Synopses & Reviews
A witty tale of delicious smells and rhythmic sounds aptly proves -- you often get what you pay for! Long ago in the Japanese city of Yedo, there lived a fan maker named Yoshi who loved to eat broiled eels. Every night he watched his neighbor, Sabu, go off to catch eels, broil them on his hibachi, and wait for customers. "The eel broiler should share leftovers with his neighbor," muttered Yoshi. "The fan maker should buy eels from his neighbor," grumbled Sabu. But Yoshi loves the sound of the coins jingling in his money box too much to buy Sabu's eels. Sitting alone, eating boiled rice and enjoying the smell of Sabu's cooking, he is content-until Sabu presents him with a bill for all the eels he has smelled! How Yoshi repays Sabu makes for a witty, satisfying tale about the pleasures of give and take-proving that in life, as in business, you often get what you pay for.
Review
A winning collaboration. (Parent's Choice (WWW))
Review
[The story] resonates on several levels: the evolution of the neighbors' relationship from foolish separatism to cooperative friendship models the way sharing resources and know-how can benefit communities, or countries, as well as individuals. Still, the primary focus of this perfectly paced tale is on the fun, especially in Yumi Heo's handsome multimedia illustrations. Collages of bright patterns resembling brocades and other fabrics are combined with pencil and paint to create expressive figures that move with bold yet sinuous grace, now across a pure white ground, now through a subtly textured setting, now through an artful complex of vignettes. Told with memorable humor, visually harmonious, Yoshi's Feast is a feast indeed. (The Horn Book)
Review
A striking adaptation of a folktale... with a motif found in folklore in many other countries. Heo echoes a classic style in her distinctive combination of oil, pencil, and collage... Heo lends life and humor to the two-dimensional art form that she adapts. (School Library Journal)
Review
Selected as one of six highly commended titles (Charlotte Zolotow Award)
Review
The lively mixed-media art is a stand-out... (San Francisco Chronicle Book Review)
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...Through Yumi Heo's lively and colorful illustrations, we see beautiful kimonos, tidy villages, exciting fan dances, and other glimpses of Japanese culture and life. The story itself... transcends the borders of Japan (as) an age-old theme told in a new and entertaining manner. (BookPage)
Review
Yumi Heo's illustrations feature beautifully patterned fabrics and slightly tipped and rounded lines that make the interconnectedness of neighbors seem comfortable. (Chicago Tribune)
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Heo's elegantly intricate illustrations, done in oil, pencil, and collage, are filled with an appealing, swaying movement. (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
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The tale's rich text and splendid authentic Japanese pictorials make (this book) a lively, classy story. (Copley News Service)
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...this elegantly illustrated retelling of a traditional Japanese tale points to a better--and far tastier-way of working out one's differences. (Graded A) (Parenting)
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A hilarious yarn. (Seattle Times)
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'Yoshi's Feast,' with its eye-catching illustrations and bouncy text, is a crowd pleasure. (Portland Oregonian)
Review
Dueling neighbors reconcile in this humorous retelling of a traditional Japanese folktale. Fan maker Yoshi lives next door to cook Sabu on the outskirts of town. Few customers buy Yoshi's fragrant broiled eels, including Yoshi, who claims that just smelling the eels is enough. Enraged, Sabu charges Yoshi for the privilege of smelling his eels, and Yoshi responds with the sound of his money, dancing wildly and dropping coins back into his own money box. In retaliation, Sabu puts "the stinkiest fish in all of Japan" on his hibachi. Unable to tolerate the odor, Yoshi initiates a truce, drumming up business for Sabu with his "fiery dances," and sharing meals with his new friend at day's end. Text, illustrations, and the book's design are all marvelous here. Heo's dazzling collages of painting, pencil, and handmade papers bring out the outrageous action and humor in Yoshi and Sabu's conflict, extending the lively dialogue and rich text. This one will get a great response on the story hour circuit. (Booklist, Starred Review)
Review
