This was a different book for me to read. It focuses on sign language. Remy Charlip teaches us some sign language throughout the book when is surprised by a group of friends for her birthday, they sing happy birthday to her, have her guess her birthday presents one by one, and even try and guess her age all in sign language. Her friends try to guess her age and she decides not to share her age because well that’s her secret. ( )

This sign language book is about Mary Beth celebrating her birthday. The author did a great job in introducing some sign language vocabulary such as Hat, Swatch, and Ring by making Mary guess what's in her. Then they do many activities together. They sing “Happy Birthday” to Mary in sign language, and try to guess Mary Beth's age. There is a combination of the Fingerspelling and signing in double-page spread photographs to tell the story. In small photos of Mary Beth or a friend signing, the pictures show the upper part of the body and the placement of the hands in relation to the body. Even though some of the pictures are blurry, and it is difficult to see the exact signing, most of them with the vivid colors allow for a clear view of the exact placement of hands. The blurring line, however, shows how the movement of the hand looks like when want to make that sign. The boldface text under or next to each photo explains what is being signed. I really find the book full of exuberance and high-interest story that displays information about English signing language and fingerspelling. It is an exciting and fun way to share the joy of signing with young readers. This creative story can be used to teach children the signing language in much more fun than just reading from a boring informative book. I was so interested in trying some of the sign language vocabularies by my own. I am so excited to share this book with my children. ( )

This book tells the story of a family throwing their friend Marybeth a birthday party all in sign language. Marybeth wakes up and is surprised with a party and several presents. She continues to use signs and guess whats in each wrapped gift. The book then goes over counting in sign language while trying to guess her age. I found this to be a great childrens book about sign language. With sign language being such a visual form of communication I thought it was interesting the way in which the author and illustrator were able to depict the signs. I also thought it was a very positive perspective on being deaf as a disability. All of the characters and interactions were very typical and happy just as they would be at any other birthday party. Overall I think this would be great book to read to students in order to introduce sign language and to show them that it does not hinder other peoples communication skills. ( )

This book is a compilation of sign language pictures and their definitions. I had a hard time gaining anything from this book simply because there was no storyline. However, I will say that I think the book would be a fun lesson to do with students if we were covering sign language. It's also a great book to use when learning about Exceptionalities or differences. For isntance, if we were talking about hearing impairments, this would be an interesting book to use to show the way people with hearing impairments communicate. ( )

This is a book that uses real photgraphy to capture ASL in motion through a number and storybook. This book is about a woman who is celebrating her birthday with friends. They give her gifts and sing her happy birthday! I found this book kind of silly and believe there may be way better books out there that can accomplish the same thing. ( )