Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb - Bright & Early Book for Kids | Fun Children's Learning & Reading | Perfect for Preschool Storytime & Early Literacy Development

My six month old son gets very excited at the sight of this book. We've been reading this since he was a wee little infant and now he's getting big and sitting up and getting teeth and still we read our favorite books and this is definitely at the top of the list. Of course he is not old enough to read or speak yet but he's already making connections with this book.I'm a musician and I do a LOT of rhythmic and musical things with my son. It was only natural that this book become a prelude to what is not "drum time" in my home. One day when I was reading this I got to the last page where it goes back to showing a single monkey drumming on the drum with his thumb and I showed him the picture and then drummed on the edge of the book with my thumb like the monkey in the picture was doing. He was very amused by this and laughed his cute, awesome and hearty little boy giggly laugh. We enjoyed a good five minutes of hilarity the first time I did this. The next time I read the book I brought down an African hand drum that was hanging on my wall to play as I read the book. I showed him the pictures and acted out "one hand, two hands drumming on a drum" (I didn't bring any apples or plums into our game yet, but maybe I'll do that soon too!)So after reading the book now and playing the drum I offer the drum to my son who enjoys drumming along too. At first he seemed very intimidated by the drum but once I assured him that it was ok to whack away at he loves it.I'm the working parent so I only get to spend a few hours of one-on-one time with my son while his mother takes a much deserved break. These times are precious to me. I appreciate that there's books like this which I can read to him which actually inspire us to go beyond the pages and have some fun time that's related, but inspired by the book. A conceptual continuity of playtime as it were. We have games and songs we do with a few other books too (Oh the Thinks you can Think by Seuss in particular is one) and my son and I both have a great time with this.It seems so simple, and it is, and as an adult with an overactive imagination I almost get a little chilled by the thought of a monkey infestation (millions of monkeys drumming on drums!) but it's a perfect book for such a young age. I hope we can continue to enjoy this book as my son actually learns to speak and eventually read. So far it's been one of the best small investments I've made.