Nita's Day

by Kathy MacMillan, Sara Brezzi (Illustrator)

Overview

Sign language makes it easy to communicate with your child, and Nita makes it fun! The second book in the Little Hands Signing series (which introduced the bestselling Nita's First Signs), Nita's Day teaches ten new and essential ASL signs for every parent and child to know: wake up, change, clothes, eat, potty, go, play, bath, book, and bed. A simple story about Nita and her parents teaches each sign in context. Even better, each page slides open to reveal accurate instructions on how to make each sign, plus tabs on the side of each page make it simple to locate every sign for later reference. No signing book collection is complete without Nita!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641701488
Publisher:	Familius
Publication date:	05/12/2020
Series:	Little Hands Signing , #2
Pages:	12
Sales rank:	566,038
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 7.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	1 - 3 Years

About the Author

Kathy MacMillan is a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, writer, teacher, librarian, and storyteller. She is the author of the board books Nita's First Signs and Nita's Day (Familius), children's nonfiction book She Spoke: 14 Women Who Raised Their Voices and Changed the World (Familius), the young adult novels Sword and Verse and Dagger and Coin (HarperTeen), and nine books for parents, librarians, and educators, including Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together (Huron Street Press).

Editorial Reviews

"Nita’s First Signs is a wonderful introduction to the world of American Sign Language for children. The book is not only entertaining and creative with it’s depiction of signs, it encourages the reader to go to a video source as a means to reinforce the signs learned through real time instruction. In the end, Nita’s First Signs demonstrates the value and fun of learning sign language for ALL infants, toddlers, children, AND adults, regardless of whether they are deaf or hearing or hard of hearing."

-Marlee Matlin, actress, author, and activist

 
"Deaf Culture, ASL, and early-childhood content were vetted by experts, making it suitable for Deaf children or families who want to incorporate sign into their daily routine...A handy resource for hearing and Deaf families alike."
-Kirkus Reviews


"Kathy MacMillan has created another engaging ASL board book for families that is sure to both entertain and educate. In Nita's Day, Nita goes through typical routines of babyhood. She wakes up, has a diaper change, eats, goes to the potty, gets dressed, plays in the park, bathes, hears a bedtime story, and goes to sleep. Cheerful illustrations accompany each of these activities, along with sturdy pull-out peek-a-boo panels. Exposed inside each panel is an illustration of Nita making the sign for the activity along with a verbal description of that ASL sign. Sturdy tabs allow readers searching for a specific sign to find it easily. Sara Brezzi's colorful depictions of Nita and her loving parents as they help and accompany her throughout the day increase the joyfulness of this book. A must for every collection."

—Dr. Betsy Diamant-Cohen, executive director of Mother Goose on the Loose

From the Publisher

This unique and fabulous book teaches ten popular ASL signs to enable basic communication between babies who are not yet talking and their parents. Ten commonly used sign (such asmore,thank you,all done,please,eat, andhungry) are highlighted. Slide-out panels contain simple instructions along with pictures that name and illustrate each sign.Color-coded tabs will help parents easily find the signs they are looking for. In addition to being beautifully illustrated, the construction of this book is amazing. This book will appeal to children and adults ofallages for the simple story, the lovely illustrations, and the access to American Sign Language that it provides.

Dr. Betsy Diamant-Cohen

Nita’s First Signs is a wonderful introduction to the world of American Sign Language for children. The book is not only entertaining and creative with it’s depiction of signs, it encourages the reader to go to a video source as a means to reinforce the signs learned through real time instruction. In the end, Nita’s First Signs demonstrates the value and fun of learning sign language for ALL infants, toddlers, children, AND adults, regardless of whether they are deaf or hearing or hard of hearing.

Marlee Matlin

2020-10-27
A toddler signs in American Sign Language throughout the day.

Nita, who has beige skin and a blue bun on either side of their head, wakes up, receives a diaper change, dresses, and more, with two loving caregivers, also beige-skinned. Related signs for each of these activities (wake-up, change, and clothes, respectively) are demonstrated by Nita on panels revealed when the page is expanded by tugging on a tab. One or two images of Nita appear making the sign with directional arrows and short descriptions as needed. While these panels may be an engaging gimmick for active toddler readers, they make the book inordinately heavy and may not stand up to robust play. Tabbed pages make flipping to the correct sign easy for sleep-deprived parents using the book as a reference. Short, simple, descriptive sentences put the signs in context. Brezzi’s stylized cartoons are clear and accessible, employing a wide range of patterns and unusual colors. On the back page, a note for grown-ups encourages using sign language throughout the day to help children manage transitions and make sense of their world. The author’s webpage provides a video of the author sharing all the signs. Deaf culture, ASL, and early-childhood content were vetted by experts, making it suitable for Deaf children or families who want to incorporate sign into their daily routine.

A handy resource for hearing and Deaf families alike. (Board book. 1-3)

Kirkus Reviews