  | Hands say love Author: Shannon, George | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
Illustrations and simple, rhyming text reveal that hands, as they carry out ordinary tasks, are also showing love.
| Illustrator: | Yoo, Taeeun |
Reviews:
School Library Journal (02/01/15)
Booklist (12/15/14)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 12/15/2014 From sunup to bedtime, this gentle picture book follows a family through a summer day spent together. Along the way, the rhyming text zeros in on the family members’ hands, which they use to help each other. The younger sister shows her baby brother how to pile up blocks, while the older sister helps with the laundry by matching socks. The mother pulls a splinter from her younger daughter’s finger. The father hugs the older girl after she falls off her bike. The baby pets the family cat. Opening and closing the text is the same thematic line: “Hands that do all they can do / are also saying ‘I love you.’” Rhymed couplets appear throughout the book, though the occasional shift between sections of longer lines and shorter ones offers a good change of pace. Varied in composition, Yoo’s well-crafted linocut-and-pencil illustrations give the pages a fresh, distinctive look. Pleasingly childlike and deceptively simple, this picture book is a fine read-aloud choice for young children. - Copyright 2014 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 02/01/2015 PreS-Gr 1—Rhyming couplets follow the activities of a loving family in this gentle book for toddlers. Beginning with the dawn of a new day, parents sweetly wake a child, a sibling helps pour a cup of milk, a parent's hands carefully guide baby's steps, a child entertains with a puppet, and many hands complete daily tasks. "Make a gift./Help you lift/Fold a hat./Pet the cat.." A party is prepared and celebrated with friends—"Play a song./Clap along." And the final steps to the day are completed—"Hands that hold a book to share./Hands that brush and braid your hair." A mix of block printing, pencil, and digital work, the lovely illustrations have a hand-drawn look, as each scene provides easily recognizable images for the youngest readers, ending with the most important words of the day, "Hands that do all they can do/are also saying, 'I love you.'" VERDICT For a family read or simple identification of the day's activities, this charming book sends a loving message and will be a hit in most libraries.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
