My Two Hands, My Two Feet

by Rick Walton, Julia Gorton (Illustrator)

In separate rhyming stories that start on either end of the book and meet in the middle, two sisters describe how they use their hands and feet throughout their busy day.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 9, 2000

About the author

Born and raised in Utah, Walton is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church. He served as a missionary to Brazil from 1976 to 1978, soon after he graduated from high school. Later, at Brigham Young University, he became president of the Brazil Club. In 1980, he graduated from Brigham Young with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a minor in Portuguese, the language spoken in Brazil.

Walton's education continued after he obtained his degree. In 1980, he went back to Brigham Young for one semester of graduate work in business, but chose not to follow that career path. Deciding to become a teacher, he earned certification in elementary education from Brigham Young in 1987, as well as certification to teach gifted and talented students. Up to that point, he had held a number of jobs, including a year with the parks and recreation department of Provo, Utah. In 1987, he began teaching sixth grade at a local public school, then switched to a private school.

Also interested in computers, Walton would later publish several items of software. He left teaching to accept a position as software designer for IBM in 1989. In 1994, he turned to freelance software design and writing. He also returned to Brigham Young University once again, this time to earn his master's degree in English, with an emphasis on creative writing.

Walton's wife, Ann, with whom he has written many of his books, is a computer programmer. They were married in 1983, and have five children. With Dumb Clucks! and Something's Fishy! in 1987, the Waltons began writing books.

Reviews

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julia Gorton knock it out of the park with this joyful and peaceful illustrations. I love how this books celebrates how our hands and feet do so many things and bring us so much joy.

Talking Points: What are some of your favorite things to do with your hands? Who taught you to do them. What are some of your favorite things to do with your feet? Who taught you to do them? What kinds of things are you teaching others to do?

**Essential Oil Pairing Tip: I think Spikenard is a wonderful essential oil to when it comes to feeling grateful for our blessings and a perfect oil to diffuse while reading this book about being grateful for our hand and feet. Start diffusing it and see how quickly it shifts the energy in your home.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two books in one, hard to explain to the kid why the barcode was on the "front."

[Christian Houseworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for primary grades, particularly Pre-K and Kindergarten. This book is a cute little book about a little girl who uses similies to compare things to her hands and feet. An example of a similie would "When I wake up my two feet wiggle, like little kids who laugh and giggle." This book is a good book to use when teaching phonemic awareness. This book would be a great tool to use to teach rhyming and writing poems that rhyme. As a teacher, I would also use this book to encourage children to make comparisons. This would be an excellent book to use during writing to inspire children to write about comparisons with different things.

[Shamilah Gillani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book because the character was so cute and used things that are relatable for students to understand. The little girl uses her two hands and feet to compare to different things she sees in the form of similes. This would be a great way to teach students about similes and make a chart on the board of words she uses when she is comparing things. Students will really learn about comparisons using similes and phonemic awareness. After reading the book, I would come up with a few similes as a class and then have my students come up with a few of their own and put them up on the bulletin board.

[Ina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is two books in one. In rhyming text with big, bold illustrations, one girl tells a story about her hands and then you flip the book over and her little sister (?) tells the story about her feet and all the wonderful things they allow her to do. The stories meet in the middle with a delightful two page illustration of both girls.

[Taylor Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun rhythmic book about two sisters, one focuses on the movement of her feet and the other the movement of her hands. I personally preferred the Feet side of the book. I put this book under the movement shelf because this book could be used as a movement activity, where you read a page and then have your class act out the description. Very cute and fun!

[Angela Early · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how this book emphasized the different movements of a child's hands and feet throughout the day - it is actually 2 separate books that focus on both hands and feet movements. I would use this book in a lesson on movement and daily activities.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

The two stories start at each end and meet in the middle. Could be used and kids can do the movements with their hands.
In separate rhyming stories, two girls describe how they use their hands and feet.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This little book sounds better than it is. Depending on which way you hold it, you open the "My Two Hands" or "My Two Feed" part. In each one, you see a little girl doing various things with her hands or feet. In the center of the book, both girls appear together.

[Jenny Forgay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to use when children are first discovering all the wonderful things they can do with their hands.

[Jasmine Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever way to create a book :)

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is split in two and I preferred the feet portion. I wasn't a fan of the illustrations.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two books in one. Like how the feet section talks about emotions and uses great figurative language.

[Susan Forsgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read - a- Loud. Bright pictures, and fun language.
If you have a a functional Skills class in your school or some of my teachers have used it for writing prompts or to show author style.