My Hands

K-Gr 2–From French-Tunisian creator Néjib comes a simple and incredibly rich book about what hands do: “greet,” “touch,” “say goodbye,” “ask to speak,” and more. For building, destroying, walking the dog, scratching the cat, bending, weight-lifting—there is a wealth of motions, a world of services, a cavalcade of actions that would be impossible or at least difficult without hands. The drawings are deliberately spare, sometimes only showing hands, although there may also be smiling eyes and the curved dash that hints at a smile. The use of color on white pages is also spare; nevertheless, there is an array of skin colors represented, as well as facial features from quizzical to angry and beyond. It’s fascinating that so much can be wrung out of so little, and yet children will want to attempt their own drawings of things their hands do for them.