Lefty: A Story That Is Not All Right

by Mo Willems, Dan Santat (illustrator)

#1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning author Mo Willems and Caldecott Medal winner and National Book Award winner Dan Santat join hands in this innovative picture book about lefties (and righties)!

Did you know, there was a time when people could get in trouble—really, really BIG trouble—for being LEFT-HANDED!?

It’s true!

Lefty and Righty hand out the facts in a theatrical performance that spans the ages. Once upon a time, left was considered wrong . . . but now, left or right, it’s all alright. (And there are scissors for everyone!)

Created by the award-winning (right and left) hands of New York Times bestselling authors Mo Willems and Dan Santat, this book ensures that no one gets left behind!

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Humor, Childrens, History, Juvenile

40 pages, Hardcover

First published December 3, 2024

About the author

#1 New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems is best known for his Caldecott Honor winning picture books Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny: a cautionary tale.

In addition to such picture books as Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, and Time to Pee, Mo has created the Elephant and Piggie books, a series of early readers, and published You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons, an annotated cartoon journal sketched during a year-long voyage around the world in 1990-91.

The New York Times Book Review called Mo “the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00's."

Mo’s work books have been translated into a myriad of languages, spawned animated shorts and theatrical musical productions, and his illustrations, wire sculpture, and carved ceramics have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the nation.

Mo began his career as a writer and animator for television, garnering 6 Emmy awards for his writing on Sesame Street, creating Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats, Cartoon Network’s Sheep in the Big City and head-writing Codename: Kids Next Door.

He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little history lesson to go with a fun picture book with two favorite authors/illustrators.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What a team. Both are probably on most library's 'auto-buy' lists, and this work justifies that decision. Being left-handed or right-handed doesn't affect whether you're famous, or friendly, or anything else. It's just how you're born. Hmm....

Anyway, fabulous art in a variety of different styles keeps it fun and keeps it moving along. Very highly recommended to anyone who wants a giggle with a side of history and, dare I say, relevance.

[Libby · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I appreciate the sentiment here as a lefty myself, this really missed the mark. Especially the pages where they are like "Some left handed people became famous and some right handed people became famous. Some left handed people don't become famous and some righted handed people don't become famous." "Some left handed people are nice and some right handed people are nice. Some left handed people could work on being nice and some right handed people could work on being nicer."
Like. What.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devastated that this doesn't come out until December because it would be FANTASTIC for school visits. The illustrations are really, really fun and the text is so silly and fun.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Mo Willems, but this one was just a big miss for me. I'm sure it has a place in the lefty world, but I can't imagine that this book will be a hit with all readers. The text was just a HUGE miss for me, because it was wordy and just plain awkward in some places. The pictures/illustrations were much the same -- awkward. (Diamond 25-26)

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember as a kid students who were frustrated by the lack of left-handed scissors. They also had trouble with some desks at school that were designed for right-handed kids. More shocking to me was how these kids were teased for being different. How ridiculous!

Willems writes a book that explains that left-handed people are not "sinister" (an old word for left-handed," and that they deserve items designed for their use. True to form, Willems uses whimsy and humor to get this point across.

The illustrations by Dan Santat are engaging. Hands talk to each other about this topic. It's a fun and informative read.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute book, it made me think about my left-handed son!!!! I love the artwork and the silly story!

[Ken Yuen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute kid's introduction to left-handed people

[AJ Easterday · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is possibly the most genius thing Mo Willems has ever written? What a timely and important book.

This fun little book is told through the perspective of two talking hands, Lefty and Righty, about how people throughout history used to be judged for being left handed. This is then followed by a discussion about how silly it is to judge someone based on how they are born and how things are much better now.

It's clear based on how this book is written that it's about so much more than left-handedness. It's a lesson about not judging others for silly, superficial reasons, and that we need to learn from history to not repeat our mistakes. If you want to have talk to your kid about prejudice, sexism, racism, transphobia, etc. but don't know where to start, I actually feel like this book is a nice way to start the conversation. Because judging someone for the color of their skin or how they look is, in fact, just as silly as judging them for the hand they write with.

[Sierra Dertinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

LEFTY: A STORY THAT IS NOT ALL RIGHT left me full of new knowledge about the history of lefty’s and how AWESOME they are. You can’t go wrong with this picture book that is coming Dec 3rd! They’ve done it right—from start to finish! Great collaboration.

Thanks for the ARC Union Square Kids!

