Review: BSL baby sign book with video links!

Review by Rebecca-Anne Withey.

I’ve been enjoying a book from the Let’s Sign BSL series by Cath Smith.

BSL Baby Sign Link book is a first for DeafBooks due to how the illustrations also feature QR codes to scan and link to video clips of moving images – so you can see the signs in action! The video links are by Remark! and demonstrated by a Deaf BSL user.

The illustrations in the book are beautifully clear, with easy to follow instructions yet I was anxious how the video clips would work, being the technophobe I am!

I needn’t have worried. All you need is an internet connection, a smart phone and to download the free scanner from www.signconnectuk.com straight onto your phone.

Not only does the book feature a wide range of every day signs from food and drink to praises such as well done and good boy/girl, it also has a clear chart of the finger spelling alphabet as well as descriptions of basic hand shapes (which I wasn’t previously aware of!)

The series of signs are divided into chapters such as Going Out, Making Things Better and In the Bathroom.

For someone who lives or works with a deaf baby or toddler, this book is an incredibly useful tool to learning BSL with confidence as you have the added back up of seeing everything signed on video.

My parents had great fun going through the book (as these resources weren’t around when I was diagnosed as deaf eons ago) and I cant help but think that books such as this should be recommended to parents and care workers of all deaf children as soon as they are diagnosed.

The BSL Baby Sign Link book enables the reader to have access to signs that they would be taught at a baby sign class, instead they can read and go through the signs at their own pace and in the comfort of their own homes.

Many new parents with deaf children feel at a loss when it comes to communication, and attending baby signing classes is one way to build blocks of communication early on. As the book explains,

For many families with deaf children, baby signing classes have been described as a life-line, being more readily available to them, less costly and offering the much needed early support and infant appropriate signs and topics that are not found in adult BSL courses.

The book also goes on to explain how children and families who have attended baby signing classes attest to the improved behaviour and communication of their deaf child. With this resource at hand, it’s like having your own baby signing class from home!

My children were delighted to read this book, and were incredibly excited by the scanner and video element.

As I have a deaf daughter and hearing son, it was wonderful to introduce them to a BSL book which featured children signing and I would definitely recommend this to any families with young children who are interested in signing and also to new parents of deaf children who want to learn relevant signs from the ease of a book.

I was pleased to see that DeafBooks has a much wider range of resources available, from flash cards and BSL songbooks to curriculum support and eBooks for family signs.

I will also be recommending their BSL series to friends of mine who have expressed interest in their hearing children learning BSL as at the moment in my area there are no BSL classes available for children.

Congratulations to DeafBooks and to Remark! for producing such a valuable resource.

Be sure to check out www.DeafBooks.co.uk to see their range of materials available.