Whose Hands Are These?: A Community Helper Guessing Book

by Miranda Paul, Luciana Navarro Powell (Illustrator)

Overview

If your hands can mix and mash, what job might you have?

Hands can wiggle, hands can clap.
Hands can wrap and flap and tap.
But hands can help—so raise yours, please!
Can you guess? Whose hands are these?

What if your hands reach, wrench, yank, and crank? The hands in this book—and the people attached to them—do all sorts of helpful work. And together, these helpers make their community a safe and fun place to live.

As you read, keep an eye out for community members who make repeat appearances! Can you guess all the jobs based on the actions of these busy hands?

Miranda Paul is an award-winning children's book author. Her recent books include One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, a Junior Library Guild selection. She lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with her husband and two children. Find out more at www.mirandapaul.com and www.oneplasticbag.com.

Luciana Navarro Powell was born in Brazil and worked as a product and graphic designer and before becoming an illustrator. She incorporates watercolor, photographs, and scanned objects into her artwork. She lives with her husband and two children in San Diego, California.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467752145
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/2016
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	100,819
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD420L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Miranda Paul is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for children, including One Plastic Bag and Boston Globe–Horn Book Honoree Nine Months Before a Baby Is Born. Miranda is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and serves as its mentorship chair. Learn more at mirandapaul.com.

Luciana Navarro Powell was born in Brazil and worked as a product and graphic designer before becoming an illustrator. She incorporates watercolor, photographs, and scanned objects into her artwork. She lives in San Diego, California.

Editorial Reviews

"Paul and Powell have created an interactive rhyming gem. . . . A well-organized and attractive look at careers."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

01/01/2016
K-Gr 3—Paul and Powell have created an interactive rhyming gem: a guessing game with verbal and pictorial hints praising workers from a variety of fields. The recto of each spread features images of hands, which pop against white backgrounds, and a hint about which job is being described ("These hands help us keep the peace./Hold yours up, it's the…"). Readers turn the page for a full-color illustration revealing the occupation. Children will learn about farmers, cooks, police, scientists, potters, news reporters, mechanics, architects, referees, physicians, and teachers. These discoveries lead to the final spread, which expands the game to the thoughtful question, "What could your hands do?" At this point, an airplane pilot and astronaut are added to the picture, suggesting that when it comes to selecting a career, the sky is the limit. The back matter includes insightful explanations of the featured workers' duties. VERDICT A well-organized and attractive look at careers.—Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA

School Library Journal

2015-11-11
Rhyming verses and illustrations of hands working give readers the opportunity to guess what community jobs people do. "Stop and go, these hands are waving. / Catch that guy! He's misbehaving! / These hands help us keep the peace. / Hold yours up, it's the… // police!" The richly colored and nicely textured illustrations show a hand holding a radio, a pointing index finger, hands writing a summons, and a hand holding a stop sign. From the commonplace to those that rarely appear in picture books, the other occupations include farmer, cook, scientist, potter, news reporter, mechanic, architect, referee, and physician. The final puzzle reveals the hands of teachers, a perfect segue to the final spread, which shows a classroom full of tots dressed as community helpers before an adult audience of the same. In both the pictures showing only hands and in the full-page reveals, people of all genders, ages, and ethnicities are displayed. Backmatter includes two double-page spreads describing each of the careers—what that job entails and the education/experience needed for it. A great addition to libraries' and teacher's shelves for units on community helpers. (author's note) (Informational picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews