Why You Should Read This Book
A delightful refrain, "Hands Up!" echoes through this book, reclaiming the phrase for children of all ages. As the author writes, "This book is my chance to tell you just how important your voices and lives are. Your health and happiness, your agency, and humanity make our world whole." If you're looking to spread positivity to the young reader in your life—this is the book for you.
Best for ages 4-8
About the Book
This triumphant picture book recasts a charged phrase as part of a Black girl’s everyday life–hands up for a hug, hands up in class, hands up for a high five–before culminating in a moment of resistance at a protest march.
A young Black girl lifts her baby hands up to greet the sun, reaches her hands up for a book on a high shelf, and raises her hands up in praise at a church service. She stretches her hands up high like a plane’s wings and whizzes down a hill so fast on her bike with her hands way up. As she grows, she lives through everyday moments of joy, love, and sadness. And when she gets a little older, she joins together with her family and her community in a protest march, where they lift their hands up together in resistance and strength.
Breanna J. McDaniel is the author of Hands Up! and a children's literature scholar. She holds an MA in children's literature from Simmons College and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at Cambridge University, where her research focuses on representations of Black children in contemporary picture books.
*All books are in New or Like New Condition
