"One Hand, Two Hands" by Max Lucado (Children's Book review)

"One Hand, Two Hands" by Max Lucado





Synopsis: "Written in rhyming text and illustrated with the charming art of Gaby Hansen, this simple message of God's blessing of hands not only entertains . . . as it teaches what wonderful things our hands can do from scratching, latching, and petting a pup to washing dishes with mommy and putting toys in a box . . . but it also conveys the important message: We can use God's gift of hands to show our love for Him by helping others. The book ends tenderly with a prayer of thanks to God for hands and asks Him to use them again:

One hand, two hands,
Five fingers, ten.
God, thanks, for my hands.
Please, use them again."

My Review:
A very simple cute book for the little ones. Pros are that it has adorable illustrations that my kids loved, and enforces the idea that our hands are for doing good things. Cons are that the book really only mentions God at the end there as quoted in the Amazon writeup and the book is a bit long for the attention spans of the intellectual level that would get the most out of the simple rhyming text. I think that my almost 4 year old will after a few readings begin to grasp that the book is saying we should use our hands to do good and kind things, without further explanation. She might need help connecting the one mention of God using our hands to the reason why we do good things with them, simply because God is so obscure in the book. But then again maybe not... kids pick up on things sometimes that we wouldn't think they would. My 2 year old however will probably not grasp this concept right away even with further explanation. I will have to own this book longer, I think, to be able to see what their little minds do with it. :) And every child is different so perhaps what is not immediately obvious to my tots will be to yours, or vice versa.
Over all a good sweet simple book. I enjoy reading it with my littles. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars - not 5 simply because I'd like God to be a little more obvious in the text but other than that it's great!

This book was provided to me for review by Thomas Nelson's Booksneeze program. Opionions expressed are my own.

Review: "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf

Review of Children's Book "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf.

I RATE IT: A beloved childhood favorite! 5/5!

GENRE: Children's

SUB-GENRE: Classic from 1936

TITLE: The Story of Ferdinand

AUTHOR: Munro Leaf

ILLUSTRATOR: Robert Lawson

PUBLISHER: Picture Puffin (Penguin)
ISBN: 9780140502343 (0140502343)
PRICE: $7.99(US), $9.00(CAN)
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: "Published over 50 years ago, The Story of Ferdinand is one of the bestselling children's books of all time, and the bull who preferred sitting under the cork tree and smelling flowers to fighting has become a hero to generations of children."

MY REVIEW: I remember my Nana reading me a tattered old copy of this book 20 years ago when I was a child, and she probably read this 1936 classic to my mom and her 3 older siblings when they were children! I loved the unique detailed line drawing illustrations and the fun story.

My favorite parts were where Ferdinand sat on a bee and went crazy, so the scouts mistook him for a wild fighting bull, then later he just sat in the arena smelling the flowers instead of trying to fight which made the matador so mad he cried because he could not show off. Lol! It does talk in one place about sticking the bull to make him mad enough to fight, and the bulls stick each other with thier horns in play- you see funny little bandaids on them as they are huddled around the bullfight poster dreaming of being the rowdiest so they would be chosen to fight.

That is not really something that I dwelt on or noticed as a child. I just took it in stride that that is how it was back then and Ferdinand was not harmed and lived happily ever after in the end so I was not disturbed by it. You know your child and if they are too sensitive for that. The overal moral of the story seems to be peace and nonviolence as our hero, Ferdinand, "wouldn't fight and be fierce no matter what they did" and therefore was taken home to live happily ever after smelling flowers under his favorite tree.

This is a treasured classic that I'm thrilled to now own for my own children!

You can purchase this book HERE or to enter to win it click HERE!

Little Elephant's Listening Ears - by Susan Hood

I RATE IT: 1/5 for cute illustrations but the text does more harm than good.
GENRE: Children's
SUB-GENRE: Pop-up, pull-tab, flap activity book.
TITLE: Little Elephant's Listening Ears
AUTHOR: Susan Hood
ILLUSTRATOR: Barbara Nascimbeni
PUBLISHER: Readers Digest
ISBN: 0794412300
PRICE: $12.99(US)
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: "A young elephant has big ears, but he also has a big problem -- he doesn't listen! So when Mom tells him to bundle up for the weather outside, he puts on his favorite pair of shorts. When he's reminded not to blow too hard on his soup, he forgets and ends up with noodles everywhere. Featuring pull-tabs, touch-and-feel elements, fun flaps, and more, this story will have kids giggling -- and recognizing themselves -- on every spread."

