Play By Eye

Find out what eBooks are available in both English and Sign Language.

There are more than 200 different Sign Languages around the world, but I could count the number of bilingual text and Sign Language books on one hand.

Most bilingual English and Sign Language books are coming out of the USA and the UK.

In his blog, Adam Stone has a good list of the ASL and English books available, check them out here!

I’ve picked out some of the goodies that deaf children from English speaking countries could enjoy.

The Baobab is a beautifully illustrated storybook app about a curious little girl who goes on an adventure.
Even if you do not fully understand American Sign Language it is worth checking out this app just for how the text and Sign Language interacts with each other.

Available on the iPad or iPad mini.

ITV Signed Stories has a great range of children books in English and British or American Sign Languages.
Download the Three Billy Goats Gruff for free to get a taste of what they offer.

Available online or on the iPad, iPad mini, iPhone, and iPod Touch. 

Deaf Educate has done something slightly different.
Every sentence in their book is broken up and translated into British Sign Language so children can see the link between the English sentence and the signed version straight away which is great for written language learning.

There’s about 20 stories about School, Islam and Romeo and Juliet’s unrequited love.

Available online.

myBSLbooks also has a small number of BSL books available online but the presenters are different to the ones on ITV which could offer interesting variety in signing styles.

Reading and Deaf Children

• Enjoyment first! Deaf children should learn how to love reading first and foremost.
• How? Just let them enjoy the story in sign language!
• Meaning is important: There is no point in worrying about the words and grammar that they should be learning.
• Link grammar later: Once the deaf child has a solid understanding of what things mean, then effort can be focused on linking the signs they know with words and grammar.

Let’s hope this ebook list grows in the near future!