Nita’s First Signs is now streaming on Netflix as part of the Story Time Book Read-Along series! Check out these animated read-along storybooks here. Kids can read along with illustrated books that come to life through animation, music and narration. Exciting adventures, fuzzy animal friends and more! (Find Nita’s First Signs in Episode #7: Kindness and Family.)
Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together, second edition
by Kathy MacMillan
Photography by Kristin Brown
Research shows that using American Sign Language with young children can
Little Hands & Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together offers solid background information on signing with children ages birth to six, along with hands-on games, fingerplays, songs, and more that caregivers, librarians, and educators can use to smooth transitions, calm a fussy child, or engage a stubborn one. Each activity is accompanied by photos of the relevant signs.
“Author and ASL educator Kathy MacMillan has brilliantly combined the world of ASL with early literacy activities…Explanations and research support are seamlessly woven into each activity…I highly recommend this resource to anyone working with children from birth to age six.” -Betsy Diamant-Cohen, creator of the award-winning Mother Goose on the Loose early literacy program
Order now from the Deaf Camps, Inc. Online Bookstore (autographed copies that support a great cause!) | amazon.com | barnesandnoble.com | bookshop.org
Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together, 2nd edition
Online Book Launch Event with Kathy MacMillan
Thursday, January 12, 2023
6:00 pm Mountain Standard Time
Hosted by Clearview Library District
Sign, sing, read, and play together in this online storytime for all ages! American Sign Language interpretation and automatic captioning will be provided.
Autographed copies of the book may be purchased here, with all proceeds supporting Deaf Camps, Inc.’s scholarship program. To request personalization, email deafcampsinc@gmail.com.
Public Release from Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action! FOLDA!
Two visionary leaders in American Deaf Education and the birth of American Sign Language, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (hearing) and Laurent Clerc (Deaf), co-founders of the first-kind American School for the Deaf, were born in the month of December, Gallaudet on Dec 10, 1787, Clerc on Dec 26, 1785. December 3 is also International Day of Persons with Disabilities (est.1992) and December 10 is Humans Rights Day (est. 1948). Such International Days have been proclaimed annually by the General Assembly of the United Nations, joined by the White House and US President.
World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) est. 1951
The WFD, located in Helsinki, Finland realizes the human rights of the Deaf with many cultures to quality education and knowledge of pioneers and deaf historical events that change the world. From Abbe Charles Michel de L’Épée of Paris (the 1760s) to the infamous Milan (Italy) Conference (1880) to the Dark age of Deaf Education globally ever since, and much more.
The Values of Deaf History The FOLDA mission is to promote full library access and quality deaf cultural resources for the Deaf Community, and all, nationally and globally. http://www.foldadeaf.net/
FOLDA believes that knowledge of the past is crucially important to the well-being of individuals, communities, and the future of all nations. “There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know,” is a famous quote by Harry S. Truman, 34th US President.
In this case, members of both the deaf communities and the library communities should not assume that the general public, especially most government agencies, know about the Americans with Disabilities Act signed into federal law on July 26, 1990. And also, the Deaf Culture Digital Library (DCDL) was signed into state law on May 15, 2014, by Maryland Governor as well as the Deaf History Month, March 13 to April 15 signed into state law by Ohio Governor on December 6, 2017.
FOLDA encourages OSD (National Organizations that Serve the Deaf ) – their affiliates, chapters, and the related local communities of the nation to ask local public libraries about using their meeting room for presenting a deaf cultural program observing Clerc-Gallaudet Week, December 3-10, 2022. If the date is too close, then plan for March 13 – April 15, 2023.
Members with an interest to create a program at a local public library should let their organizational president know.
In this case, please email your program announcement before November 15, 2022, to FOLDA via ahagemeyer@gmail.com.
The general purpose of such annual deaf events presented at the public library in local communities of the nation, the Deaf with many cultures would be able to work together to build an inclusive library community engagement in local communities of the nation, and globally.
A Brief History
In November 1972, John A. Love, Governor of Colorado declared what we call today Deaf History Month. It was then called “Deaf Awareness Week.” The first movers and shakers of such a first-ever event were David Anthony and Jerome Moers of the Colorado Association of the Deaf.
Two years later in December 1974, then the DC Executive Office (now of Mayor) declared what we call today Clerc-Gallaudet Week, December 3-10. Originally called “Deaf Awareness Week” was launched by the District of Columbia Public Library, later followed by “Deaf Action Week” and “Deaf Heritage Week,” in partnership with the NAD and DC Deaf Community. The library staff who took sign class with two Deaf co-workers, Alice L. Hagemeyer and Ida Mapes, took the responsibility for the week’s agenda, and was a big success.
