I Moved My Hand is a short picture book that depicts a girl going through a series of events that build up from the preceding event in a predictable fashion (domino effect). The book itself is split into two distinct bodies of text on each page: one in English and one in Spanish. It starts off with a girl who holds a coconut and ends up finding a lake. At the lake she stirs the water until she finds a fish. She "stirs" the fish and it takes her to the moon, and so on. The basis of the story is that children have the power to shape the world. I like this book because it has direct translations from Spanish to English. Coupled with the visual imagery, this book should provide enough room for binding in ELL's as well as expose native speakers to a different language. A good follow up activity could be writing down all the verbs presented in the book on a white board or index card and have children act out the verb and write an example sentence for each verb. ( )

This is a lovely book demonstrating imaginative play. The pictures are very engaging and encourage dialogue and discussion. ( )

A bilingual celebration of imagination. ( )