My Thumb

May 2, 2016
Hesse’s redheaded narrator begins and ends this book as an unrepentant thumb sucker, but it’s her very intransigence that makes this tribute to the First Digit so refreshing. Even if there are hints that she won’t be a thumb sucker forever (“You make it hard to run,/ and beat a drum,/ and eat a plum”), this is a girl who knows what she wants. “There’s nothing mum could say or do/ to break the bond between us two,” Hesse (Spuds) writes. “It’s like there is some kind of glue,/ that no one, nothing, can undo.” Deas (Cock-a-Doodle Dance!) generally contributes literal interpretations of the rhymes, but he has some standout moments: in one, the narrator assumes the no-nonsense demeanor of a teacher and, with the help of a pointer and chalkboard, explains that she has already outgrown baby bottles, pacifiers, diapers, and nose-picking. For the most part, this is Hesse’s language-fest, and she doesn’t disappoint, ending the story with a string of rhymes that gamely employs kung fu, Peru, déjà vu, snafu, and IQ. Ages 2–4.

May 1, 2016

PreS-What's a girl to do? Her mum would love for her to stop sucking her thumb-but as the ginger-haired child attests, "I love my thumb, I truly do./It tastes of pears and carrot stew./It's like a hug, an 'I love you.'" As she leaps across a spread with balloons and her faithful pup at her side, the nameless preschooler acknowledges some difficulties that she experiences when glued to her thumb. Delicate illustrations washed with softly hued colors allow the girl and her red cardigan to easily stand out on each page. Young readers will empathize with the main character as she lists in poetic rhyme the pros and cons of sucking her thumb. A spread of a multicultural cast of characters at storytime subtly showcases bottles, dolls, binkies, blankets, and other soothing objects being employed as the class listens intently. The story ends with the girl in the bath before bed as she concludes, "I love my thumb. It's true, I do, /its soggy, wrinkled, half-baked hue, /its scent of O's and honeydew./If it were yours, you'd love it too."

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.