In 1989, FOLDA suggested changing it to Clerc-Gallaudet Week and to add a new annual event, National Deaf History Month, from March 13 to April 15. NAD board approved of it.
Later we made December 3 – December 10 the official week date. December 3 and December 10 are the International Day of People with Disabilities and of Human Rights as proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1992 and 1948 respectively.
The purpose of National Deaf History Month, March 13 -April 15 is to recognize three turning points in America’s history dating back to April 15, 1817 – The first public school for the Deaf opens in Hartford, CT; April 8, 1864 – Gallaudet University, the world’s first institution dedicated to advanced education for the Deaf and March 13, 1988 – The first Deaf president ever hired in Gallaudet’s 124 years history which led to the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into federal law two years later on July 26, 1990.
In 2005 and 2006, the NAD and the American Library Association (ALA) endorsed National Deaf History Month, March 13 – April 15, respectively.
Deaf Utopia: A Memoir – And a Love Letter to a Way of Life by Nyle DiMarco with Robert Siebert
Summary: In this moving and engrossing memoir, Nyle shares stories, both heartbreaking and humorous, of what it means to navigate a world built for hearing people. From growing up in a rough-and-tumble childhood in Queens with his big and loving Italian-American family to where he is now, Nyle has always been driven to explore beyond the boundaries given him. A college math major and athlete at Gallaudet—the famed university for the Deaf in Washington, DC—Nyle was drawn as a young man to acting, and dove headfirst into the reality show competitions America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars—ultimately winning both competitions. Deaf Utopia is more than a memoir, it is a cultural anthem—a proud and defiant song of Deaf culture and a love letter to American Sign Language, Nyle’s primary language. Through his stories and those of his Deaf brothers, parents, and grandparents, Nyle opens many windows into the Deaf experience.
DiMarco’s memoir is open and honest, at turns hilarious and poignant. The subtitle “A memoir – and a love letter to a way of life” is right on; DiMarco draws back the curtain on what it was like to grow up in a big Deaf family, from the joys of ASL signs zinging around the dinner table to the tragedies of discrimination from the hearing world and the language deprivation experienced by his father. In describing his experiences on America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars, he offers a clear-eyed understanding of the ways producers shape the narratives in reality TV, while also cogently analyzing the accessibility fails along the way. Through candid anecdotes, he tracks his changing understanding of his own sexuality, finally embracing his queer identity. Throughout the narrative, the book weaves in just enough background information about ASL and Deaf culture and history to help even newcomers to the topic understand how DiMarco’s personal story fits into the bigger picture of the multifaceted Deaf community.
DEAF UTOPIA is out now.
Little Hands Signing Professional Development Series Season Pass
Add some American Sign Language to your storytime toolbox! Learn how to incorporate ASL into storytime songs, rhymes, and stories in a respectful and effective way.
Your Season Pass registration includes on-demand recording access to all 6 webinars through August 31, 2022!
Register now for the Little Hands Signing Professional Development Series Season Pass
True Biz by Sara Nović
Summary: True biz (adj/exclamation; American Sign Language): really, seriously, definitely, real-talk
True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history final, and have doctors, politicians, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they’ll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who’s never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school’s golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another–and changed forever.
This is a brutal, glorious read that invites hearing readers into the perspectives of members of the Deaf community, and gives Deaf readers a mirror of their own beautiful, complex culture that is rarely seen in written literature. The author provides background and context for readers unfamiliar with ASL and Deaf Culture through strategically placed handouts from Charlie’s history class that explain everything from name signs to the impact of Deaf President Now. Every word, every sign illustration, every snippet of dialogue works together to create a verbal picture – even the formatting. Over the years, novelists have used many different methods to show ASL, which has no written form, on the page. Nović’s approach is astonishingly effective. Spoken dialogue contains no quotation marks, with nothing to set it apart from narration; it is simply part of the visual landscape, just as it would be for a Deaf person attempting to speechread. Signed communication, in contrast, is italicized and located in different places on the page to represent who is communicating. This creates a sense of visual distinction and echoes the use of space in American Sign Language. Nović expertly weaves in multiple character points of view to showcase the diversity of the Deaf community, exploring everything from cochlear implants to Black ASL to the state of residential schools to the struggle of CODAs (hearing children of deaf adults) to move between two worlds – all with a nuance, authenticity, and depth rarely seen in mainstream literature. With so many weighty topics to explore, a lesser author would get bogged down. But Nović’s story soars as it navigates the shifting relationships at its heart, always returning to the connections woven in the community.
TRUE BIZ is out now.
