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Hands: Growing Up To Be an Artist
(Note: this review is adapted from our annotation for the original edition of Hands, published in 1997 by Harcourt Brace. Changes from the original edition--which had pages of various sizes, movable parts, and was shaped like a work glove--were made to the book's format, which is now on standard pages with a standard cover.) "My father always works with his hands." Wisconsin artist Lois Ehlert pays tribute to things she learned from both her parents while growing up in Beaver Dam that contributed to her life as an artist. Her concise and inviting first-person narrative in a child's voice immerses readers in an environment of watching and learning as her parents work with wood, garden, sew, and encourage the young narrator's own efforts. It's an environment that nurtures the creativity and teaches important skills and values, from how to measure carefully and observe keenly to making use of available supplies and tools and finding a place of one's own to work. ©1997 Cooperative Children's Book Center
Illustrated by Lois Ehlert
Wisconsin author, Wisconsin illustrator
Lois Ehlert was born and raised in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. She graduated from Layton School of Art in Milwaukee (1957) and from UW-Milwaukee (1959). She lived in Milwaukee until her death in 2021.
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 4-8
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
Art and Artists
Autobiography/Memoir
Creativity
Publisher:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publish Year: 2004
Pages: 42
ISBN: 9780152051075
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Ehlert