Salt Hands

by Jane Chelsea Aragón, Ted Rand (Illustrator)

In the middle of the night a young girl wakens to a sound, goes outdoors, and discovers a deer with whom she sits quietly and lets him lick salt she has sprinkled on her hands.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Kids

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The human longing for a sense of connection to nature and to our animal cousins is poignantly evoked by Jane Chelsea Aragon's simple story of a young girl who awakens one night to discover a majestic deer in her yard. Filling her hands with salt and singing a soft song, she waits... She waits for him to accept her gift.

The author's spare prose (shorter than this review), demonstrates the skill of a talented picture book author, who knows how to tell a story with the minimum number of words. The gentle illustrations by Ted Rand amplify the power of the story, its dreamlike quality, its sense of breathless wonder. The head-on picture of the deer, found toward the end of the book, is especially powerful. Thank you Lisa, for bringing this to my attention!

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot stress how fond I am of this picture book; it’s very special. The pictures are gorgeous (I loved the deer’s facial expressions!) and as an animal lover the story gave me the chills. It’s a very simple story about a girl who feeds a deer salt from her hands, and many kids I know will enjoy it. It’s great for teaching about being altruistic, empathetic, gentle with animals, and it’s fun for kids’ imaginations as well.

I found this from Jackie Marquardt’s update feed. I did not expect it to be an older book and I wonder how I’ve missed seeing it all these years, and I am shocked that more Goodreads members haven’t rated/reviewed it. It deserves to be widely read.

Parents of young children: This is a winner!

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, simply told story of a girl seeing a deer one night and putting salt on her hands so the deer will come close to her. The meeting is over in a few minutes, but I'm sure any child would remember the experience for years. Aragon made the right decision to not try elaborating either story or text -- it is perfect the way it is.

[Jackie "the Librarian" · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a warm summer night, and the windows are open. What's that sound?
Why, it's a deer outside under the pear tree! The girl in the story goes outside in her nightgown, with salt in her hands. She quietly approaches the antlered deer, and it licks the salt right out of her hands. Magical!
If you are a preschooler, it's fun to pretend that you're a deer licking the salt! This is a great storytime book!
Highly recommended!

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd forgotten all about this book until one of my GR friends reviewed it. I read it years ago and loved it because I can imagine how soft a deer's tongue must be. What a shame that it's out of print! Thanks, Lisa Vegan, for bringing it back to my attention!

[Ma Jiani（Marjorie） · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a vivid story with details: In the middle of the night, a young girl made a noise and went outside to find a deer sitting quietly and letting it scatter the salt in her hands. This is a beautiful dream story is very charming. Students can explore the warmth of a girl and a deer in the late night through the touching illustrations in the story and can see the details of the story development by observing illustrations. A cautious girl gently sprinkles salt on her hands and waits for the deer to come. lick.

[Preston Bannister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read to my kids, as they grew. Looking for copies for my grandkids.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this at library book sale. What a great find. Beautiful illustrations.

[TheLibraryOfSarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite picture books as a kid, the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous! I think this is out of print now (?) and so I'm so glad I found my old copy in the basement!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl wakes during the night and sees a deer standing under the pear tree. She pours salt into her hands and goes out quietly to offer the salt to the deer. Lovely illustrations.

[TJE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Striking & realistic illustrations. Mom favorite bc of nostalgia and connection. Tea loved as well-wanted to read over and over. Peaceful book and loved seeing the deer lick the child's hands.

[Ms. Finnen]

A majestic wild deer comes close enough to lick salt from a little girl's hands in this magical, whisper-soft story. "Rand's illustrations for the brief story invest this incident with all the wonder of a lady meeting a unicorn. . . . (A) beautiful book."--School Library Journal. Full color throughout. American Bookseller Pick of the Lists. Nebraska Golden Sower Children's Book Award Nominee. (via Amazon)

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, and any book illustrated by Ted Rand gets my vote. The eyes in his illustrations tell a story all by themselves. My favorites are Once When I Was Scared and Knots on a Counting Rope. All are great.

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story, excelent illistrations. Not very many words so it goes pretty quick which makes it an A-1 bedtime book!

[Melissaschott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salt Hands is a picture book that has little words per page but good details to emphasis ideas and supporting details in a story.I also show the video on teacher tube and we compare them.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salt Hands
Aragón, Jane Chelsea
this book is a good book for teaching descriptions and schema allowing children to see the history in a different light

[Brenda Thompson]

In the middle of the night a young girl wakens to a sound, goes outdoors, discovers a deer with who she sits quietly and lets him lick salt she has sprinkled on her hands.

[Stephanie Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the illustrations in this book very detailed and went very smoothly with the story line. I think this is a simple book and a very easy reader to some kids.