Learn to Sign with Your Baby: 50 Essential ASL Signs to Help Your Child Communicate Their Needs, Wants, and Feelings

by Cecilia S Grugan, Brittany Castle (Illustrator)

Communicate, connect, and bond with your baby with 50 essential, easy-to-learn ASL signs.

Your baby is crying. Are they hungry or are they tired? With 50 practical ASL signs that cover a child’s day, Learn to Sign with Your Baby will help you better understand your child and help them communicate with you. Author Cecilia S. Grugan, a Deaf parent, gives you detailed instructions and tips for how to master each sign, as well as helpful advice and fun activities for incorporating ASL into your life with baby. And with clear illustrations and video demonstrations for each sign, you can confidently start signing with your baby—and watch as your bond deepens and strengthens.

Learn to Sign with Your Baby

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

Published November 8, 2022

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short, beautifully illustrated book is just what I would suggest for anyone who wants to sign with their baby. I’m no expert but I learned a little ASL at my church and I found it quite helpful. The best part of this book is the way it’s laid out. The author shares her experiences and then she breaks down the infant stages by months and also has lots of Q & A for most inquiries. I found this part very helpful.
It’s 50 easy signs and the illustrations were good. The end of this book has a bunch of resources if you want to explore and possibly get really committed to the language.
I would highly recommend this one.
Thanks Zeitgeist via NetGalley.

[Louisa Olsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clearly written and illustrated, very helpful

[Alif · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS WAS BRILLIANT.

i am deaf and new to ASL and this book was so easy to understand for someone who is new to this great language.
with pictures and easy explanation, i managed to learn most of those 50 signs. Memory Hacks were the best.
i highly recommend this book.

thanks to publisher for the copy.

[Firetruckmama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, for which I thank them.

A number of years ago, I took ASL and fell in love with the language. I had read (or was told?) that young children can often communicate before they can speak - and ASL was a way to help the communication flow. When my child was about six months old, my partner and I started signing to our child. After one memorable experience (fussy child wanting something and parent being clueless until parent asked correct question and child signed desire), my partner and I knew - continue doing ASL until the verbal skills were solid. So, whenever I see a book about ASL and babies - I want to review it because it does work - as long as you put the effort into doing it consistently.

Now, to the adorably illustrated “Learn to Sign with Your Baby: 50 Essential ASL Signs” by Cecilia S. Grugan. If you want 50 real ASL signs to communicate with your child and have your child communicate with you, Grugan has selected a good basic set of signs with which to begin. There are illustrations to assist with how to do the signs and the book mentioned QR codes to see a video of the sign being done (the eARC I got didn’t show the codes, but I assume they will be in the printed book). There’s also a link to a website showing the signs being performed. Grugan also suggests activities to do to reinforce the signs that, to be honest, I found a little out there (if the actives are ones you like, do them; they were not all my cup of tea). I would’ve liked a chapter on animals. Grugan suggests the word “duck” due to bathing time but makes references to plushies - so I was hoping for cat, dog, fish, bear, and the like (yes, the signs are accessible by searching online but with my child “dog walk” became a baby-modified ASL phrase often signed). Overall, a cute book with a good selection of beginner signs (and I liked the “your child may do the sign in this manner” hints) and some good ideas for incorporating the signs into every day use.

[Duckpondwithoutducks · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister-in-law just had a baby and we were talking about the subject of this book, teaching signs to babies for communication. But neither of us knew any sign language. Then I happened to see this book when I logged into Netgalley. I immediately wanted to read it!
It has 50 of the most common signs that would be useful to teach a baby. First it has a picture of how to sign the word, and then a verbal description, including variations on how your baby might sign a word. It is something that I hadn’t thought about before, but just as babies when they start to talk, sometimes have their own simplified version of a word, so a baby learning signs might create their own version of a sign. It mentioned what to watch out for. I highly recommend this book for an expectant or newborn mom to see if this is something they would like to incorporate when they teach their babies to communicate.

Note: I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for parents to learn to sign common signs in ASL with their babies. It's written by a deaf author and has a lot more thorough information than I'm used to in baby signing books. I really appreciated the hacks to remember signs. They were clever and helped me keep them straight. My daughter and I have been learning ASL for a few months and this was really helpful. I also appreciated that it goes beyond the signs to answer questions and explain more.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book via Net Galley.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always been intrigued with ASL; my sister learned it as a speech pathologist and I have some family members with deteriorating hearing. This is a cute book to get littles started learning basic signs. It has great memory hacks and tips for parents to help through activities. Additionally, there are some fantastic resources at the end of the book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a digital review copy. Publish date October 25, 2022.

[oohlalabooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids are interested in sign language after meeting a teacher that visited their classroom and from watching a tv show. When I saw this book available I immediately requested it. It shows how to sign and gives a description to each word presented. Simple and quick to learn for my little kids. Thank you to the author and Zeitgeist for a copy.

[Aud · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Learn to Sign with Your Baby” by Cecilia S. Grugan
Quiet Communication
I think this book would be a good place to begin “Quiet Communication” !! It is well organized and teaches a basic set of 50 signs.
NOTE: This review expresses my honest opinion.
I received an ARC of book from the publisher.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I follow the author and the illustrator on Instagram and love their content! Bought this when it was released and have found it a very easy to use resource. You can reference it as needed, or if you read it cover to cover it is equally great. Also great for hearing folks to reference if they work with young non-verbal children who are learning ASL.

[Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing about me is that if my sister tells me there is even a tiny chance her new baby is deaf, I am going to prep to support him. This book is sweet, clear, effective. I also follow the author on Insta and their family is queer goals!

[Torey Hartman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is delightful and makes learning ASL to communicate with your baby very approachable. You can tell a lot of work and care went into developing this book and the companion videos.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deaf Author- ✔️
Deaf Illustrator- ✔️
Deaf ASL Instructor- ✔️

This is the best proper book to learn ASL. Even if you're not a baby. If you want to learn the basics, buy/read this book. Best way to start out learning American Sign Language.

Friendly reminder: it's NOT baby Sign Language. 😊

Toodles! 🤟🏻

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learn to Sign with Your Baby is a wonderful introduction for anyone who is interested in learning American Sign Language to foster early communication with their child. The signs are true ASL, rather than any kind of made up baby sign. This book is well laid out, with clear descriptions and memory aids. An excellent addition to the library of any expecting parents.

Thank you to Zeitgeist and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!