Bill Martin,
John Archambault, and Ted Rand team up to compose a deceivingly simple book that acknowledges the similarities in children
while at the same time validating each child's unique identity. Preschoolers will delight in the rhyming text: "Here are my hands for catching and throwing. / Here are my feet for stopping and going." Each double-page
spread highlights a different body part belonging to an ethnically diverse group of children.
A previous reviewer[1] of the original edition noted that "the featured part is
sometimes lost in the gutter of the book." The board format of this edition, however, eliminates this problem; the pages fully
open and lay flat. This format makes the book readily accessible for both a read-to-me and a read-by-myself. Here Are My Hands is a book that children will want to read again and again.
[1] Gifford, Nancy A. 1987. Review of Here Are My
Hands. School Library Journal 33 (10): 86.
Martin, Bill Jr. and John Archambault. 1998. Here are my hands. Illus.
Ted Rand. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 0-8050-5911-3.