ASL Tales: Annie's Tails

Yet another classroom-friendly ASL teaching tool from a company that offers consistent literary quality.

This 28 page original American Sign Language tale is all about… well… tails! All Annie wants for her 5th birthday is a different animal tail she can wear for each day of the school week. When her wish is granted she enjoys a wild, imaginative five days. When she returns to school the following week, she finds she’s started a trend among all of her classmates.

The warm illustrations have the mellow feel of simple oil paints. More visual than story-dense, the concepts and word choices should appeal well to children ages 3-8. The thin paper binding is a minor drawback, as it may damage easily. And the ASL element would essentially be lost without the included DVD, so parents will need to use caution in how much handling they allow their child.

This reviewer was mildly disappointed that the story itself didn’t offer any particular moral or lesson, as I’d come to expect from ASL Tales. The ending also comes a touch abruptly. But on the whole, this work serves as good mental exercise and a fun read-along for little ones.

(The included DVD features a female ASL interpreter and allows for reading in Arabic, Bosnian, Cantonese, French, Haitian Creole, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.)