Two Hands to Love You

April 1, 2014

PreS-Various family members tell how their hands will help a baby as he grows. Two hands will "rock you to sleep," "raise you up high," "help you squeeze lemons for juice," and so on. All end with the same couplet: "For you are my baby; I'll never be far./I'll love you, think of you, wherever you are." The story starts with an infant and ends with a toddler. The text is written in carefully metered anapestic tetrameter with end rhyme, which gives it an easy rocking feel when reading it aloud. Each stanza is narrated by a different person. The soft ink and watercolor sketches are done mostly in black and white; the only colors are touches of yellow and pink. This sweet book would make a good choice for baby programs or a one-on-one read. Pair it with Mem Fox's Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes (Harcourt, 2008) and Robert Munsch's Love You Forever (Firefly, 1995).-Emily E. Lazio, The Smithtown Special Library District, NY

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