Whose Toes Are Those?
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the Lap Listeners stage.
Why it fits Lap Listeners (for babies in their first year, when books are about your voice, not the plot)
A playful teasing rhyme celebrating ten little toes. It scripts the toe-wiggling games parents play anyway, now with better lines. Joyful representation from the very first bookshelf.
What makes it special
Asim turned a lap game every family plays into literature with rhythm and pride. LeUyen Pham's joyful illustrations of a Black baby's toes being adored fill a gap that board books ignored for decades. It's affirmation delivered at the speed of a giggle.
From the publisher
Children are invited to explore their toes by playing "This Little…
About Jabari Asim
Jabari Asim is Distinguished Professor of Multidisciplinary Letters at Emerson College and the author of 14 books for children and 8 for adults, as well as a poet and a Guggenheim Fellow. He spent eleven years at the Washington Post, where his roles included deputy editor of the book review section and children's book editor, and he later edited the NAACP's Crisis magazine.
Also by this author: Whose Knees Are These? · Fifty Cents and a Dream · Preaching to the Chickens
More from “Faces Like Mine, Faces Like Yours”
This book is part of The Best Books for Babies: 30 Teacher Picks (Lap Listeners) 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.