THE HANDIEST THINGS IN THE WORLD

What are the handiest things in the world? Hands that hold dogs, hands that count, hands that pick up good foods to eat and hands that “[t]ap in rhythm, keep the beat.” But Clements makes the point that our oldest tools also lead to lots of other useful objects: dog leashes, calculators, chopsticks and drumsticks to name a few. In sprightly rhyme, especially after the wordy opening spread, the actions of children using their hands are followed on the opposite pages by their use of tools created for the same purpose. Jaramillo’s photos are a delight; the left-hand pages sometimes focus only on the hands and then the right-side photos pull back to show the child using another object. There is some ethnic diversity, but despite the “world” in the title, this is not a book about different countries. The end pages are composed of small squares arranged checkerboard-style, showing additional photos that relate to the images in the main text; these could be used to play an informal matching game. Pure fun that will spark young imaginations. (Informational picture book. 4-6)