2023 July Featured Book: Ages 1-2

Ones/Twos

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Men Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury

Celebrate babies from all over the world and one thing that connects them all—their adorable fingers and toes.

Developmental Marker:

Curious about physical characteristics of self and others (skin color, hair texture, gender, anatomy). May “match” people based on physical characteristics.

Activities:

“In 2003, Phase 1 of the Human Genome Project (HGP) demonstrated that humans populating the earth today are on average 99.9% identical at the DNA level, there is no genetic basis for race, and there is more genetic variation within a race than between them.” (See citation*) Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes show a toddler that other babies are basically just like me, even if they look and act a little differently.
As you read to your child, have fun chatting about how all the different babies look, and what they are doing individually and together. Your child may not understand every word, but will be absorbing your tone, and picking up some new words here and there.
Always come back to the refrain, “And both of these babies/as everyone knows/has ten little fingers/and ten little toes.” Little ones love stories that have repetition, and this message is a great one to repeat.
Making handprints and/or footprints would be a fun craft activity to do with this story—trace around with crayons or use paints. Use different colors and different sizes (yours/your child’s) and talk about how they are the same in some ways and different in others.
Here is a link to the author, Mem Fox, performing an engaging reading of her book in her Australian accent. If your child wants to have it read over and over and over, this is a great way to accomplish that.