Hands Off! (Mario Mariotti Collection)

Photographs of hands painted, decorated, and formed to resemble the players at a soccer game

Grade 4-6-- A wordless photography book in full color, with each page showing an aspect of a soccer game in action. Multiracial team members and the referees are brilliantly uniformed, and the first and final photos show the avid fans. The book is based entirely on the use of hands to imitate the actions of the entire body. In fact, every figure is actually a painted hand artfully posed and photographed. The effects of motion are astonishingly fluid and expressive. The concept will appeal to children interested in art, photography, or soccer. --Gloria Amann, New York Public Library
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The dextrous Mariotti can turn hands into almost anything. His Hanimals and last year's Hanimations showcased a great variety of wild animals and birds--all hands, gussied up with a lot of paint, a few toothpicks, string and some button eyes. Hands Off! is even more astounding: violating the cardinal rule of soccer, the human hand plays an entire game. The reader is shown the rows of fans (their faces are drawn in between sets of knuckles), the players (one or two are depicted on a brightly painted palm and four fingers), the referees. Hairy knuckles become knees, fingernails are faces or open mouths. Bold use of color gives this work a thumbs-up. All ages.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.