With the news today of Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict, it was important to find a book that could help us talk about about race in a preschool appropriate way. We had picked up Rachel Isadora’s Yo, Jo! from the library and holy wow did we love it!
The links below include affiliate links, and I may earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase (thanks!). As always, check your local library first.
This is a deceivingly simple picture book is about young Jomar saying hello to everyone on the street. Jomar is Black, and his neighbors are diverse. Some are old, some are white, some are Asian, some listen to music, there’s even a dog. We talked about how everyone says “hi” a little differently and how cool that is. And we talked about how some people are racist and would treat Jomar meanly, and how that’s not ok. We talked about accountability, and how sometimes you make a mistake and need to own up to it. And then at the end we talked about love, like how the Grandpa in the book loves Jomar, and all the people we love and why we love them.
It’s a big day today. I’m grateful to Rachel Isadora for writing and illustrating something so beautiful, and for giving us the opportunity to have these important conversations. Isadora has also written other books we love like Old Mikamba Had a Farm, Say Hello! (ciao, konichiwa, shalom, jambo…), and There Was a Tree.
This book was published in 2007 and is an affordable option for a great home library book. Yo, Jo! is available on Amazon.
Looking for other timely books recommendations? See more of our family’s Recent Reads!