Yoko's Show-and-Tell by Rosemary Wells (2011)

This book is about Yoko receiving a doll named Miki from her grandparents to celebrate girls day. She decides to bring the doll to school for show-and-tell against her mothers wishes. While on the bus, a few boys accidently ruin Miki. Yoko takes Miki to the doll hospital and she is repaired in time for her grandparents visit.

I thought this was a cute book. I liked that it incorporated a Japanese holiday into an American world. The text was fairly well written, but at times it seemed choppy and incomplete. I really liked the illustrations. Several of the images included the iconic goldleaf used in many Japanese woodcuts. I also loved the patterns used for Yoko and her families kimonos.

I could see this book being used in younger elementary classrooms. It could also be used in a variety of ways. It could open up a class discussion about what is important to each student. This book is also about another culture and another holiday they celebrate. It would be good to use this book to help teach students about different cultures and holidays. This would be a good time for students to share their own cultural holidays that are different from others.