This board book received the PJ Library Author/Illustrator Award
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Night and day, land and sea, birds and animals . . . it’s amazing what these hands can make! Through handprints, finger paints, and child-friendly language, this book retells the ancient story of Creation while encouraging young readers to celebrate their own capacity to imagine and create.
Good news: soon kids will be able to read My Hands Make the World in Russian and German.
Reviews
Betsy Birds School Library Journal Fuse 8 Production
Well! I think it’s fair to say that I didn’t expect to see a Creation board book that actually, honest-to-goodness, works for little readers. Who knew it was possible? But Hoffman has just doubled down on the gorgeous paints in this, and it’s a stronger woman than I that could resist it. Its remarkably simple concept is probably why it works as well as it does. It’s written in the first person, and the story of Genesis almost equates the creation of the cosmos with the creation children do when they paint. “On the second day… My left hand made sky and clouds / My right hand made water.” There’s something distinctly satisfying about the way that these paints just pop off the page. It’s a book that looks like it was as much fun to make as it is to read. Finding books for this age range that touch on religious subjects and aren’t cloying or saccharin is an almost impossible task. At least there’s one book out there now to read with flair.
