Clap Hands (Oxenbury Board Books)

The talented and prolific Helen Oxen bury ("We're Going on a Bear Hunt," the "Tom and Pippa" series) is a master at board books as well as picture books aimed at a slightly older audience. Clap Hands is a large format board book (there should be more of these!) showing four adorably dressed youngsters at play and snack time. For once, we see kids as they really look: Wearing oversized hand-me-downs that show evidence of the kids' pulling and tugging at them, and generally flopping around. "Clap Hands" has a joyful feeling, and somehow Oxenbury captures the spontaneity of baby and toddler play, and the conflicting demands of seemingly unlimited energy and inevitable fatigue. Our four kids dance, eat snacks play cardboard "horns" and pots-and- pans percussion, and give big hand waving smiles to Daddy and Mom. Board books are so brief--eight pages here--that they're like short stories, the best ones pay attention to every word and detail. Oxenbury uncannily gets it all right, from the above-mentioned clothing, to the off-kilter movement, the mix of solo and cooperative play, and even the utensils and slices of fruit at snack. The uncluttered, large format pictures have a nice color balance, and the playful text reads easily ("Clap hands, dance and spin, open wide and pop it in...") One of several in Ms. Oxenbury's baby book series, this is just right for reading to either one listener or a group.

All 3 of my girls enjoyed this book (a series of 4). I even bought the set of 4 books for my nephew and niece. They are quick, catchy reads. Kids love the big pictures of the babies.

We received this book as a gift when my son was 6 months old. We now have all of these books. My son is intrigued by the pictures and wants us to read it over and over! He's 15 months now and still loves it! A great book!

My little 16 month old daughter loves this book. We have to read it every night before bedtime so she can "wave to daddy, wave to mom". I also read this book (along with tickle tickle and all fall down) to my 11 year old son when he was a baby/toddler. This book has lasting power over many years and I highly recommend it

Our toddler had us read this so many times that we memorized it quickly. It's rhythm and rhyme are so catchy that we could repeat the words YEARS after we returned it to the library. Now we're buying it as a baby gift for someone else to enjoy. Like "All Fall Down" (also by Oxenbury) the pictures are adorable multi-cultural children having fun together. It's a nice size and length for a board book.