BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fox, Mem. 2008. HELLO BABY. ill. Helen Oxenbury. New York, NY: Harcourt Children’s Books. ISBN-10: 0152060057X ISBN-13: 978-0-15-206057-2
PLOT SUMMARY
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes is a beautiful poem picture book about two babies born on the opposite sides of the world. Just as the title states each baby shares the same quality of ten fingers and ten toes. The story continues with two more babies from different parts of the world who also share having ten fingers and ten toes, while the other babies are watching. This trip around the world shows babies from all cultures laughing and having fun. Young children will enjoy the rhythmic, rhyming text and will be repeating with the reader, they had ten little fingers and ten little toes. This book shows the love of babies and their mothers love, ending with the new baby having ten fingers and ten toes and three kisses on the tip of its nose. This is a great poem picture book to be read anytime, but especially at bedtime.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
Mem Fox has written a simple story, full of love about babies. No matter where in the world the baby is born, girl or boy, they all have ten fingers and ten toes. The cultural markers are evident in the babies and the places from around the world. The cultural differences are apparent in the pictures but the message conveys that even from different cultures they are all the same – children with ten fingers and ten toes. The babies depict the cultural markers with their clothing, eye shapes, skin colors and hair. The multicultural influence is present, but what I love about children of this age and through kindergarten is that they don’t see colors; all they see are their friends.
Helen Oxenbury illustrated this picture book capturing the cultures of the babies in the details allowing the reader to identify the baby’s ethnic background. The babies are the story. The white background allows the details of the babies to capture the reader. The pictures of the town, landscapes, icy terrain, desert, etc. are all simplistic and recognizable. Oxenbury has worked her magic again with her beautiful artistic talent in this picture book.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
From School Library Journal
Starred Review. PreS—"There was one little baby/who was born far away./And another who was born/on the very next day./And both of these babies,/as everyone knows,/had ten little fingers/and ten little toes." So opens this nearly perfect picture book. Fox's simple text lists a variety of pairs of babies, all with the refrain listing the requisite number of digits, and finally ending with the narrator's baby, who is "truly divine" and has fingers, toes, "and three little kisses/on the tip of its nose." Oxenbury's signature multicultural babies people the pages, gathering together and increasing by twos as each pair is introduced. They are distinctive in dress and personality and appear on primarily white backgrounds. The single misstep appears in the picture of the baby who was "born on the ice." The child, who looks to be from Northern Asia or perhaps an Inuit, stands next to a penguin. However, this minor jarring placement does not detract enough from the otherwise ideal marriage of text and artwork to prevent the book from being a first purchase. Whether shared one-on-one or in storytimes, where the large trim size and big, clear images will carry perfectly, this selection is sure to be a hit.—Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* A standout for its beautiful simplicity, this picture-book collaboration between Fox and Oxenbury aims a message of diversity and tolerance at very young children. The first lines set up the text’s repetition and rhythm: “There was one little baby who was born far away. And another who was born on the very next day. And both of these babies, as everyone knows, had ten little fingers and ten little toes.” The subsequent spreads follow the same theme in similarly bouncing, rhyming lines: babies around the world may be different (one baby is born near ice, another in a desert tent), but the refrain of each baby’s 10 fingers and toes reminds us of what we all share. Oxenbury’s spare pencil-and-watercolor pictures, set against pure white pages, zero in on pudgy little hands and feet, offering many interactive opportunities for young viewers to point and count. Clusters of adorable multicultural babies from around the world toddle across the pages until just one child receives three kisses on the nose from her loving mom, a sweet gesture that parents will want to act out with their own children. A gentle, joyous offering. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Gillian Engberg
Starred Review. PreS—"There was one little baby/who was born far away./And another who was born/on the very next day./And both of these babies,/as everyone knows,/had ten little fingers/and ten little toes." So opens this nearly perfect picture book. Fox's simple text lists a variety of pairs of babies, all with the refrain listing the requisite number of digits, and finally ending with the narrator's baby, who is "truly divine" and has fingers, toes, "and three little kisses/on the tip of its nose." Oxenbury's signature multicultural babies people the pages, gathering together and increasing by twos as each pair is introduced. They are distinctive in dress and personality and appear on primarily white backgrounds. The single misstep appears in the picture of the baby who was "born on the ice." The child, who looks multicultural babies from around the world toddle across the pages until just one child receives three kisses on the nose from her loving mom, a sweet gesture that parents will want to act out with their own children. A gentle, joyous offering. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Gillian Engberg
CONNECTIONS
This picture book is a wonderful introduction into cultures around the world for Prek-Kindergarten students. It also depicts happiness and friendship.
On Mem Fox’s website she has a section called “How to Read Aloud”. She demonstrates by reading the examples herself.
http://www.memfox.com/reading-magic-intro
Hear Mem Fox read Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
http://www.memfox.com/mem-reads-aloud
Hear Mem Fox sing Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
http://www.memfox.com/mem-sings-a-book.html
Other books by Mem Fox:
Hello Baby! ISBN-10: 1416985131 ISBN-13: 978-1416985136
POSSUM MAGIC. ISBN-10: 0152632247 ISBN-13: 978-1862910959
Koala Lou ISBN-10: 0152000763 ISBN-13: 978-0152000769
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