Sister Anne's Hands

Marybeth Lorbiecki

Sister Anne's Hands

Marybeth Lorbiecki  Joy Peskin (Editor)  K. Wendy Popp (Illustrator)

Annotation
Seven-year-old Anna has her first encounter with racism in the 1960s when an African American nun comes to teach at her parochial school.

From the Publisher
It's the early 1960s, and Anna has never seen a person with dark skin-until she meets Sister Anne. At first she is afraid of her new teacher, but she quickly discovers how wonderful Sister Anne is. Then one of Anna's classmates directs a racist remark toward Sister Anne. The teacher's wise way of turning the incident into a powerful learning experience has a profound impact on Anna. This moving, timeless tale is perfectly illustrated with luminous, glowing paintings.

"With humor and understanding, Lorbiecki writes about a young girl's coming to terms with racial differences." -The Horn Book

Awards:

( A Child Study Children's Book Committee Children's Book of the Year
( Winner of a 1999 Storytelling World Award

From the Critics
From Kathleen Kelly - Children's Literature  
When seven-year-old Anna overhears her parents talking about her new teacher, wondering "how a woman of her color is going to survive," she wonders what color her teacher will be. "Purple? Green? Orange?" But when she arrives at her 1960s parochial school for the first day of second grade, she meets Sister Anne, who has the darkest skin she has ever seen. Sister Anne loves jokes and stories, and proves to be the most fun of any teacher Anna has ever had. When one of Anna's classmates makes a mean comment about the nun's color, Sister Anne decides it is time to educate her class about racism. Popp's beautifully rendered pastel illustrations place the book in a slightly sentimentalized past even as the text acknowledges the problems of segregation. Sister Anne herself appears unnaturally serene in each illustration, more like a statue than the lively teacher the text describes. However, the parochial school setting and gentle introduction to the civil rights struggle make this book a unique offering.
 
From Susie Wilde - Children's Literature  
The illustrator's extensive investigations of the sixties show clearly. The softness of tones and realism recreate the balance of the story's difficult message and lilting prose.