Handtalk: An ABC of Finger Spelling & Sign Language

by Remy Charlip, Mary Beth, George Ancona

The finger positions which the deaf use to designate the letters of the alphabet are depicted together with body gestures that imitate the concepts behind basic vocabulary words

46 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Abraham 'Remy' Charlip (born January 10, 1929) was an American artist, writer, choreographer, theatre director, designer, and teacher.

He studied art at Straubenmuller Textile High School in Manhattan and fine arts at Cooper Union in New York, graduating in 1949.

In the 1960s, Charlip created a unique form of choreography, which he called "air mail dances". He sent a set of drawings to a dance company, and the dancers ordered the positions and created transitions and context.

He performed with John Cage, was a founding member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for which he also designed sets and costumes, directed plays for the Judson Poet's Theater, co-founded the Paper Bag Players, and served as head of the Children's Theater and Literature Department at Sarah Lawrence College.

He won two Village Voice Obie Awards, three New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year citations, and was awarded a six-month residency in Kyoto from the Japan/U.S. Commission on the Arts. He wrote and/or illustrated more than 30 children's books and passed away in San Francisco, California, on August 14, 2012.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting way to teach about sign language. Clever use of photography, although it is dated (1974). Some of the signs are hard to figure out, because they don't actually tell you what they are on the page and there is no answer page. If you can't figure it out, you have to study the inside front flap where they show the individual finger signs. Since this was a library book, many of the signs were covered up with the dust cover which was taped to the book. The reverse of the dust cover was actually another poster of these finger spellings, but again, could not use it since it was taped to the book.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, liked the idea behind this book and really want to teach my children sign language, but don't see the value in teaching them words like "devil", "ugly" and "vampire". I wish there was a little more written on the pages too since my sign language is rusty and I had a hard time reading them.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned the entire Alphabet and a few catch phrases in 30 min. Helpful pictures and words that relate. Funny pictures too. A great beginners book!

[Cws]

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