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

First sentence: Hi, Righty! Did you know...there was a time when people could get into trouble...really, really BIG trouble--

Premise/plot: At its most literal (taken at face value) this is a pun-filled nonfiction picture book about perceptions through the centuries of being left handed (as opposed to right handed).

My thoughts: I don't know if I'm disappointed because it is Mo Willems and I was expecting to absolutely love it above and beyond OR if it is just truly not my taste. Perhaps a bit of both.

While I almost-almost appreciated some of the illustrations, for the most part they just were not for me. I found them weird, odd, over-the-top. Of course, art is in the eyes of the beholder. Some readers may find the illustrations to be a great fit and wonderful.

The text was okay, fine, nice enough. Again, I am a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE, HUGE fan of Mo Willem--usually. Like his writing usually appeals to me above and beyond. These are books that I reach for again, again, again. The writing was just so so-so. There was one scene that made me smile--the one about cookies. But for the most part, I wasn't super impressed.

The subject is perhaps not the most thrilling, HOWEVER, I do think it's a fine subject. I don't know that left-handed prejudice is alive and well, a current, relevant "thing." I don't think it's been much of an issue for decades. That is, I think it's been steadily declining as an issue for decades. It just is--and no one really cares.

I do think that this book is not to be taken at its most literal. There are a lot of elephants in the room (not literal, sadly, I wouldn't have minded a cameo from Elephant). I do think the book is a way to talk about other subjects. This tone is heavy-handed (pun-intended). In this sense I think it's a bit didactic. Here's the thing--and I've said this before--a conclusion can be one you agree with (or one you don't agree with, for that matter), and if it's written in a didactic way it can be a bit of a turn-off.

[Country Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the cover of this book! It is a creative and fun way to talk to kids about being a left handed person and why it is not a bad thing to be a left handed person. The author and illustrator throw in some historical facts into the story, which is so nice to have factual things in stories for kids and adults alike. The illustrations are very well done for this book, I especially love how the left hand and right hand are talking in this book to each other about why left handed people are so important. I really think that this was an excellent read and my own daughter loved the illustrations and the story. My brother was a left handed person and he would have loved a book that explained how left handers are not wrong;)

[Margaret Boling · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/15/2025 ~ I was really looking forward to this book, in part because of the topic, and in part because of the teamwork of two such renowned children's book creators. I was a bit disappointed.
* I appreciated the illustrations. There was a combination of old-fashioned sepia-toned line drawings and photos overlaid on bold, single-toned back drops. This was truly a different look for Santat. The expressions of the eyes / glasses were fantastic.

* However, I felt the text was a bit lacking. We had some information on ancient times, but the spreads about "some left-handers..., some right-handers..." were so unspecific & even felt like they were continuing stereotypes.

I'm left very ambivalent.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uniquely illustrated and visually engaging overview about historical discrimination against left-handed people. It is categorized as nonfiction, however, and as a school librarian I'm not sure if it will ever circulate off the nonfiction shelves without me aggressively promoting it, as I've never had a student ask for a book about left-handedness. As a read-aloud, though, I think it would interest a class who might not be aware that there ever was discrimination against left-handed people.

Recommended for elementary school libraries with the reservation that it might need to be promoted widely in order to circulate. The cover is highly engaging, though, so in a front-facing display, it will likely move.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An irresistible mixed-media celebration of left-handedness from the powerhouse team of Dan Santat and Mo Willems. With humor and heart, the book offers a light, engaging look at the history of being left-handed - from past prejudice to present-day pride - ultimately championing self-acceptance and individuality.

Striking, clever, and laugh-out-loud funny, this is a book kids will absolutely devour. The mixed-media illustrations are dynamic and delightfully weird in all the right ways, making every page a visual treat. It’s short, snappy, and perfectly suited for read-alouds across a wide age range.

A must-have for classrooms and libraries, and a joyful affirmation for every lefty who’s ever felt a little out of place.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

This literary dream team (Willems and Santat) was made in hilarious heaven...

In the story, Lefty (Santat's left hand) is explaining to Righty (Santat's right hand) all the difficulties and differences of being the left and that being left-handed or right-handed, either is all right. Santat rises the hilarious stakes with his hands as puppets on a stage. He pulls out all the stops visually adding in art styles from years in the past. Willems' puns and play on words is uproariously funny work well with Santat's dialogue illustrations.

