Customer Reviews

Handtalk Birthday: A Number & Story Book in Sign Language

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Handtalk Birthday is a conceptual picture book that uses printed text and photographs of people speaking American Sign Language to tell the story of Mary Beth's birthday. They surprise her in her pajamas, give her gifts which she tries to guess, and they all have a party. All of her guests sign various numbers to guess her age. This is a book about language and counting in American Sign Language. Sometimes the signs are hard to interpret because they require motion to convey in reality, and this motion is photographed so the pictures are blurry. Also, the pages are too crowded with photographs and this makes the composition of each page seem messy and crowded. The facial expressions of the photographed characters are overdone and make the book seem ridiculous and garish. The book was published in 1987, and this is obvious in the photographs- the characters have not dated well and have become cartoonish. The concept is a great one but this book doesn't pull it off very well. Perhaps it would be valuable in a collection of children's books that incorporate American Sign Language for elementary school students.

Our language delayed 3 year old loves the handtalk series. In this birthday story with a magical touch, the photos tell the story (there is text) and the characters sign along with the action portrayed. It's easiest to sign if you already know the signs as the photos don't always capture the exact motions.