A sweet illustrated rhyming picture book that subtly teaches kids, especially those who might think they are getting 'too big' to hold hands, that you're never too big to hold hands.

This rating is only slightly inflated by my complete love for Sara Varon. Doesn't appeal quite as much as some of her other stuff but I like it as a nice intro to her style.

It's a day in the life of a preschooler in this adorable graphic novel by award-winning graphic novelist Sara Varon. Her adorable animal characters all hold hands: camels hold hands with giraffes, the sun and the moon share a hand-to-hand clasp as they pass in the sky, cats and dogs walk hand-in-hand, even the title page of the book sports colorful letters with sweet, smiling faces, holding onto one another. The whole day is seen as a series of hand-holding moments: a little bear holds hands with his mother, father, and brother during morning routines and on the way to daycare; holds hands with teachers and friends during the school day; during playdates; on the way home, and during bedtime stories and nighttime routines. The rhyming text is short and sweet, assuring readers that every time is a good time to hold hands: "Hold hands when the day is new, when you need a pal, or when one needs you"; "Hold hands with your buddy when you're on the go, especially if your teacher tells you so". The illustrations are colorful, boldly outlined, and loaded with sweet details, like a father wearing bunny slippers, or a heart charm hanging off a mom's rear view mirror. Sara Varon emphasizes the power of connection by creating little starbursts around each hand-holding relationship.

Hold Hands is perfect for kids in daycare and preschool, and it's an adorable testament to the power of physical contact. A must-have.

Review to be posted on GoodReads May 21, 2019:

A rhyming picture book celebration of all the times and situations when it is good to hold hands.

The holding hands situations covered in this book include things like companionship, safety, solidarity, friendship, love, lending bravery, care, and bittersweet moments. It’s a cute picture book with Varon’s signature style of animal characters and kids will likely eat it up. There are lots of picture books about hugs and kisses out there, but I can’t think of another one about holding hands. Kids love these books about everyday acts that show people care. I think this will be quite popular. Varon’s other books are constant favorites in our libraries, and it will be fun to introduce her to a younger set. Highly recommended.

<i>I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Lush colors and Varon's trademark quirky animal characters emphasize the positive emotion resplendent in Hold Hands. The text shows how we can connect to reassure, show friendship and love and encourages readers to do so. A great book to share with a young loved one.

I love Sara Varon's style, with her fun animal characters, and the premise of this one - that everyone holds hands throughout the day - could be especially poignant with children. However, I felt like some of the hand-holding situations were no the best: the most dangerous showed and elephant about to go down a slide at a playground, holding hands with a small mouse behind him (hold on, mousie, you're in for a ride! Don't try this at home, kids!), while the most impractical was holding hands while a parent fed a toddler (like, my toddler definitely needs both hands when eating!). But maybe I'm being too picky :-P

sweet rhyming text and Varon's winning illustrations emphasize staying close to your friends and loved ones and helping each other.

Simple, short rhyming story. This tells you that it is okay to hold someone's hand when you need a friend, when you need help, or when you need comfort. The illustrations are colorful, and I think this would be a fun storytime read.

This was just okay. The art is kind of odd, the pacing of the wording is too stretched out and slow, and it's honestly boring. I appreciate the idea behind it of teaching kids how important it is to hold hands when you're in potentially risky situations, but I actually think the importance of that notion is watered down when the book goes on to tell the child to hold your mom's hand when she kisses you goodnight, for example. I just thought the overall execution was a bit lacking and odd.

This is a great book for parents and teachers to read to preschoolers to talk about the importance of holding hands, especially for safety (crossing the street, walking outdoors, etc). Some of the situations depicted don't necessarily require hand holding, that's what kept my rating at 3 stars. A little note about handwashing might have been good too! I can definitely see myself recommending this to preschool teachers to use as part of their curriculum when talking about classroom safety routines and walking in the hallways. In addition, the illustrations are perfect for younger children and should keep them engaged.

I love this book! Holds Hands by Sara Varon is such a sweet story about good times to hold hands. Who doesn't want to hold hands when their knees are shaking or when you're trying something new. I just love it and can't wait to share it.

A short, sweet picture book about holding hands. I have a lot of parents at the library who use books like this to reinforce key ideas, and this is an important one appropriate for the young ages who need that message (2-5 years old, I'd say).

That said, it's one of those picture books that's all concept and no story, which means it will get use but not a lot of repeated readings. The author's art style is very distinctive but not one I see for many books for this age. I'm not 100% sure it will go over well with kids and parents but I'm willing to bet the concept will sell itself better.

Thanks to NetGalley and First Second for providing a copy to review.

This is a very cute book about holding hands. With a rhyming text and delightful illustrations, the author shows the importance of holding hands. Whether it is for safety (crossing the street) for comfort (when someone is sad), for confidence (going down steep stairs) or just for friendship, holding hands is a wonderful thing to do. My only drawback was that occasionally, the pacing and cadence changed and was a bit off for the rhyming patterns. I find that often, little ones don’t want to hold hands because they think they are getting too big and grown up, so this would also be a good story to use when you are trying to keep a little one holding on for safety. The kids both enjoyed this one and my grandson was quick to point out that he always holds hands, but his sister runs off and doesn’t listen. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

Cute and very simple story for trying to get littles to find joy in holding hands. I could see using this to help reinforce the importance of hand holding for safety. The book examples went a little over the top/extreme with the message and examples. Sara’s illustrations were adorable as always, though.

Sara Varon's books are all pretty popular in my library, so I'll be purchasing this title. That said, I didn't love it and if you have a tight budget, go for one of her earlier works.