LOOK WHO'S TALKING

A lift-the-flap and press-the-button board book that includes photographs alongside illustrations of 25 words with baby signs.

Each page in this large-format board book features a different typical baby first word. Beneath the picture of the named object on the flap is the illustration of how to sign it and an additional photograph that depicts a baby with that object. While the photographs of the babies are fairly diverse, the children signing in the illustrations are mostly white. As companion to each page and featured word, the sound buttons accessible at all times to the right of the recto have matching, corresponding pictures and text. Thankfully, these sounds also have an off switch; while they may be of some use in families with very limited English, they also discourage a caregiver’s reading aloud or a child practicing the words. The final two pages cram together 15 small flaps and signs. The larger illustrations and descriptions are much clearer and easier to understand than the tiny versions at the end. It’s not clear how these “baby signs,” as they’re described on the back of the book, relate to the American Sign Language standard.

This book struggles to do too much at once, and as a result, it buries the illustrations of the signs, arguably the most valuable part.