MY REVIEW: This book is terrible! My MIL picked it up for the kids and of course I was not smart about previewing it before I sat right down to read it to them. The little elephant in the story, Elliot, is a disobedient little brat with selective hearing. Every time his mother tells him to do something, he does not do it. She tells him to dress warmly so he dresses in shorts. She tells him to clean up his toys so they can go to the store, so he totally ignores her and keeps playing. She tells him not to play with the cart, so he piles it high with groceries until it avalanches and gleefully shouts "Earthquake!" She tells him not to play with his soup and not to splash in the tub, both of which end up with liquids purposely sloshed far and wide. The whole book I was holding out hope for a lesson learned in the end to sort of redeem all the bad. Well I was dissappointed in the end when not only was there no consequences for Elliot's day of willful disobedience, but worse, his mother simply took him from yet another disobedient act (jumping on the bed) to sit down and read him a bedtime story, which of course was the only time in the whole book which Elliot listened to his mom. This little elephant teaches kids that if you don't 'hear' what Mom is telling you to do, then it's not disobedience. So you can pretend all the day long that anything you don't want to do, you just didn't hear Mom say it. Then you won't get in trouble because after all, you can't punish someone for not hearing you! Right? What a terrible book! I was very upset after reading it and had to go back and reread it to the kids, ad-libbing in appropriate disciplinary actions for the bratty elephant after every disobedience. Of course that won't work once my kids can read for themselves, so I've opted for a more long term solution. The book is in the trash waiting to be taken out. So if you're in the minority looking for a book with a bad role model, no consequences, but some fun illustrations and pop-ups, then this is the book for you. The rest of us prefer not to waste our money.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?EAN=9780794412302

"Little Mommy" Children's Book by Sharon Kane

I RATE IT: Precious! Adorable! We love it! 5/5!
GENRE: Children's
SUB-GENRE: Little girls, Classic from 1967
TITLE: Little Mommy
AUTHOR: Sharon Kane
ILLUSTRATOR: Sharon Kane
PUBLISHER: Little Golden Books (Random House)
ISBN: 978-0-375-84820-9 (0-375-84820-7)
PRICE: $2.99(US), $3.99(CAN)
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: "THE “LITTLE MOMMY” in this story is an adorable little girl. We spend the day in her charming company as she cares for her dolls, treats their ills, gives them a tea party, feeds them dinner, and puts them to bed. Beautifully illustrated, this book has a timeless feel."


MY REVIEW:

This is the most adorable children's book I have stumbled across in a very long time. Maybe in my life... Seriously I adore it! It has a lovely innocent childlike tone and is written in sing-song rhyme that is engaging. If that weren't enough the precious illustrations call up nostalgia and the beauty of a time when little girls were actually allowed and encouraged to be little girls rather than made to feel like such things were a prison and mind control and taught instead that perpetual dress-up and rowdiness equal true femininity. The child in the story narrates her day with her three dollies; "This is my house and I am the mommy. My children are Annabelle, Betsy, and Bonny (Bonnie)..." the book begins. Throughout the 22 page story we see the child and her dolls playing house, baking, laundering doll clothes, and cleaning. She interacts with other children, having a tea party with the neighbor and cooking supper for a little boy who appears briefly playing the role of daddy to the dollies. The little girl must call Dr. Dan (another little boy) when one of the dollies takes ill. "She'll be well as quick as a wink. It's just the mumbledy bumps, I think." A precious book that exhudes the sweet, busy, innocent, feminine spirit that I want my daughter to emulate! And what does my 3 year old daughter think? It's one of her favorite books to read at bedtime. :)

To purchase a copy of this book online, please visit http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/catalog/display.pperl?view=oonline&isbn=9780375848209
or to look for it in the children's book section of your favorite grocery or department store. Ours was purchased at the local bulk foods grocery; WinCo.