"Dancing Hands: A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language" show us that language is music: (Week 2: Diversity Children's Literature Selection)

“Our new neighbors’ hands are dancing”-- Joanna Que & Charina Marquez

        I am so excited to share this wholesome tale of friendship, as my pick for diversity in children’s literature. After I read The Silence Between Us, I wanted to find a children’s picture book that focused of a member of the Deaf community. However, there were not many books to choose from. When I found Dancing Hands: a story of friendship in Filipino sign language, I was elated. Joanna Que & Charina Marquez create a story of not only acceptance for diversity, but a celebration of it. Fran Alvarez’s joyful illustrations provide a whimsical quality to the tale.

         When a new family moves into Sam’s neighborhood, she notices that the family uses facial expressions and their hands to communicate with each other. Sam peaks through their window and wonders what the movements mean. Soon after, Sam meets Mai, but the two do not communicate. The girls meet again and become friends. Sometimes when they play together, they do not understand each other, but this does not discourage them. Instead, it provides a learning opportunity for Sam; Mai teachers her Filipino sign language.

        The book is full of illustrations that show how the girls discuss their interests, dreams, and the world around them. though FSL which are like ASL, but uniquely beautiful. The book features a FSL picture dictionary and an explanation of FSL. It also includes an explanation of the decline of sign languages. I use some ASL in my classroom, so I think my students would be very excited to see the sign for water in this book.

        From this book, I actually learned the Filipino sign language exists: something that I was ignorant of before. The additional information in this book make me curious to explore sign language and other ways people communicate. If you are interested in the topic of sign language and Deaf Culture, I highly recommend reading True Biz by Sara Novic (2022); it covers the history, culture, and dialects of the Deaf Community in a narrative form with tidbits of information about the context of the novel. If you are interested in learning ASL the Oklahoma School for the Deaf offers online courses in the Spring and Fall.

In the Classroom

        This is a book that could be used in a primary classroom anytime of the year. It can be used as a jumpstart conversation about the ways people communicate. A teacher could pair students and give one partner a word to convey to his or her partner without words. I could use this book in a SEL lesson to discuss ways we express our feelings through facial expressions. On the first read aloud of this story, I would read the text and have students guess what the sign means using the pictures as clues. They could check their guesses using the dictionary in the book. If your students are completely unfamiliar with ASL, Kindergarten and First Grade students would benefit from and enjoy See it, Say it, Sign it by Jack Hartman on YouTube. The text in this story is short and the language is not intimidating, so this could be a book that students can read on their own in a First Grade classroom.