Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (Bright & Early Books)

First sentence: Hand hand fingers thumb. One thumb one thumb drumming on a drum. One hand two hands drumming on a drum. Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum.

Premise/plot: What starts out as one monkey joyfully drumming ends with millions of monkeys jamming away on their drums. Perkins' book is a jazzy treat that delights readers old and new.

Favorite quotes:

"Hello Jack." "Hello Jake." Shake hands shake hands. Shake! Shake! Shake!

Hand in hand more monkeys come. Many more fingers. Many more thumbs. Many more monkeys. Many more drums. Millions of fingers! Millions of thumbs! Millions of monkeys drumming on drums!

My thoughts: Everything I learned about rhythm and rhyme I learned by reading this one. An exaggeration perhaps, there is also Dr. show more Seuss. But I tend to judge the quality of all other picture books attempting rhythm with this one. Most fail horribly. There is just something magical about this one. Yes, I grew up with it. Yes, I quote it all the time. I think the book is timeless and just about perfect.

The text lends itself to easy memorization--it is fun, it is catchy, it is practically perfect in every way.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10 show less

This is worthy and spirited, although its manic energy and island rhythms would have been better served if it came with, like, a set of bongo drums (ditty drums ditty drums drums drums). But one makes do, of course, especially if one is a one-year-old one with a fine set of hands hands fingers thumbs for bashing and a throat for monkey calls.

I can not tell you how many times my poor parents were forced to read this book to me. All I know was that I never, ever tired of it. The illustrations are fabulous, with bright, vivid colors and great 60s-era cartoons. The text is what captivated me, I think - the rhythms of the words are like a hypnotic song "one thumb, one thumb, drumming on a drum....dum-ditty, dum-ditty, dum dum dum." I can practically recite it from memory 30 years after I stopped demanding nightly readings (although, in a nostalgic moment, I did ask my parents to read it to me on my latest visit, and we still enjoyed it). It is simple - this is not Dickens' prose, and the people to whom I've recommended it often look skeptical, but this book worked its magic on show more me as no other did. Even after I started reading more advanced books, I kept returning to this one for the rhythms. One thing to note is that the original book is very hard to find in stores. When I've found this book on the shelves, it has usually been an abridged version.

I still love it. show less

Too, too, catchy. Lots of fun to read and easy to memorize for little ones. And, hits that rare spot of the book that is okay gor grown-ups to read over and over, and over, again. Highly recommended.

Upon reading this book I was trying to figure out why this book was banned. It was a story of monkeys. They showed off their fingers, they played the drums and other instruments, and talked with friends. Why was this book banned? Apparently, someone thought that this book was associating African culture with monkeys. I don’t see this because the moneys do more than play drums, they also play banjos and fiddles. I don’t think African culture when I think banjos and fiddles. I think deep south and dueling banjos, and the Hatfields and McCoys comes more to mind. So, I do not see the connection of this story to African culture and do not feel it’s racist. HOWEVER, anyone who does feel that, has valid feelings, and I will not denigrate show more that. If someone feels that way, then yes, this is a problematic book. But should this book be banned… No. show less

As I am finding to be true generally, my daughter has her own taste in books. This book bores the hell out of me and I don't much care for the illustrations. What can you do, kiddo makes the rules about this. At 8 months, it's her favorite bedtime book. The words are very rhythmic and invite you to drum on the book or a lap while reading. Sturdy construction stands up to a lot of chewing.

I really like this book for multiple reasons. First, I like the language the author used. The author used patterned language like, “Monkeys drum….and monkeys hum” that engages the reader to the story. Second, I like how the text and story creates music. While I read, “One hand two hands drumming on a drum. Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum”, I could hear the beat in my head. The language is also patterned because the beat, “dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum” is repeated multiple times throughout the book. The more the text shows this, the more the reader can really feel the beat, which is the purpose of repeating it. Third, I like how the text also shows different kinds of instruments and the sounds they make. For example, it show more says, “Hands play banjos strum strum strum” and “Hands play fiddles zum zum zum.” The reader can infer what kind of noise these instruments make by reading the text and creating a beat to go along with it. The main idea of this book is to show its readers what they can do with their hands, fingers, thumbs such as picking apples and plums, and playing drums. show less