Poetry - Rhymes, Nursery Rhymes & Fingerplays, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - Health & Medicine, Fiction - Family Life

Busy Fingers

Name: Busy Fingers
Author: C. W. Bowie
ISBN: 9781580890373

by C. W. Bowie, Fred Willingham

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Synopsis

A playful list of some of the many things that fingers can do, from counting and poking to waving and squishing.

Candace Deisley - Children's Literature

Originally written as a picture book for toddlers, Busy Fingers has been transformed into a board book. It shows some of the many things young children can do with their fingers: signing and waving, squish and poke, wash and dry, and so on. Told in rhyming couplets and illustrated with full-page pastels, predominately of African American children, this is a sequel to Busy Toes. The simple illustrations are realistic and focus on the hands and their activities. The double page spread that shows "Fingers wash, fingers dry..." is the most amusing: the little boy's face is so well portrayed as he frowns while washing his ear with a bubbly washcloth, and smiles whiles drying himself on a matching towel. Toddlers will relate to this and all the other pages; the children look like friends! The soft lights and parents' love that is shown at the end make this a perfect bedtime book. 2004 (orig. 2003), Charlesbridge, Ages 1 to 3.

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Editorials

Children's Literature

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1-A simple rhyming text that invites participation and repetition explores the ways fingers move. "Fingers high,/fingers low./Fingers reach to touch a toe." The interracial cast models the actions, from waving to washing to making an itty-bitty spider. Although the youngsters pictured seem slightly older than the target audience, very young children will delight in imitating the text as it is read to them: "Fingers count,/fingers stroke./Fingers squish,/fingers poke." The lack of plot is replaced by solid concepts, clearly pictured in pleasant pastel illustrations, that children will enjoy exploring.-Jane Marino, Scarsdale Public Library, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In this sequel to Busy Toes (1998), Bowie (a pseudonym for a trio of women) extols the handiness of opposable thumbs and fingers. In rhyming text this enthusiastic read highlights 21 samplings of what hands and fingers can accomplish-such as "Itsy-bitsy spider" and a shadow play. Also celebrated is the usefulness of these ten feelers as they help us to count or allow us to interact with the world through the simple motion of petting a dog. Willingham's multi-racial chalk illustrations superbly capture the subtlety of the children's facial expressions and the dexterity of their pudgy digits. A single picture book could not possibly enumerate the abundant ways fingers make our lives extraordinary, but this work does beg more. The reader might welcome additional finger rhymes or sign language examples. It's fertile ground, though, for preschoolers and families to think up their own finger fun. (Picture book. 1-4)