Rhyming text and eye-catching, full-color photos invite readers to discover the many things their hands can do in this colorful board book. Full color.

Reviews

PreS-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 2003 Reed Business Information.

In Hands Can by Cheryl Willis Hudson, photos by John-Francis Bourke, a simple rhyming text and crisp photos of toddlers depict a number of activities to inspire youngsters to discover the world with their own hands. Beginning "Hands can wave to say `hello.'/ Hands can touch things high and low," a multiracial cast of characters fold and mold, mix and fix, all against solid-colored backgrounds. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.