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Henry's Hand
Author:
MacDonald, Ross
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Class:
Easy
Age: 5-8
Language: English
Descriptors: Picture Book
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LC: PZ7
Grade: K-3
Print Run: 10000
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ISBN-13: 9781419705274
LCCN: 2012039257
Imprint: Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Abrams
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Pub Date: 10/01/2013
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $17.95
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 25 x 28 cm.
H 10",
W 11",
D 0.5",
1.11 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's For Youth Interest: Popular
Brodart's Insight Catalog: Children
Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles
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Bibliographies:
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Awards:
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Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
Kirkus Starred Reviews
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Starred Reviews:
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Kirkus Reviews
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TIPS Subjects:
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Fantasy
Friendship
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BISAC Subjects: |
JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories
JUVENILE FICTION / Monsters
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / Friendship
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LC Subjects:
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Friendship, Fiction
Hand, Fiction
Monsters, Fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
Friendship, Fiction
Hand, Fiction
Monsters, Fiction
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Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
2.8
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Points: 0.5
Lexile Level:
570
Reading Counts Level:
2.3
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Points: 1.0
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Juvenile Titles | 10/01/2013 |
| Never upset a body part that can run away from you. Henry is a giant, and he's used to losing track of his falling body parts. At least his right hand has never let him down. When Henry makes Hand mad and Hand runs off, Henry must find a way to find his best friend or make do without him. 48pp., Color Ill. |
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| Starred Reviews: |
| Kirkus Reviews | 09/15/2013 |
| A good old-fashioned man/appendage love story for the ages. Henry's just your typical Frankenstein's monster, "bits-and-pieces kind of guy." Prone to having his body parts wander off without him, he's closest to his right hand. Alas, Henry fails to appreciate the hand's work, cruelly exploiting its helpful little green digits, sending it out to start the car on cold mornings and making it get up to change the channel. Little wonder that, one day, he finds that it has taken off for the big city. There, it saves a rich man from certain death and instantly becomes the talk of the town. Yet at the end of the day, even fame and fortune cannot compare to a good friend who knows you like the back of...well, you know. The combination of a rags-to-riches tale and the monster genre might appear jarring in the abstract, but MacDonald manages to make the enterprise work. The text is warm and friendly, though adults of a certain age will have a hard time not thinking of Thing from The Addams Family. Meanwhile, the art takes advantage of classic 1930s tropes, from crooked caps and newsboys to mailrooms and wealthy socialites. Kids will come for the monster and the disembodied hand. They'll stay for the story. (Picture book. 3-7). 48pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2013. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| Booklist | 10/01/2013 |
| Preschool-Grade 1. So this is strange. Henry, a fellow who looks like a cross between Frankenstein and Al Capone, keeps losing pieces of himself. An eye rolls under the couch; a leg disappears. But Henry's right hand, also independent, is a worker, fetching the newspaper or changing the TV channel. Finally, though, Hand has had enough and hitches a ride into the city; Henry is left to fend for himself. The city has mean streets, but Hand's fortune changes when he pulls a man from a car's path and becomes a hero. Fame and wealth follow, but life in a house of servants seems a bit useless. Meanwhile, Henry has learned to take care of himself, but he is lonely. A letter from Henry brings Hand home with a new friend for their new life. The writing is conventional, but the story has a good message about friendship. It's MacDonald's wonderful retro-style artwork, however, that will rightfully get all the attention. It's the sort that draws both children and adults, who will be charmed by the offbeat protagonists. Beautifully designed, too, this will be fun to read. Cooper, Ilene. 48p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2013. |
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| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 11/01/2013 |
| Ad. 5-8 yrs. Henry, a Frankenstein's monster kind of guy who's always struggling to keep track of all of his parts, has a best friend in Hand, his aptly named right hand. Hand's detachability means that he's well suited to take care of minor tasks for Henry, but the appendage soon feels that he's being taken advantage of and runs away to the city. When Hand prevents a wealthy socialite from being hit by a car, he's hailed as a hero and thrust into a life of means. Henry's left alone to struggle to get everything done without Hand's help and writes a letter of apology; Hand, who chafes at his new luxurious existence, returns, and the pair are joyously reunited. Though a fresh and quirky tale about the bumps that occur even in the best of friendships, this unfortunately suffers from a lengthy text filled with unnecessary asides, as well as a story that never quite surmounts its contrivance. The goofy flair may still be compelling for some audiences, however, and MacDonald's glowing illustrations in watercolor and pencil crayon evoke classic 1950s picture books with their softened lines, facial details and mildly yellowed tint; Henry's a friendly-looking guy gruff guy in a green and navy striped shirt and white sneakers, while Hand's a mint-colored version of the Addams Family's Thing. This is a strange but amusing new take on an age-old plot, and it may beckon to kids who appreciate the offbeat. TA. 40p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2013. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 05/01/2014 |
| 3. Henry, "a bits-and-pieces kind of guy," is a monster with a cheerful attitude about his essential body parts' tendencies to detach. When his favorite appendage, Hand, runs away to the big city to escape Henry's endless chores, both Henry and Hand discover what makes a friendship work. Warm, retro-style watercolor and pencil-crayon illustrations brighten this unique and humorous tale. py. 40pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2014. |
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| Publishers Weekly | 08/19/2013 |
| Ages 4-8. Frankenstein-monster lookalike Henry, a greenish "bits-and-pieces kind of guy," literally puts himself together every morning. Henry always makes sure his feet and eyes are attached, and he gives his favorite part, his right hand, unprecedented freedom. Independent of Henry, the dexterous Hand gallops around on its fingers and works around the house. Finally, weary of Henry's chores, Hand stows away on a city-bound turnip truck and, to the shock and delight of 1930s-style newsies, heroically saves a distracted commuter from a traffic accident. Instantly rich and popular, "Hand didn't have to lift a finger" any longer. Meanwhile, Henry pines for his missing part. MacDonald (Boys of Steel) exhibits his customary affection for WWII-era comics, picturing roadster-driving men in fedoras and a glowing, golden, modernist city. Forlorn Henry nods to early creature features, while Hand recalls The Addams Family's unattached Thing. All the pieces are in place, as it were, and MacDonald sets them in motion in a melodramatic plot that wraps up with a reunion worthy of applause--with both hands. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Oct.). 48p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2013. |
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| School Library Journal | 09/01/2013 |
| K-Gr 3. Henry is a jolly zombie with the uncanny ability to disassemble himself. He relies on all of his body parts, but he is most dependent on dutiful and friendly Hand. But when Hand starts to feel overworked, he runs away to the big city to go on an adventure of his own and finds himself living in luxury. But now that he doesn't have to lift a finger to help anyone else, he grows restless, while back at home Henry realizes how he took Hand for granted. It's a ridiculous and bizarre concept, but also filled with a lot of heart. In the end, Henry writes Hand a letter saying that he needs him, and Hand replies, "I came as soon as I could. That's just how it is with old friends." MacDonald's nostalgic style makes the piece come alive (undead?) and adds to the humor. The picture-perfect world filled with Art Deco buildings and rosy-cheeked townsfolk comically contrasts with a cartoon Henry and his Munsters-like hotrod. Henry's Hand would pair well with Michael Rex's Goodnight Goon (2008) and Runaway Mummy (2009, both Putnam). Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI. 48p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2013. |
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9781419705274,dl.it[0].title
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