Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

Here is Miranda Paul’s latest treasure – a great addition to any home or school library. It received multiple read requests from three-year-old Corinne, a bona fide testimonial.

Title: Whose Hands Are These? A Community Helper Guessing Book
Written by: Miranda Paul
Illustrated by: Luciana Navarro Powell
Millbrook Press (Lerner), 2016, non-fiction
Suitable for ages: 4-8

Themes/topics: occupations, helping, community

Opening:
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?  

Brief synopsis: (from worldcat.org) Asks young readers to identify the occupation of each community helper from the type of tasks they perform and explains how these helpers work together to keep communities clean and safe and people healthy.

Activities and Resources:
Author website says Teacher’s guide coming soon.

In the meantime, I’ve posted some ACTIVITIES on the Parent /Teacher Resource page.

Why I like this book:
This engaging book is perfect for a curriculum unit on occupations and communities. The interactive format is fun, and the rhyming text flows naturally.  The rich illustrations provide the “big picture” as well as “close ups,” especially well suited to provide context and build vocabulary for English Language Learners (ELLs).  I love the details such as “food-stained books” and hands “caked in chalk” (guess who?) that bring life to the text.

Visit author Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Books for a plethora of picture books listed by title and topic/theme, each with teacher/parent resources.