Ideally suited to the board-book format, Here Are My Hands invites very young children to respond spontaneously and creatively as they learn the parts of the body. The rhyming text and bold illustrations do more than name the eyes, ears, nose, and toes. By featuring children of many different backgrounds, the book quietly celebrates the commonality of people around the world.
Here are My Hands
(9780805011685)
Written by Bill Martin and John Archambault
Illustrated by Ted Rand
Published by Henry Holt & Company Inc
Theme/topic: External features and Human
Suggested learning area: AC9SFU01 (Science – Foundation),
Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin and John Archambault is a rhythmic and engaging picture book that celebrates the different parts of the human body and their functions. Through simple, repetitive text and vibrant illustrations, young readers are encouraged to recognise their own external features and explore their purposes, such as hands for clapping, feet for running, and eyes for seeing (AC9SFU01 – Foundation Year, Science).
This book fosters body awareness, supports early language development, and provides opportunities for interactive learning, making it a wonderful resource for exploring how our bodies help us engage with the world around us.
Curriculum Alignment:
- These AC codes are suggested purely based on the book’s content and are provided for reference only.
AC9SFU01 9.0 (Science Foundation): Observe external features of plants and animals and describe ways they can be grouped based on these features
• observing fruits and vegetables and identifying them as parts of plants such as roots, flowers, fruits or leaves
• recognising humans as animals, describing external features of humans and exploring similarities and differences compared with other animals
• using magnifying glasses or digital cameras to observe and identify external features of plants including seeds, flowers, fruits and roots, or of animals such as eyes, body covering, legs and wings
• sorting collections of model animals and explaining different grouping strategies
• recognising First Nations Australians’ use of observable features to group living things
• exploring how First Nations Australians’ observations of external features of living things are replicated in traditional dance
