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213th out of 2,250 books
—
3,494 voters
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
Illus. in full color. A madcap band of dancing, prancing monkeys explain hands, fingers, and thumbs to beginning readers.
From the Hardcover edition....more
From the Hardcover edition....more
Board Book, 24 pages
Published
January 20th 1998
by Random House Books for Young Readers
(first published 1969)
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This one is way fun to read to kids. It has few words per page and is really rhythmic. Funny pictures. Love it.
This book is full of fingers, hands, drums, and monkeys. First, just a few monkeys playing drums, then crowds of monkeys, and then millions of monkeys in a riotous drumming celebration! There are big monkeys, small monkeys, monkeys with banjos, and monkeys with fiddles.
Much like Go, Dog, Go!, this beginner reader is more concerned with repetition of words than it is with plot. Although it’s meant to be a book for early readers to read on their own, it’s fun to read to younger kids as well. Kids...more
Much like Go, Dog, Go!, this beginner reader is more concerned with repetition of words than it is with plot. Although it’s meant to be a book for early readers to read on their own, it’s fun to read to younger kids as well. Kids...more
The biological limitations of anthropoids. A hand, and another hand. Fingers on each. The thumb; the opposable thumb. An anatomy lesson for your little tommy, your little leslie and, ultimately, a primate primer, a reminder, por vous.
May 08, 2011
Pamela
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Parents with toddlers
Shelves:
toddler-reads
"Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" by Al Perkins is a cute, little book I received at my baby shower...my daughter loves this book! Rhyming is using along with the text for this Bright and Early Board Book. Eric Gurney illustrated, and the pictures definitely go along with the words...they are so funny! My daughter just loves the pictures of the movies beating the drums.
As a parent, I really liked this book because I feel like it's a great resource for your toddler, especially if they are learning how...more
As a parent, I really liked this book because I feel like it's a great resource for your toddler, especially if they are learning how...more
27 years later my kids can still recite the verses. My husband always found the last pages a disturbing image ....millions of fingers, millions of thumbs, millions of monkeys drumming on drums. A classic.
hands play fiddles zum zum zum. hand in hand more monkeys come!
I hope someday my son will appreciate all the books I read to him.
I hope someday my son will appreciate all the books I read to him.
view all 5 comments
Oct 22, 2010
Shanna Gonzalez
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-00-04
This is an unusually well-designed rhythmic book with a simple theme of monkeys using fingers and hands to produce rhythm on drums. It begins with one monkey, then quickly expands to a sea of monkeys, all drumming their drums. As the complexity of pictures increase, the mood and energy of the text picks up, with lots of vocable sound effects which augment the text with fun and humor.
This is an easy reader, although the story appeals best to a preschool audience. It would be a good choice as read...more
This is an easy reader, although the story appeals best to a preschool audience. It would be a good choice as read...more
This was my daughter's favorite book when she was little. I must have read it hundreds of times to her. Very fun to read.
This book is SO.MUCH.FUN. It's a very rhythmic read: "hand, hand, fingers thumb, one thumb, one thumb, drumming on a drum," which makes it a whole body experience for both of us. We read it together and beat on the floor to the rhythm, occasionally stopping to point out a plum or other interesting illustration. My son, 20 months, asks for it by name now: "dum ditty dum DUM!" because it has all his favorite things in it: monkeys, loud noises, a chance to hit things, and more monkeys. If not his f...more
At first glance, you think this is a Dr. Seuss book. But it ain't. However, it does have that Suessian-beatnik-I-grok-kids'-imaginations-and-words-that-rhyme feel about it. I don't know how we got it. Books have a way of just appearing on our daughter's book shelves or in unstable stacks beside our bed.
If Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb has more than 40 words in it - 40 different words - I'll eat my hat. You get a lot of "hands" and "fingers" and "thumbs" - duh, look at the title. But there's also a...more
If Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb has more than 40 words in it - 40 different words - I'll eat my hat. You get a lot of "hands" and "fingers" and "thumbs" - duh, look at the title. But there's also a...more
I read a lot of children's books to my daughter, but usually I don't put them on Goodreads. However, this book was an exception. I remember reading this book when I was little, but forgot about it. I just checked it out from the library a couple days ago, and my husband and I have read it to our daughter about 10 times so far. The book has great rhythm and is such a fun read. This is now my new favorite children's book. I highly recommend it.
This has become one of my son's favorites. It's a very simple read (I memorized it after just a couple of readings), but that's a good thing for a one-year old. There is a lot of repetition. He really likes it when we "drum" on things to the beat of the book. I realize this sounds strange, but the book has a very rhythmic quality to it. It's about monkeys drumming on drums (dum, ditty, dum, ditty, dum, dum, dum).
