FICTION

Hand Book

by Jeff NEWMAN
978-1-41695-013-4.
COPY ISBN
Gr 2—4—From toddler hands clapping to a schoolboy's keyboard strokes, graduation-hat tosses and hands crossed in frustration over want ads, Newman spotlights the role of hands throughout life. A simple sentence on each page rhymes with a companion page, but sometimes feels forced: "Hands to eat./Hands (and feet.)" The wide circles creating nearly faceless figures are done in ink and permanent marker, predominantly in orange. Later pages present situations of interest to adults, such as meeting a mate: "Hands shake/and hold/and then,/again…," reinforcing the mature tone. Children originally attracted to the visual simplicity will leave puzzled by the theme.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
"One hand. / Two hands. / Two hands clap. / Two hands slap" (a drum). So begins this minimalist meditation on hands, presented in spare, rhythmic text. The accompanying digitally composed, limited-color-palette art in ink, marker, and gouache has the carefully calculated looseness of a Jules Feiffer cartoon.
Reviewed by Gay Lynn Van Vleck , Jul 01, 2011

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