Child's Play

Review of My First Signs

These are absolutely gorgeous – a must for any new parent. We only got as far as ‘eat’, ‘drink’, ‘more’ and ‘finished’ with Amy (now 3) – if only we’d had these lovely books we’d still be signing today! The robust board format with wipe clean pages will stand up to lots of reading and exploration by parents and babies alike. The illustrations are bright, clear and quite enchanting – not only will Mum and Dad be able to learn the signs quickly and easily, but the characters are very engaging for small minds. My First Signs runs through all the early signs centred around food and drink, then moves on through subjects like bath and bedtime, playtime, outdoor fun, behaviour and health ending very sweetly on ‘I Love You’. You will probably find that some of the signs come naturally – like the pointy ears for ‘rabbit’ or the charades mime for ‘book’ – but some are less obvious, but incredibly useful – like ‘ill’ and ‘medicine’. Alongside the individual signs, you are also reminded of how to teach each of them to your baby and given encouragement not to worry if they creatively adapt signs for their own benefit! So long as you both know what the sign means, that’s all that matters!

The nursery rhyme Sign & Sing-Along quartet offers you the chance to expand your signing vocabulary through song. Most of us instinctively use hand signals through ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ or ‘Incey Wincey’, but here they are taken a little further, signing the words and concepts rather than just the twinkly stars and finger diamonds.

These are beautifully crafted books that are sure to become long-standing family favourites – and they also offer a wonderful start to your baby’s communication skills.

Byfleet and District NCT Newsletter. 1st September 2004

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