Review Detail

Since Im soon to have a little wee one of my own, Ive been interested in books that can help you to teach sign language to babies (its a way to potentially communicate with them before they can actually form the words). Tanya Kuzas self-published board book takes a bit of a different approach than most of the books I am familiar with.

Rather than be targeted towards the parent (with the requisite lessons and advice), this activity / board book is really targeted towards the baby. Instead of reading a book and then practicing the signs with your baby, this book is made to read with your baby and includes simple illustrations suitable for youngsters and a lift the flap feature to animate the sign.

Each sign also features a sentence as an example of usage, such as A warm bath brings me so much joy! The illustrations themselves are very multi-cultural, featuring both parents and babies of different ethnic backgrounds.

There are only 16 signs in this book, along with an appendix in the back with further descriptions and a demonstration of the American Manual Alphabet. The appendix is definitely useful, as some of the signs are confusing without the added bit of description.

I think this would be a good supplemental book to reinforce signs directly with your baby, but could not be your sole resource for signs as there are too few (though they are some of the more common ones, like milk and eat and drink and bath). As a board book, it seems sturdy enough to stand up to the rough usage of a young toddler (though not having one in the house yet, I do have to wonder how well the flaps will survive&they seem pretty sturdy, but it is hard to tell without seeing how a child interacts with it). Recommended for parents who wish to teach their child some basic signs to enhance communication with them.