Hands Can [Hardcover]

Cheryl Willis Hudson (Author), John-Francis Bourke (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up

Hands can do all kinds of things! A rhyming text with eye-catching color photos offers just the encouragement young children need to explore their world - hands on.

Hands can hold things.
Hands can mold things.
Hands can catch
and hands can throw.

Hands can do much more, of course - wave hello and goodbye, play peekaboo, touch things, clap, even tie a shoe. For the very young, hands are a never-ending source of discovery and a means of mastery in an ever-unfolding world. With singsong rhythm, simple design, and alluring color photos of toddlers, HANDS CAN invites the littlest readers to discover the many things hands can do.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Rich, full-color photographs illustrate the variety of fine and gross motor activities in which hands become engaged. "Hands can catch/and hands can throw./Hands can plant seeds in a row." Vibrant solid colors, which change at random, frame each photograph. All of the ethnically diverse children pictured are engaged in and intent on their activity. Bourke captures the action without making the scenes seem staged. The rhyming text sets the scene, focusing on age-appropriate activities such as tying a shoe or playing "Peekaboo." The book opens with a wave "hello" and ends perfectly with a friendly "Bye-bye." This inviting offering provides youngsters with an almost sensory experience in which they can appreciate how their hands help them to explore and interact with their world.
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS. Clear, colorful photos give this picture book its great child-appeal; toddlers and preschoolers use their hands in so many ways--waving, catching, throwing, clapping, playing peek-a-boo. Unlike the stiffly posed models too often seen in books illustrated with photographs, the children of this multicultural cast look completely engaged in their activities. Hudson's rhythmic, rhyming text bounces along in a satisfying way, tying the pictured activities to the theme of hands. The book's loose structure, open-ended topic, and eye-catching photos leave plenty of space for conversation between young children and those who read aloud to them, a real plus in books for the very young. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (July 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763616672
• ISBN-13: 978-0763616670
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 0.4 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #472,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author, publisher and entrepreneur, Cheryl Willis Hudson began her career doing textbook design for publishers such as Houghton Mifflin and Macmillan.
Noticing a lack of quality Black-interest books for her own two children, in 1988, Cheryl Hudson and her husband Wade formed Just Us Books, Inc., a publishing company that specializes in children's books that focus on Black experiences, history and culture. Hudson's AFRO-BETS® ABC Book was Just Us Books' first published title.
Cheryl Willis Hudson has written over 20 children's books, including the classic Bright Eyes, Brown Skin, Many Colors of Mother Goose, and Come By Here, Lord: Everyday Prayers for Children, Hold Christmas In Your Heart, What Do You Know, Snow!, the What a Baby board book series (Scholastic, Inc.) Hands Can (Candlewick), My Friend Maya Loves to Dance (Abrams) and From Where I Stand (Marimba Books).
As an author, Cheryl Willis Hudson crafts vibrant and engaging multicultural books that allow children of color to see themselves positively reflected in society. As a diversity workshop facilitator and speaker she shares her experience and expertise in developing curricula of inclusions with schools and educational organizations around the country. She loves to visit schools and libraries to talk with children and parents about her books.
For fun, Cheryl sings with friends in an amateur acappella vocal group. She lives in Northern New Jersey with her family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!, August 20, 2003

By 

Tabitha Pearson-Marshall (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hands Can (Hardcover)

It's a beautiful example of how some wonderful words can sing with amazing photography of children. The layout of the book is bold & bright and an instant eyecatcher. The photos capture the joy of the children as if you were right there with them. My 3 year old loves to follow along & point out all the activities on the pages. Just great! Highly recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of our FAVORITES!, November 6, 2007

By 

A Mommy (Perkasie, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hands Can (Hardcover)

A MUST for all children's libraries! I bought this book for my now 4-year-old when she was 18-months. She loved it then and has continued to enjoy it to this day. Now that she's a preschooler, she enjoys "acting it out." My 21-month-old has loved this book since she was around 8-months-old and she's very picky, but has always especially enjoyed books with pictures of kids and babies. I can remember her crawling across the floor to get to this book! The title was one of her first 2-word sentences. She, too, loves to act it out and we all know it so well we can sit around the dinner table and recite it together word for word.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hands Down - my daughter's favorite!, March 3, 2005

By 

Becky Newson "jbnewson" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hands Can (Hardcover)

We actually checked this book out from the library, and while I didn't think my 16-month-old daughter would be super impressed with this book, she proved me wrong. For the past 2 weeks, it's the book she demands to be read to her very first, before all other books. If it looks like she's not in the mood for book time, all I have to do is get this book out and she will instantly calm down and sit still for every single page. She loves mimicing the pictures: smearing finger paints, giving hugs, pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and waving hello and goodbye. She loves pointing to all the hands she can find, and since reading this book, she has taken a very keen interest in hands and fingers, which leads us to be able to practice counting our fingers. I would recommend this book to anyone, it's sure to be a favorite!