Use in units on humor or "just because". This will tickle the funny bone of kids Pre-3.
Recommended for them!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

YES! Just what I would've wanted as the only left-handed kid I knew growing up. Also could be used to introduce talking about how we are all different, and that's okay! And you shouldn't have to hide it or be forced to be something you aren't. Would be a good read aloud near the beginning of the year, especially for those earlier grades where kids are writing and drawing a lot more. The spread about getting in trouble for being left-handed looked like a bunch of middle fingers at first...I appreciate the image of Santat's pinkie side of his palm where he has rubbed his hand over what he just wrote/drew.

[Tina Cho · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a left-handed person, I really appreciate any picture books that feature a left-handed character. Ahem, there aren't many to my knowledge. So I was happy to see this new book by Mo and Dan. I like how it shares some history of how cultures forbid a child to be left-handed and then slowly changed their perception. I also like how Mo & Dan explain how to know if you're left-handed, right-handed, or ambidextrous. And my most favorite illustration is on the end paper at the end of the book. Happens to me all the time :P

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I considered hard whether to throw this on my disability shelf but decided against it since I don’t think anyone in my experience has ever considered handedness as a disability. I could be wrong since I’m not a lefty. This was a fun book that tried perhaps a little too stridently to assure kids it really doesn’t matter whether you’re, left, right, or ambi. I appreciated the history lesson. Best page, hands down (ahem) is the one with cookies! Recommended if you have a leftie who is a preschooler or primary grader.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun look at the history of handedness and how lefty’s have been a bit marginalized. Did you know that, even in ancient times, left-handed people supposedly pretended they were right-handed? That’s not right, is it? I got this story because I remember hearing about my mom’s experience in a Catholic school where she, a lefty, was forced to write right-handed. This was in the 1960s! Luckily, times have changed. The illustrations in this book are really cool and I like how the right and left hands “talk” to one another.

Mia’s 2nd Year of Books: Day 10

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess when you put Mo Willems and Dan Santat together, you can slap anything into a book and it will sell. The worst part about this is that the concept is GREAT! I love the idea of hands talking to each other about handedness, the bit of historical info, and the moments of humor that actually worked. But then there were the pages and pages of "I think I'm so funny" text that were really just book filler and not anything any other author/illustrator duo could have gotten away with. And that is irritating. In the end, I think this was a big wasted opportunity.

[Lisa Yee Swope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was an ASL terp (in-TERP-reter) in my church for a number of years -- not licensed, but a very skilled hack. It's a whole new level of talking with your hands.
I love that the illustrations are a mix of drawn hands and the photographed actual hands of Dan Santat and Mo Willems. And while kids now can use left or right hands unimpeded, there was a time when it was thought, well, gauche! (That's French for left, but in English it means unsophisticated and socially awkward.)

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lively approach to a basic body concept- handedness - that combines illustration with charicature and pseudo-hand-puppetery. The comical, kid-centric personalities of Willems and Santat are captured well. Bits of history are neatly packaged in a robust and entertaining direct treatment of left-handedness, summarized with a visual and text invitation to combine the strengths of our differences rather than let them separate us into camps. A parable for our times.

[Karen Gedeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Santat colorfully illustrates Willems story with photos and hand drawn illustrations as the two set out to educate young children on the history (and inequality) of left handedness. Young readers will leave appreciating what previous generations had to endure and respecting their accomplishments. A must have for all elementary school libraries.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This humorous book looks at the very real issue 'lefties' have had to deal with over the centuries. It seems unbelievable now, but there was a time when left handed people were suspected of all sorts of evil intent. I am a big Mo Willems fan, this book was a very clever way to talk about a very serious subject.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nonfiction picture book about the history of the left-handed as told by two hands, Righty and Lefty. A poignantly humorous picture book with a powerful message for any left-handed readers of all ages and anyone else who feels they have been left behind.

"And you can't be born WRONG . . . RIGHT?"

[Ann Haefele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Santat and Mo Willems have created a fun book about being left handed ( and also about right handers). As a left hander who was born in the 1950s, I can attest to people trying to “make” me right handed, until they finally gave up. This book made me smile throughout. Would be fun to have kids act out the story with their own hands instead of the illustrated hands.

[Marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high expectations from these two huge stars in the children's lit universe. I'm a lefty. This book let me down. Didn't like the photographed hands, as the rest of the illustrations were much more appealing. While there were a few interesting facts sprinkled throughout, the rest of the text felt phoned in.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up

I like the topic and the illustrations. However, rhe story was somewhat disappointing.

Final Thoughts

While I expected a bit more information and humor, it is definitely worth checking out.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was unsure about how this one would go--aesthetically speaking. It is actually quite good--to say nothing of what Mo Willems is doing with this story.

I highly recommend it for more conservatively raised audiences.