Todd LaMarr, Lisalee Egbert, Kate Williamson, and Fernanda Linares

My Favorite Things: An English and ASL Picture Book for Deaf Children and their Families

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Background Story

Reading is one of the most language-rich activities for children. Reading increases the quantity and quality of language children are exposed to, often contains less frequently used and more complex vocabulary, and requires active and responsive turn-taking between caregivers and children. Additionally, there are numerous benefits to reading with young children. The literacy experiences children are provided with within the first three years is related to their language and cognitive abilities later in childhood. For example, toddlers who were read to for at least eleven minutes everyday had stronger reading, spelling, and grammatical skills in both third grade and fifth grade (Brown, Wang & McLeod, 2022).

Shared reading between hearing parents and their Deaf children presents some unique challenges as most Deaf children are born to hearing parents unfamiliar with sign language. While the benefits of shared reading are well known, there is little support for hearing parents in the beginning stages of acquiring sign language who want to read with their young Deaf child. Having English/ASL literacy resources available is important because when hearing parents do learn and use sign language early on with their Deaf child, their children can develop age-appropriate sign language abilities (Caselli, Pyers & Lieberman, 2021).

To address this need, we have created a bilingual book to support the language-rich reading experiences for young Deaf children and their hearing families. The book has English text along with ASL gloss and pictures of each ASL sign–functioning as a memory aide. Hearing parents in the beginning stages of acquiring sign language can use the ASL gloss and ASL pictures to remember how to sign the vocabulary and story. We recommend that hearing parents first visit an online ASL dictionary to see how the sign is produced; the ASL memory aide pictures are there to help remember the ASL signs during shared reading with their child.

The cover page for the children’s book includes the title, “My Favorite Things”, a subtitle, “An English and ASL Picture Book for Deaf Children and their Families”, and the authors’ names: Todd LaMarr, Lisalee Egbert, Kate Williamson and Fernanda Linares. The book’s title is translated into American Sign Language (ASL) using representative screenshots for each sign as well as ASL GLOSS, which provides the written English translation. The ASL screenshots are of a Caucasian Deaf woman. The main image on the cover is of a female toddler with brown skin and black hair peeking out of a cardboard box.
The cover page for the children’s book includes the title, “My Favorite Things”, a subtitle, “An English and ASL Picture Book for Deaf Children and their Families”, and the authors’ names: Todd LaMarr, Lisalee Egbert, Kate Williamson and Fernanda Linares. The book’s title is translated into American Sign Language (ASL) using representative screenshots for each sign as well as ASL GLOSS, which provides the written English translation. The ASL screenshots are of a Caucasian Deaf woman. The main image on the cover is of a female toddler with brown skin and black hair peeking out of a cardboard box.

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The same toddler from the cover is now shown on her hands and knees, crawling across the floor. The English text reads, “I like to crawl” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The same toddler from the cover is now shown on her hands and knees, crawling across the floor. The English text reads, “I like to crawl” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is standing up while holding on to a structure for support. The English text reads, “I like to walk” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is standing up while holding on to a structure for support. The English text reads, “I like to walk” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is seated and using a spoon to eat a green puree, although most of the puree is ending up on the table instead of her mouth. The English text reads, “I like to eat” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is seated and using a spoon to eat a green puree, although most of the puree is ending up on the table instead of her mouth. The English text reads, “I like to eat” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is laying down, drinking out of a bottle. The English text reads, “I like to drink” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is laying down, drinking out of a bottle. The English text reads, “I like to drink” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is seated, holding a maraca and laughing. The English text reads, “I like to laugh” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is seated, holding a maraca and laughing. The English text reads, “I like to laugh” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is peeking her head out of the top of an opened cardboard box. The English text reads, “I like to play” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is peeking her head out of the top of an opened cardboard box. The English text reads, “I like to play” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is using pink chalk to draw on the ground. The English text reads, “I like to draw” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is using pink chalk to draw on the ground. The English text reads, “I like to draw” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is seated in a basin filled with water, ready to bathe. The English text reads, “I like to take a bath” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is seated in a basin filled with water, ready to bathe. The English text reads, “I like to take a bath” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is seated on her mother’s lap as they read a book together. The English text reads, “I like to read” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is seated on her mother’s lap as they read a book together. The English text reads, “I like to read” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler and her mother are embracing each other with a hug. The English text reads, “I like to hug” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler and her mother are embracing each other with a hug. The English text reads, “I like to hug” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The toddler is laying down, eyes closed, cuddling a stuffed bear and sleeping. The English text reads, “I like to sleep” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.
The toddler is laying down, eyes closed, cuddling a stuffed bear and sleeping. The English text reads, “I like to sleep” and is translated into ASL by using representative screenshots, accompanied with ASL GLOSS.

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The last page is the copyright page and includes how to properly cite the book, its Creative Commons license and the citation of the sources it was adapted from.
The last page is the copyright page and includes how to properly cite the book, its Creative Commons license and the citation of the sources it was adapted from. Centered black sans serif text in four paragraphs on a turquoise background with watermarked pattern reads as follows: Para. 1: To cite this book: My Favorite Things: An English and ASL Picture Book for Deaf Children and their Families by Todd LaMarr, Lisalee Egbert, Kate Williamson and Fernanda Linares (2024). Para. 2: Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivates 4.0 International license: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 Para. 3: Adapted from I Want To! By Robert Plummer (editor), Mary-Anne Hampton (illustrator), Sam Wilson (writer) and Pippa Serritslev (designer). Book Dash, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Para. 4: ASL Image attribution: ASL-LEX.org. ASL-LEX database and visualization CC BY-NC 4.0.

 

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References

Brown, M. I., Wang, C., & McLeod, S. (2022). Reading with 1-2 year olds impacts academic achievement at 8-11 years. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 58, 198-207. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.09.008.

Caselli, N., Pyers, J., & Lieberman, A. M. (2021). Deaf children of hearing parents have age-level vocabulary growth when exposed to American Sign Language by 6 months of age. The Journal of Pediatrics, 232, 229-236. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.01.029.

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About the Artists and Authors

Todd LaMarr is a professor in the department of Early Childhood Education at American River College in Sacramento, CA. After obtaining a degree in Deaf Studies and American Sign Language (ASL), he worked at the University of California, Davis and Stanford University researching the language and brain development of children learning ASL.

Lisalee Egbert, PhD, is a professor and coordinator of Modern Languages at the University of Texas at Arlington. She researches early education and Deaf education focusing on American Sign Language/English bilingual-bicultural education as it relates to literacy. Her work explores the inter-development of language, literacy, and cognition within the framework of social justice and equality.

Kate Williamson is a librarian at American River College in Sacramento, CA. In addition to her role as a librarian she has supported development of Open Educational Resources for the college since 2016.

Fernanda Linares is a lead teacher at the Sacramento City College child center in Sacramento, CA. Born in Mexico she later migrated to California where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Merced and a master’s degree in child development from Sacramento State University.