Director Sarah Michaelson wanted to create something where everyone can share this heartwarming story in the same space no matter their background, ability, or learning style. The screening event is perfect for Deaf and hearing audiences, students of sign language, and young readers who benefit from experiencing stories in a visceral way.
The Words in My Hands by Asphyxia
Summary: Part coming of age, part call to action, this #ownvoices novel about a Deaf teenager is an exploration of what it means to belong. Set in an ominously prescient near future, this is the story of Piper. Sixteen, smart, artistic, and rebellious; she’s struggling to conform to what her mom wants–for her to be ‘normal, ‘ to pass as hearing, and get a good job. But in a time of food scarcity, environmental collapse, and political corruption, Piper has other things on her mind–like survival. Deaf since the age of three, Piper has always been told that she needs to compensate in a world that puts those who can hear above everyone else. But when she meets Marley, a whole new world opens up–one where Deafness is something to celebrate rather than hide, and where resilience and hope are created by taking action, building a community, and believing in something better.
Set in Australia a few decades into the future, this compelling novel presents a world where most of the population is dependent on Organicore, a food substitute that has improved nutrition and eradicated cancer and other diseases, but at the cost of estranging the population from so-called “wild food” – and possibly introducing other health problems. In the midst of this we meet Piper, a deaf teen who has grown up as an oral deaf person, relying on hearing aids and speechreading to get by. When the economy tanks and there are shortages of everything – including Organicore – Piper and her mother rent out their house and move into a tiny guesthouse, conserving the little power that is left to them. Piper meets a handsome CODA (child of deaf adult) named Marley and through him is introduced to Auslan (Australian Sign Language) for the first time. As she falls for Marley, she meets his Deaf mother and learns about growing things in the earth and growing a sense of identity and language in her soul. Piper lives out what Deaf educator Gina Oliva calls the “MET DEAF WOW” moment that so many orally educated deaf young adults experience. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al6I8… ) She begins to understand that she is not alone and there is a whole community of people like her, with deep connections and ease of communication. As she becomes more engaged in their world, her confidence grows and she joins the wild food revolution, converting the public space on her street into a thriving community garden. Interspersed with Piper’s drawings, the text pulls the reader in from the first page. Unlike many books with deaf (and Deaf) characters, The Words in My Hands never glosses over the relentlessness of the struggle for communication in the hearing world, and how much of that burden usually falls on Piper. When Piper is forced to rely on speechreading, the reader is shown the nonsense that she gets from the other person’s lips and sees in real time the work she has to do into order to construct meaning. The readers also gets to experience the blossoming of communication alongside Piper as she learns Auslan and comes into her own Deaf identity. An extraordinary book on many levels.
Check this out! The Story Preservation Initiative has teamed with acclaimed Deaf actor and storyteller Ian Sanborn to bring ASL to the stories in its “Learning Lab” archive for K-3. The first 5 are available now!
The mission of the Story Preservation Initiative is “to positively impact the lives of K-12 students through the sharing of ideas, the transformative power of story, and the development of educational materials that engage the hearts as well as the minds of young people.” SPI produces original, age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction audio stories coupled with related, hands-on, standards-aligned lesson plans and projects to deepen student engagement for meaningful, real-world relevant learning.
This free online resource is a great tool for families, students, and educators. To access the ASL stories, create your free account here.
by Ann Clare LeZotte
Coming September 21 from Scholastic
In Show Me a Sign, Ann Clare LeZotte introduced us to Mary Lambert and the people of Martha’s Vineyard in the early 1800s, where nearly everyone signed and deaf islanders were fully integrated into the life of the island. The Mary we meet in Set Me Free, three years after she was kidnapped and dragged to the mainland to be experimented upon, is warier and wiser. When she is offered the chance to tutor an eight-year-old deaf girl who seems to have no access to communication, she says yes, though she has no idea of the web of secrets and lies she will uncover when she leaves the island to go to the fine manor house. Mary relies on her wits and her own internal moral compass to communicate with the hearing people in the house, always determined to reach the girl – determined not to give up on her, even if her own family already has. Along the way, Mary must confront old friends and enemies, and reckon with the web of prejudice around her, even in her own family and history. LeZotte once again offers a nuanced picture of history, naturally incorporating characters of many backgrounds into the story and showing how the lives of the Wampanoag, black, and white characters are intertwined both on the island and the mainland. Mary remains both passionate and compassionate even as she learns greater patience for those whose minds have not been opened as much as her own. At a family dinner, Papa toasts Mary by signing, “To our Mary, in all her beautiful contradictions.” LeZotte’s work, in turn, shines a light on the beautiful contradictions in every one of us.
Find out more about Ann Clare LeZotte’s work at her website.
Stories by Hand with Kathy MacMillan 