Customer Reviews

Sister Anne's Hands

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book made me cry, every time I read it. I remember going to school with "penguins" as teachers, and the horrible bigotry happening in the schools. The pictures are breath-taking, and the words are powerful. I bought it for the parochical school my children go to. If you buy one book for your 3-8 grader, buy this one.

Sister Anne teaches her young students not only their math and reading, but important lessons in justice, dedication, and love. The text reflects the simple, concrete experiences of a child while suggesting how these experiences gently deepen the young narrator's understanding. The lovely illustrations are slightly muted in tone, appropriately giving the book the look of a memory recalled. Outstanding in every way.

If you're looking for a picture book that handles the topic of racism tenderly for young children, then SISTER ANNE'S HANDS is an excellent choice indeed!

Seven-year-old Anna Zabrocky is excited about her first day in the second grade. She is also very curious about her new teacher, Sister Anne, an African-American nun. Anna has never encountered a black person up close and personal before. Therefore, she feels a little uncertain and nervous as she avoids Sister Anne's gentle touch of welcome on the first day of school. Soon all of Anna's apprehensions vanish as her classroom comes alive. Sister Anne's warmth and gentleness engages them in learning new things, sharing wonderful stories and telling hearty jokes. Just when everything feels perfect for the new school year, someone hurls a paper airplane that sails by Sister Anne's head and hits the blackboard. On its wings were written some very hurtful things. Not only did this cruel act bring a great deal of pain to Sister Anne's eyes, but a sense of guilt comes upon Anna as though she had crafted the paper airplane herself. It is how Sister Anne chooses to take this painful moment and turn it into a teachable moment that makes this book so great. By the close of the school year, it is obvious that the strength and courage of this teacher changes the lives of her students forever.

The lyrical movement of the text along with the dream like illustrations of a classroom and library from the 1960's enhances this story that much more. This is truly a beautiful book!

I intend to buy this book for our church library and read it during a children's sermon. I found it at the bookstore and began reading and soon I had read the entire book. Very appealing school story of a white girl's first encounters with a black person, her schoolroom teacher, Sister Anne. The idea of other races is something we all deal with sooner or later in life depending on where we live, and I hope this lesson is learned earlier than later, especially in the global world we live in today. I was once a classroom teacher and the give and take between Sister Anne and her students is very real. This book teaches that there are some things said that can't be taken back, and you are then dependent upon the person you may have injured with hateful words to forgive you. Sister Anne is a teacher, an encourager and a forgiver. The pictures I at first disliked because of their muted grey tones--usually pictures in children's books are quite colorful. But the grey shows up nicely against the pink floral tones. Here perhaps they resemble photos (we who lived through the civil rights demonstrations saw it on black and white TV. Also the greys go nicely with Sister Anne's black and white habit, and the neutral brown earth tone of her hands and face. This is a sweet and ethereal book which kids would, I suspect, like to read again and again. At the end, Sister Anne does not return--she is assigned to another school elsewhere. I have often faced that as a teacher--I look back and wonder how my students are doing, much as the child in this book wonders about Sister Anne and is left with fond memories of her love. Sister Anne touches the children in this book and she will touch all readers, too.

The 1960's possibly brought about more change in the American psyche and way of life than had occurred before or even since. This little tale addresses issues of tolerance, brotherhood, and compassion in a way that primary/elementary children can understand.

Sister Anne comes to a Catholic school with as much wide-eyed enthusiasm about teaching as those in her charge have about learning. When an unnamed student leaves a derogatory note for the nun to find, the sister decides its' time to make her students aware of the racial conditions in America.

From the lesson, her children become better citizens, ultimately paving the way for a more humane society.

This book can be used to stimulate discussion about race, loneliness, individuality, and civic responsibility. It definitely cuts across the curriculum

Five stars do this book an injustice. It's a superior work, deserving of attention and placement in the classroom.

I am a children's storyreader covering the schools of the North East and Florida. I will be using this book in all my presentations this year. I loved the easy and rhythmic flow of words by Ms. Lorbiecki and the beautiful illustrations by K. Wendy Popp look like old photos of the 60's. All parents and teachers should read this one ! Jim McKenna, Storyreader

I became aquainted with this book when one of my professors in graduate school used it in class (as having examples of beautiful word choice/ descriptive wording). I do not know how it did not win a Caldacott or other award except it is a largely unknown book. Outstanding pictures and story. Would be wonderful addition to any classroom. Good book to show to/ discuss with older children, especially junior high or high school age students studying the 1960's. The story is about a single teacher's ability to teach love and acceptance during a time when their parents were demonstrating hatred (about this new black teacher)at home.

Sister Anne's Hands are different; that is one of the first things Anna Zabrocky notices about Sr. Anne. Set in the 1960's, in the days of hatred toward anything that made a person different, this book explores Civil Rights, learning, and love from the perspective of a black-skinned nun and a white-skinned child. Through the course of the book, we see through word and picture the image of how Sr. Anne's hands tell a story. They go from being the object of Anna's curiosity about all the colors in them, to being the expression of a child's love for her teacher in a card Anna makes for Sr. Anne. Anna learned the greatest lesson: to look beyond the fear of our differences to learn of the love we share in our similarities. This is a very intimate look, through the lens of diversity, at the love that grows between a teacher and a child.

This book is particularly useful to me in my work as a Catholic religious educator because it demonstrates through historical fiction, an approach to respecting life in all of its forms, and celebrating that which makes us unique! This book is special to me - I was attracted by the name. I have two aunts who are nuns, one of whom is named Sr. Ann. My aunts shared their vocations as nuns and their professions as teachers. I remember seeing pictures of Sr. Ann and Sr. Alice Marie in their full habits. I recall thinking about how strange they looked in their pictures because by the time I was born, nuns no longer wore a habit every day! The best memories of my aunts involve the feeling of being loved and whole in my aunts' presence, and that sense of love and being whole is very prominent in this book. Perhaps one of this book's greatest strengths is the author's ability to weave together many challenges to a person's dignity (exclusion by color, creed, and vocation) into a theme where differences and diversity are celebrated! The theme of this book aligns very closely with the tenor of the current presidential race in the US. In that, it is a timeless treasure and does not seem to have any apparent weakness.

Sister Anne's Hands is an incredible picture filled book about a girl growing up during the time when Blacks and white's were still at war. She learns through her teacher (Sister Anne) that it doesn't matter what's on the outside it matters what your like on the inside. Through this heart warming book your child will learn important lessons on building good character. I liked reading this book because it gave me inspiration to follow my heart through everything I do. Your sure to love Sister Anne's Hand!!! Author of Sister Anne's Hands: Marybeth Lorbiecki

Having lived as a child in the '60s, I found Sister Anne's Hands to be a authentic mirror of this era's racial biases and a gentle reminder that education is our best hope for an end to "isms."