Miserly Yoshi has no intention of paying for the eels his neighbor Sabu broils each day to sell; and though Sabu lacks customers and always has leftovers, he refuses to share. Yoshi contents himself with the eels' delicious aroma, but when Sabu suggests that Yoshi owes him for the smell of his eels, Yoshi 'pays' with the jingle of coins he's starved by not actually eating them. Sabu retaliates by cooking samma, 'the stinkiest fish in all Japan.' Fortunately, this time Yoshi's response is constructive: if Sabu will cook eel again, Yoshi will attract customers. And so he dose, with the same flamboyant, money-jingling dance he used earlier to taunt his poor neighbor. Now Sabu can afford to share his eels -- and friendship -- with his former antagonist. According to a note, the story is adapted from a tale in William Elliot Griffis's Japanese Fairy World (1880). It resonates on several levels: the evolution of the neighbors' relationship from foolish separatism to cooperative friendship models the way sharing resources and know-how can benefit communities, or countries, as well as individuals. Still,the primary focus of this perfectly paced tale is on the fun, especially in Yumi Heo's handsome multimedia illustrations. Collages of bright patterns resembling brocades and other fabrics are combined with pencil and paint to create expressive figures that move bold yet sinuous grace, now across a pure white ground, now through a subtly textured setting, now through an artful complex of vignettes. Told with memorable humor, visually harmonious, Yoshi's Feast is a feast indeed. (The Horn Book, Starred Review)
Review
A striking adaptation of a folktale found in William Elliot Griffis's 'Japanese Fairy World', but with a motif found in folklore in many other countries. In faraway Yedo, Yoshi, a fan maker, savors the aroma of his neighbor's broiling eels but he chooses only to eat his own steamed rice. When talented but underemployed Sabu learns that this potential customer is saving money instead of patronizing his hibachi, he demands compensation. Instead of parting with coins, Yoshi shakes his coin box and dances through the street to its jingle. After Sabu shrieks his dissatisfaction with this form of 'payment,' he seeks revenge by cooking vast quantities of foul-smelling samma. '"Neighbor, you get what you pay for," retorts Sabu when Yoshi complains about the odor. After several days of retribution, Yoshi capitulates and offers a compromise: he performs a dance that draws crowds while Sabu cooks only fragrant eels for his newfound clientele. In the end, Yoshi not only enjoys complimentary eel, but also the companionship of a new friend. Heo echoes a classic style in her distinctive combination of oil, pencil, and collage. When Yoshi dances, he, his coins, and the text all dance through double-page spreads as Heo lends life and humor to the two-dimensional art form that she adapts. (School Library Journal, Starred Review)
Review
Heo's rich illustrations in pencil, oil and collage and Kajikawa's story of the neighbors' lesson provide a wonderful way... to impart generational wisdom. (Akron Beacon Journal)
Review
[This book] with its eyecatching illustrations and bouncy text, is a crowd pleaser. (Miami Herald)
Synopsis
When Yoshi's neighbor, Sabu, the eel broiler, attempts to charge him for the delicious smelling aromas he has been enjoying, Yoshi hatches a plan to enrich them both. Full-color illustrations.
Synopsis
When Yoshi's neighbor, Sabu, the eel broiler, attempts to charge him for the delicious smelling aromas he has been enjoying, Yoshi hatches a plan to enrich them both. Full-color illustrations.
About the Author
Dr. Short is a division director at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, D.C. She has worked as a teacher, trainer, researcher, and curriculum/materials developer. Her work at CAL has concentrated on the integration of language learning with content-area instruction. Through several national projects, she has conducted research and provided professional development and technical assistance to local and state education agencies across the United States. She directed the ESL Standards and Assessment Project for TESOL and co-developed the SIOP model for sheltered instruction. Dr. Tinajero specializes in staff development and school-university partnership programs and has consulted with school districts in the U.S. to design ESL, bilingual, literacy, and bi-literacy programs. She has served on state and national advisory committees for standards development, including the English as a New Language Advisory Panel of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards and the Texas Reading Academies. She is currently professor of Education and Interim Dean of the College of Education at the University of Texas at El Paso and was President of the National Association for Bilingual Education, 1997-2000. Dr. Schifini assists schools across the nation and around the world in developing comprehensive language and literacy programs for English learners. He has worked as an ESL teacher, reading specialist, school administrator and university professor. Through an arrangement with California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, Dr. Schifini currently serves as program consultant to two large teacher-training efforts in the area of reading for second language speakers of English. His research interests include early literacy and language development and the integration of language and content-area instruction.