''The Kissing Hand'' is an American children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

written by Audrey Penn and illustrated by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak. It features a mother

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

comforting a child raccoon by kissing its paw. First published by the

Child Welfare League of America The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that coordinates efforts for child welfare in the United States, and provides direct support to agencies that serve children and families. The organization's visio ...

in 1993, it has been used "to reassure children upset by

separation anxiety Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is an anxiety disorder in which an individual experiences excessive anxiety regarding separation from home and/or from people to whom the individual has a strong emotional attachment (e.g., a parent, caregive ...

." Based on a 2007 online poll, the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

''. It has been translated into at least five languages and has been followed by five sequels.

Background

On a train ride in

Wheaton, Maryland Wheaton is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, situated north of Washington, D.C., and northwest of downtown Silver Spring. Wheaton takes its name from Frank Wheaton (1833–1903), a career officer in the Uni ...

, Penn witnessed a ritual in which a mother raccoon placed its nose on a baby raccoon's paw, and then the baby raccoon placed its paw on its own face. The

park ranger A ranger, park ranger, park warden, field ranger, or forest ranger is a person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands and Protected area, protected areas – private, national, state, provincial, or local parks. Their duties include ( ...

said that the purpose of the ritual was to transfer scent from the mother to the baby so that the baby could recall the mother's scent by bringing its paw to its face. Penn "started a similar ritual with her daughter — kissing her hand and telling her that whenever she was homesick, she could put her hand to her face." Penn wrote ''The Kissing Hand'' based on the raccoons' ritual. Penn read the book at

VSA arts VSA is an international organization on arts, education and disability, which was founded in 1974 by former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith, and is headquartered in Washington, DC. In 2011, VSA became the Office of Accessibility ...

, and

Jean Kennedy Smith Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (February 20, 1928 – June 17, 2020) was an American diplomat, activist, humanitarian, and author who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. She was a member of the Kennedy family, the eighth of ...

wrote the book's foreword.

Summary

Chester is a young

who is nervous about going to school. His mother kisses the center of his palm & tells him that whenever he feel lonely & need a little loving from home, just press his hand to his cheek & think that his mom loves him. Chester is comforted and goes to school.

Reception

In 1994 the book received a negative review in the ''

'', which considered it "marketing" for the Child Welfare League of America, with a "

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...

story" and low-quality illustrations. Nevertheless, in 1998

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

published a paperback version which became one of its "biggest, most popular best sellers." The

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

recommended the book after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

of 2001. In 2004, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

purchased 14,000 copies of the book for soldiers stationed abroad to read on video and transmit the video to their families at home. It was ranked #49 in a 2007 online poll by the

of "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." It was ranked #95 in a list of "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by ''

''.

Editions and translations

* (hardcover) * (paperback) * (cassette tape and paperback) * * (Braille) * (CD and paperback) * * * * * *

Sequels

* * * * * *

References

External links

"The Kissing Hand books: a series on life issues for children"
(author's site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kissing Hand, The 1994 children's books American picture books Animal tales Wheaton, Maryland Children's books about raccoons