Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (Bright & Early Books) [Hardcover]

Al Perkins (Author), Eric Gurney (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 12, 1969 | Age Range: 2 - 5 years

Illus. in full color. A madcap band of dancing, prancing monkeys explain hands, fingers, and thumbs to beginning readers.  

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Illus. in full color. A madcap band of dancing, prancing monkeys explain hands, fingers, and thumbs to beginning readers.  

About the Author

By Al Perkins, Illustrated by Eric Gurney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Age Range: 2 - 5 years
  
• Hardcover: 28 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (September 12, 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394810767
• ISBN-13: 978-0394810768
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.5 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (157 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Apes & Monkeys

More About the Author

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Helping Your Child Learn to Read to a Syncopated Beat! October 19, 2000

By Donald Mitchell HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb was one of her picks.

What is most unusual about this early reader is that it adds a beat to make the material more memorable and fun. The story has monkeys using their hands to beat on various drums. All children will find themselves pounding on something to match the rhythm of the rhyme. "Rings on fingers. Rings on thumb. Drum drum, Drum drum, Drum drum drum." (By the way, for parents old enough to remember Ringo Starr, this does seem to be a satire on Ringo here.) That use of drumming adds a useful kinesthetic clue that will ingrain the material faster. Children start to learn to read by memorizing, and this book is unusually well designed to assist in that process.

But the main thing is that it is fun to read this book. You would have a smile on you face if you read it alone. The smile will broaden when you read with your child, in response to her or his pleasure in the book. That's a great gift for you, as well!

There are lots of jokes about musicians in here that you should enjoy. One of the beats is a play on the word "ditty" for a song. "Dum ditty, Dum ditty, Dum dum dum...." Naturally, you can also read this as "Dumb song, Dumb song, Dumb dumb dumb." Your child will never know what you are laughing about.

After you have finished enjoying this very helpful and entertaining book, I suggest that you try your hand at writing and illustrating a similar one. One possible theme could be built around bees buzzing. This book alludes to humming, so you could work with that, as well.

Have many laughs, and be encouraged as a reading tutor!

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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Abridgement August 12, 2011

By Jennifer Arrow

Format:Hardcover

In case anyone is interested, here is the text that's missing from the six pages that were cut from the Bright & Early Board Book version:

Monkeys come
And monkeys go.

Hands with handkerchiefs.
Blow! Blow! Blow!

"Hello Jack."
"Hello Jake."

Shake hands
Shake hands
Shake! Shake! Shake!

"Bye-bye Jake."
"Bye-bye Jack"

Dum ditty
Dum ditty
Whack! Whack! Whack!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Our family's favorite book. April 20, 2000

By P. Bonoff

Format:Hardcover

This is still our family's favorite book, after some 30 years. We had to search for it when grandson was born in 1999. Amazon's search under "monkey" actually turned it up, so we immediately sent it down to him in New Orleans. He prefers eating the book right now, but he's got the rhythm and loves the pictures. Every child would love this book. It grows on you, and excites your memory of reading. I recommend memorizing it (easy) and chanting it in the car, on a stroll, or on the pot. It's interactive in the best ways.

37 of 48 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT the book you know and love! September 14, 2005

By Tiffany Holley

Format:Board book|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a nice enough board book, but be advised that it is NOT the full version of Dr. Seuss' book! They've left out several (charming!) pages of text and illustrations for the Board Book... What a disappointment to loyal fans, and how unfair to the newest generation of fans-to-be.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A favorite passed on to the next generation... November 20, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Board book

My son would NOT sit through a book at 15 mos. old. I decided to bring out my childhood favorite. It's new name is the "Monkey Book" and it is read several times a day, every day. He's 18 mos. old now and has it memorized. The book doesn't even have to be open and he knows the next line. He loves this book so much, that sometimes he just gives the monkeys kisses as he looks at the pictures, narrating when he feels compelled. Highly recommend this book to anyone having trouble getting their young ones to appreciate reading. My son now has a love of reading that I thought would never blossom 3 months ago.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Our 16 month old LOVES Al Perkins November 11, 2000

By Kim Landis

Format:Hardcover

One of the first books our daughter would sit through from the time she was four or five months old was another Al Perkins classic, "The Nose Book". She's also loved "The Ear Book" since right around the same time. I'd never heard of "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" until we saw it in the waiting room where my car was being serviced. Sierra LOVED it! We must have read it twenty times, and it really helped to pass the time. When we got to the page that read "dum ditty, dum ditty, whack whack whack!" she giggled out loud and brought smiles to every face in the place. Santa will definitely be bringing this one along in his sack!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding rhythmic read-aloud for a young toddler. March 5, 2000

By M. Henry

Format:Board book

Grandma dug out the old dog-eared copy of this book for the 12 month old grandson. Now he is 18 months and we are very relieved to find that it is still in print, because the old one has finally been loved to pieces. The book doesn't look especially unusual, just a bunch of cute monkeys, but the rhythms are fantastic. It doesn't have flaps, or textures, or bright colors, but this was the first book he would really listen to and he still wants it read to him daily. He has many books that he loves to look at, but this is the best one for listening. The old book isn't a board book and we will replace it with the same size book. We are finding that often the board book pictures lose impact because of the reduced size.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this because I've read it 100 times and don't hate it January 16, 2000

By Rosanna Landis Weaver

Format:Hardcover

You know how some children's books you've read so many times that you just cringe when your toddler picks them out? This one I still like to read. It was a favorite of my daughter's at 8 months and is still a favorite at 20 months.