I love rhythmic children's books! The repetitions sound great, but I have to count sometimes to make sure I've said enough/not too many "hum drum"s. The illustrations fit well with the text. My nine-month-old loves listening to it being read aloud (especially when I tap his little hands in time to the rhythm). I bought this one without having read it before, but I definitely don't regret it.
This would be such a fun book for toddler storytime as long as the parents helped them get involved. A preschool group might enjoy making the sounds, too. I'll have to think on it. I like the rhyming and the pace.
3/31/10 & 4/1/10 Both toddler groups loved this one. The drumming, and showing the thumbs, and all was very fun to do with them. The parents enjoyed helping their children do some of the actions. I think the Thursday group had some parents who knew the book by heart!
3/31/10 & 4/1/10 Both toddler groups loved this one. The drumming, and showing the thumbs, and all was very fun to do with them. The parents enjoyed helping their children do some of the actions. I think the Thursday group had some parents who knew the book by heart!
Personally I did not love this book as much as I do with other children's books. The illustrations felt over stimulating with too much going on in each page. An example of this is some of the pages have tons of monkeys on it. I lose my place in the book because I cannot stop looking at all of the monkeys! Maybe children love the crazy illustrations, but I am not a fan.
a definite favourite with my little boy (currently 16 months). He loves it, especially when daddy bounces him on his lap in the rhythm of the words - he fetches the book to us time and time again (20 times a morning, anyone?). Has started beating the rhythm of the words on his legs (as mummy does when daddy does the bouncing/reading)
Recommend it to any parent.
Recommend it to any parent.
One of the books I remember from childhood. Great rhythm; this one is meant to be chanted. Unlike some of the classic children's books that have been shortened to fit in this small format, this one only has a couple pages removed and doesn't seem to suffer much from the omissions (or changes in rhyme). Dum ditty, dum ditty, dum, dum, dum.
I love this book- my kids are pretty fond of it too and we have read it continuously for the past three years or so. For awhile it was a daily staple. The rhythm of the words, the easy rhymes and all the monkeys make this a very fun book for kiddos. And I love the pictures of monkeys with giant chops- cracks me up.
A warning to humans! It is through music that complex language systems arose, and through music that sub-primates shall develop a more complex neo-cortex, thereby underwriting our systemic annihilation. Millions of fingers, millions of thumbs, millions of monkeys, drumming our brains with sharpened rocks!
Okay, I get it "emphasis on monkeys". Strong repetition on "Dum ditty dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum, which reminded me of the word "dumb". This book is a classic, so I got to give it props. Very Dr. Seuss-esque in it's depiction and rhyme. Overall, pretty good read. See for yourself.
I've loved this book since I was a kid myself. My favorite page is the one which reads, "Rings on fingers/Rings on thumb/Drum drum drum drum/Drum drum drum." It's a classic. The rhythm is so strong that each time I read it with my one-year-old, he begins to dance.
Fun, cute, exciting short story to teach beginning readers about hands and fingers. The book is very short with few words on each page and also rhymes. It is a really funny book to read and have in the classroom.
As a little kid this was my all time favorite Dr. Suess book. I had it down cold. And, surprisingly, I still think on this level.
"Millions of monkeys, drumming on drums. Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum."
"Millions of monkeys, drumming on drums. Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum."
I remember this book from my childhood and am pleased that it has become a favorite for our kids. It's sing-songy, plus children learn about fingers, thumbs, and drums. A 2010 favorite at our house.
This is my toddler son's absolute favourite book. The rythm is intoxicating, the story simple, and the illustrations engaging. Recommended for every toddler under the sun.
Raised our children on this book...Now, our grandchildren! GREAT and DELIGHTFUL for the children...and FUN for the one READING IT! Can be really "animated" when reading it! smile
This is currently my favourite going to bed book. I demand that mommy reads it too me several times over while tapping my leg in rhythm. When she thinks we're done, I say "more".
My 22 month old son has LOVED this book for months. I think he enjoys the rhythm of the words. It is short and sweet, and he always wants to shake hands when we read it to him!
Luxmi seems to like putting this one in her mouth the most, so I'm guessing the rhythmic story line is getting her excited. The cadence is so fun to play with when reading aloud.
... One of my daughter's favourites ... read it (almost every night) to / for / with her when she was 2 - 3 yrs. old - a dozen years later and I can still remember the words.
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Al Perkins is an author of several children's books, including the ever-popular Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (1969), The Digging-est Dog (1967), and The Ear Book (1968).He also wrote early titles in the Beginner Books and Bright and Early series.
More about Al Perkins...
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