In my mind this is one of the hardest languages. [We Can Sign! by Tara Adams]

I think you get from the title of We Can Sign! that the book's about sign language and signing. Tara Adams' We Can Sign: An Essential Illustrated Guide to American Sign Language for Kids is best considered as an introduction to American Sign Language. This is a book you'd get for a child to inspire interest in learning about ASL. No one's going to come away from this read holding solid fluency. A young learner might have a firmer grasp on the language and the letters of the language, with a few idioms here and there, but it's going to above all spur interest. And really, shouldn't that be the goal of children's fiction? With short attention spans and varying degrees of dedication, books that catch interest and inspire questioning are the best ways to cement lasting interests.

My mother has been interested in sign language for decades. As a child she tried to pass on that interest to her daughters, with varying degrees of success. We had different levels of interests that were maintained for differing periods of time. As I read We Can Sign, the emphasis on reasons to learn, connecting not only with the deaf community but also the hard-of-hearing community, my interest was rekindled. My mother's hearing acuity has become more of an issue. As I read, early on, I suggested to my sisters we consider learning ASL to better communicate.

I went through the book, signing out what I could as I understood it. As someone who has previously attempted to learn ASL this wasn't the clearest resource I've used. For me there wasn't enough emphasis on the letters. Instead of a dictionary with an expansive library of words, this was a contextually appropriate curation geared at schoolchildren. I see this book being shelved in classrooms and school libraries, borrowed by the interested, who then go and find other books to expand their learning. 4 stars from me.