Hands Are Not for Hitting (Board Book) (Best Behavior Series) Board book – February 15, 2002

This book has been a lifesaver in teaching my toddler that hands are for things like hugging and helping—not smacking, swatting, or auditioning for toddler fight club. The Best Behavior series nails it again with simple words and pictures that somehow cut through the chaos and keep my kid engaged.The format is genius: start with what hands are for (“helping mommy clean up the million toys you dumped out”), then explain what they’re not for (“hitting mom because she dared to say no to a third snack”). It’s clear, gentle, and exactly what we needed to curb the tiny tornado of hands flying at inappropriate moments.We’ve even started using the book’s format in everyday life. “What are hands for?” gets a thoughtful response, while “What are they NOT for?” earns a little head tilt like they’re really pondering their choices. Anytime there’s a slip-up, out comes the book, and it’s like a magical toddler reboot.If your kid is testing the boundaries of what hands can do (spoiler: it’s not hitting), this book is a must-have. It’s effective and has definitely made our house a more peaceful place.

Like most mamas, we experience hitting. My 2 year old boy has been hitting to get attention, especially since we brought home our newest addition, his baby brother. Now, we have something to refer to that we can call out when he does hit instead of just yelling at him. The book has been very helpful and we read it every night!

Such a simple board book but the topic was necessary with my 1.5 year old. The wording and pictures are simple and entertaining enough that my toddler loves it! The statements are so simple that I’ve memorized most of them and can repeat as needed when a hitting episode arises.

This is a great book to help encourage little people with knowing all of the many ways to use their hands in a peaceful and productive manner. Some of the elements that I like most include:- The book uses positive reinforcement in the manner in which it highlights all of the many uses of hands that are peaceful, loving and helpful. The book mentions how not to use your hands but does not focus on the negative uses of hands.- The book is well illustrated and the colors and pictures definitely draw in the audience to paying close attention to the activities of each individual page.- The diverse children represented on each page is a huge plus. It is refreshing to see a book that demonstrates that children range in many different colors. The book celebrates that idea that diverse children coexist and thrive together.- The text is simple and can be understood by very small children (I purchased and read to my 2 year old who clearly understands and repeats the text in relevant moments/settings).

This review is for the Board Book which is supposed to be for children up to 4 years old. I know some reviews mentioned it is a lot less substantive than the paperback yellow cover version but that is because that is for the 4-7 year old age group. I bought this version as my son is two and a half and has been begun hitting. The simplicity is good for his age but I do wish it would talk more about why it's not good to hit (perhaps the 4-7 year old version does that?). It just says "Hands are not for hitting. What are hands for? then has a page showing playing, building, hugging, etc."It's showing various things you can do with your hands in general but doesn't address when you are mad you should do this instead. Like when a toddler is mad, he isn't thinking "o yes, hands are for building sand castles". I'm trying to find a book that shows a child upset/mad and that hitting others isn't the answer... tell a parent or teacher what is wrong i.e. use your words instead.Also, it doesn't explain that hitting hurts, it's not nice, etc. We started adding to the Hands are not for hitting pages saying... "No hitting. Hitting hurts." and he seems to get the message. He hasn't stopped hitting all together yet but I do ask him here and there... do we hit? and he says "no hitting... hitting hurts. ouch" lol. Our son does like reading the book (nice illustrations) and it's definitely a good start so I would recommend it but there is some room for improvement in the text. If I find anothor book that would also be good to read along with this, I will update this posting.

The media could not be loaded. Purchased for my toddler when she was turning 2 to help her understand about hitting and what things our hands can do. Loved the simple ideas this book presents and she still (now 3.5 years old) recites parts of this book randomly to us. A great introductory book about gentle hands to littles!

My two year old had been going through a really bad hitting phase, and I was at my wits end about how to stop it. I'm really glad I found this book when I did.It reinforces all the good and fun things we use our hands for, while emphasizing that we don't use them to hit after about every other page or so. While at the same time, using simple short phrasing so my toddler doesn't loose interest.It has become one of the books he regularly brings to me to read to him, I highly recommend this book for anyone having similar issues.

This book is a favorite of my son’s. While hitting can be very common for young ones, this book has helped to reduce the number of incidents. Any time my toddler hits, I remind him that hands are not for hitting, and talk about other things to do with his hands. This one reminder helps redirect him 99% of the time. Thankful for this book!