THE LITTLE KID WITH THE BIG GREEN HAND

A young girl is embarrassed by her giant green hand.

Lenore always realized that she was different; others have green eyes or even green nail polish, but she has a huge pastel-green–hued hand. In an effort to conceal it, Lenore keeps her viridescent appendage tightly wrapped up in a scarf, and she’s ready with a list of excuses when people ask her about this. When her family moves to Michigan and Lenore is preparing to conceal her hand for the first day of school, she suddenly hears a voice. Her hand—who introduces himself as Chuck—explains things from his perspective. Soon Lenore begins to perceive her unique hand with more positivity, although scenes in which Chuck drags her around without her consent or knowledge while she sleeps may not sit well with some. Actor Gubler’s sophomore offering is a light, easy read, heavily image-based with economical lines of text populating each page. Simply wrought line-based black-and-white illustrations (with occasional greenish-gray splashes) slowly transition throughout the tale into a softly saturated sunset-hued watercolorlike palette. Gubler’s quirky, goofy, and easily palatable tale is a little on the nose; it offers an evergreen message that is a staple of children’s literature. Lenore appears white.

A feel-good read reaffirming the power of empathy.