Soon, Your Hands
by Jonathan Stutzman (Author) Elizabeth Lilly (Illustrator)
Come get to know three neighboring families, each with a young child learning about themselves in this wondrous world. This poetic picture book is a parent's ode to everything their child is--and will be--capable of doing as they grow.
Tonight, each small hand fits inside their parent's hand. But soon, this hand will grow--to dig deep in the dirt, make masterpieces and mistakes, and tell stories only it can tell.
With text that captures the potential in every child and glowing art that exudes warmth, this book braids three children's stories into one of family love.
From award-winning author Jonathan Stutzman and rising illustrator Elizabeth Lilly comes this tender book, perfect for cuddling together at bedtime.
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"Tonight," writes Stutzman (The Mouse Who Carried a House on His Back), channeling three sets of caregivers' monologues, "I hold your hands, / so small/ they fit inside my own.// But soon, // your hands will grow./ And learn." In loose-lined watercolor and ink art by Lilly (The Catalogue of Hugs), three families are shown living side by side in a block of palm-shaded, brightly colored row houses. In one, a family portrayed with brown skin prepares for a birthday party. Next door, a brown-skinned child who wears hearing aids and uses sign language takes a trip to the beach. And in the semidetached home on the end, a pale-skinned child spends days with an older adult--perhaps a grandparent--while a younger adult works a night shift. Each family cherishes the child in their midst, savoring moments of closeness, encouraging independence, and dreaming of the fully realized adults their offspring will become. Building on anticipatory text, empathic art chronicles the children's respective forays into autonomy: decorating a parent's birthday cake, braving the expansiveness of the ocean, and adopting a stray kitten while working at a community garden. By book's end, readers will be invested in each of these families across time--and perhaps wish to be their neighbors, too. An ASL glossary concludes. Ages 3-5. Agent (for author and illustrator): Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (Mar.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
Jonathan Stutzman is an award-winning filmmaker and a picture book author. He is the author of Llama Destroys the World, Don't Feed the Coos, Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse and the Tiny T-Rex series. He received his masters at Temple University for Film & Digital Media. He lives in Lititz, Pennsylvania with his wife, the illustrator Heather Fox.
Heather Fox is an illustrator and graphic designer, creating art in pen and ink, digital, and gouache. She is the illustrator of Llama Destroys the World, Don't Feed the Coos and Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse. Her art is filled with large quantities of quirk and dashes of whimsy, and she is very passionate about illustrating children's books and traveling the world. She lives in Lititz, Pennsylvania, with her husband, the writer Jonathan Stutzman.JUV013040 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | New Baby
