Clap Hands
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the Page Grabbers stage.
Why it fits Page Grabbers (for young toddlers who treat books as things to do)
Four babies clap, wave, and bang the drum - and your toddler will too. Oxenbury's round, joyful babies practically demand imitation. Movement is how this age reads.
What makes it special
Oxenbury's four babies do exactly what the title says, and toddler readers join in involuntarily — the book conducts them. Her round, weighty babies are drawn with such physical truth that pediatricians could teach from them. It's participatory media older than the word, and it still works instantly.
From the publisher
A group of infants have fun…
About Helen Oxenbury
Helen Oxenbury has won the Kate Greenaway Medal twice, for The Quangle Wangle's Hat and for her Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In 1987 she published the board books Clap Hands, All Fall Down and Tickle Tickle, built on her realisation that babies are interested in pictures of other babies — work her publisher credits with bringing about a board-book revolution.
Oxenbury studied theatre design at the Central School of Art and Design and worked in theatre, film and television set design in the early 1960s before turning to children's books. She met the illustrator John Burningham at art college and married him in 1963.
Also by this author: We're Going on a Bear Hunt (illustrator) · Tickle, Tickle · All Fall Down
More from “Books That Do Things”
This book is part of The Best Books for Toddlers: 30 Teacher Picks (Page Grabbers) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.