Sister Anne's Hands

In the early 1960's, Anna begins attending a Catholic school where an African American nun has newly been hired and will be Anna's teacher. Anna has never seen an African American before meeting Sister Anne and is taken a little a back at first. That is, until she discovers how truly wonderful

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Sister Anne is.

One day in class Sister Anne gets hold of a note some has written which make some racist remarks about Sister Anne. Sister Anne uses the moment as an opportunity to teach students about how hurtful racism can really be and Anna is profoundly affected by the whole situation.

It is an excellent book to introduce racism and civil rights with students, especially since students can relate to the school setting and student/teacher relationship.

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Great book to read aloud when you need to discuss racial differences. And you can have students trace and color in their hands like Anna, the protagonist.

A wonderful book to share with children! It reflects the struggles black people had to face in the early 60's in America. Sister Anne is going to teach at an only-white school. One day she receives a very ugly and discriminating note from one student. Although Sister Anne was touched she knows how

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to deal with that incident and teaches her students about the difficulties blacks have had to face.
The illustrations are very impressive and wonderfully show how similar black and white people can be. A must-to-read-book!

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I really enjoyed this book for a few different reasons. First, I really enjoyed the illustrations that were used in this story. I felt that the pictures looked like real photographs and I felt that added a sense of reality to the story. Additionally, since color and race was so important throughout

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the story, I thought it was really nice to be able to see the colors that were used for the people and hands in the story. Another reason that I liked this story was because of the written text that was used in the story. I felt that the text was extremely descriptive and used a lot of creative writing. An example of the creative writing that was used was when the author wrote, "froze like a tongue on an icy post." Another example of creative writing that was used in the story was when the author fully explained a joke that was said in the classroom. In my opinion, the overall message of this story would be to accept everyone and not to discriminate.

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I love this story! I loved the innocence that Anna portrayed about the subject at hand. She had a new teacher who was a race that she was unfamiliar with. However, all she knew was that Sister Anne had related to her in a way that nobody else had before. I really enjoyed the end of this story. I

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think it was so special for Anna to recognize that there are people of all different colors and portray that in her drawing to Sister Anne. I also liked the way that Sister Anne treated the harsh situation she was handed. Instead of lashing out, she decided to spin it and educate the students about the past. The big message here was to educate the readers about the history of discrimination. There was a feeling of acceptance that hung in the air after I finished reading this story. I absolutely loved this story!

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Sister Anne's Hands, by Marybeth Lorbiecki, is a very powerful story. The big idea behind it is that all people are equal no matter what your skin color is. One thing I really liked about the story was the illustrations. They looked like old photographs because they were faded and a bit blurry

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around the edges, but it fit well because the story was referring to a time from many years ago. I also liked how descriptive the language was. The author writes, "sister's face froze like a tongue on an icy post," and "teachers as colorful as birds." The imagery in her language really enhanced the story and made it more enjoyable to read.

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I thought that the illustrations and detailed text of this book represented the characters well. For example, the freckled cheeks and puppy brown hands of sister Anne set a tone for the story. I liked how the character that was being discriminated was a Catholic nun. This makes the story more

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multicultural and puts readers minds outside of their comfort zones. The whole idea made readers reflect on racism during a time where is was prevalent.
The message of this book is so powerful. The topic of prejudice and racism is written about throughout literature but this specific story stood out the most. I thought it was bold of sister Anne to show pictures to her students representing how African Americans are discriminated. I liked this detail because I feel like people shouldn't sugar coat the topic. This book is inspiring for teachers and showed how sister Anne positively impacted her students. The ending was adorable and I liked how the theme of hands was represented. It shows that hands can be both welcoming and demeaning. The message of acceptance of multiculturalism is clearly stated and for this reason I recommend this book to readers of any age.

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I found Sister Anne's Hands to be a very powerful story. The main theme of the story is acceptance, no matter what someone's color is. I really enjoyed the book, as I found it to be multidimensional.

I really like the illustrations. I found them to be almost like an Edward Weston photograph. I feel

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like the soft tones really helped with the theme of acceptance. The focus on hands also allowed the reader to really consider the point of view of the illustrations.

I really liked the story as well. I think the child's innocence to be refreshing. It makes the story more realistic for younger readers. I really like how the narrator wonders if she is orange or purple. This imagery I find to be new and enjoyable. I also like how despite being set in a Catholic school, religion was not a primary theme of the story. It makes it more relate-able, and demystifies the concept of religious schools being immaculate with behavior.

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Sister Anne's Hands was one of my favorite books from this course. The reason I liked it so much was how it pushes the readers and how the characters are depicted. This book introduces any young child to how there was racial segregation. It pushes the readers to analyze how the times were back then

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and how some children were raised. Some were raised somewhat racist, and others were "color blind." I really enjoyed how watch student had a different outlook on African Americans. In addition, I enjoyed the main girl character because she did not care what color her teacher was. Although she recognized differences between them she did not let her teachers race distract her learning. On the other hand, there were students who wrote a racist note and it was interesting how the teacher went about the situation. Overall I thought this book was intriguing because the main message was not to let someones color distract you. Everyone is different in their own way.

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This was a great children's book to portray racism in the early ages!

This book is the story through a young girls eyes in the time of the equal rights and desegregation movement. The girl is getting a new teacher at her catholic school who is different than everyone else. The teacher,Sister Anne, is an African american, which is a first for their school. Sister Anne

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shows the children how she is just like everyone else, and changes their prospective on the African American culture.

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I liked this book, and it had a powerful message. This students classroom gets a new teacher, a nun named sister Anne. Unlike the students, and most of the people the students are familiar with, Sister Anne is black, and some of the students make some not thought out remarks. After a discussion

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with the class about races, Sister Anne forces the children to confront their own uncertainties and ultimately not judge people on the basis of their skin.

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A new nun with a different skin color will be teaching Anna's second grade class. Anna is frightened of her hands because they are different, but she learns to accept Sister Anne's differences and lover her as a teacher.