright, simple two-page spreads. This irreverent, animated outing fairly begs to be read aloud, and children will demand repeat readings. - Copyright 2015 Booklist. Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2015 Donkey introduces himself on the opening page with the less than articulate title quote, and an actual Yam, looking aggrieved and pedantic with arched eyebrows and pince-nez, immediately corrects him: “The proper way to say that is ‘I am a donkey.’” This elicits the ever more grammatically egregious response, “You is a donkey, too? You is a funny-looking donkey.” And now Donkey and Yam are off to the races with an absurd dialogue rife with misunderstanding in the best who’s-on-first tradition. A chorus of supportive vegetables chimes in to help Yam drive the lesson home to obtuse Donkey, but, in a deliciously vicious twist that will warm the heart of any child corrected by persnickety adults, Donkey eats the whole crew for lunch. Bell wraps up with “Moral: If you is going to be eaten, GOOD GRAMMAR DON’T MATTER.” Embedded in this frolic is a curricular-friendly lesson in pronoun/verb agreement, but don’t count on it to raise any standardized test scores. This is a hilarious battle of wits between cleverly anthropomorphized cartoon figures, and by the second reading (the request for which you will surely anticipate) listeners may even suspect that dim Donkey is purposely leading on his adversaries. Grab a teaching partner or fellow librarian for a crowd-pleasing dual read, followed by crudités for snacktime. EB - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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