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Let Me Speak to You

by Nena Hernandez; Illustrated by Joanna Hernandez and John Hernandez

18 pages; Saddle stitched; catalogue #07-0347; ISBN 1-4251-1940-9; US$10.00, C$11.50, EUR8.21, £5.75

Enjoy the challenges of having deaf and hearing children learn basic Auslan in colourful pages, prepared in splashing designs for children with twenty real photos for the Auslan glossary and learn the A-B-C's of Auslan fingerspelling.

About the Book

The silent world of Joani, four-year old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sevilla, is disturbed by the arrival of a brother, Jon. She displays her feelings by dropping the baby into a shallow bin, taking care that his cushiony blanket is wrapped around him. Her mother is horrified and brings her to the thinking room, a corner of which has a picture of a smiling girl. Her name, Mai, flashes and a hand waves when buttons under the picture are pressed. Balloons and bright tinsel wrappers fill a container tied to an upper ledge, so that when a red bucket is hit, the contents slowly drop. This was designed by Mr. Sevilla, who is also deaf, so Mrs. Sevilla can rest from Joani's loud tantrums and for Joani to have a time-out. In her active thoughts, Joani communicates with Mai her feelings and frustrations. This calming effect allows her to reach out to the love and embrace of her mother.

About the Author

Nena and her family migrated to Australia in 1991. She had completed a Masters Degree in Education at the University of the Philippines. However, upon settling in Mount Druitt, New South Wales, she and her husband, Leandro, had a mutual agreement that one of them carry on the responsibilities of bringing up their children and strengthen family values by being a fulltime houseparent. This lot fell on Nena. At a later time, she was able to continue postgraduate studies in TESOL and Special Education. Her interest in writing short stories for children reflects her keen interest in learning the Australian sign language (Auslan) and a warm bond with her mentors for this language. Major work of the text lay-out and graphic illustrations were carried out by Nena's younger children, Joanna and John, during their 2006 vacation break from school. Nena created the cartoon illustrations. At the final draft of this book, Joanna is in the final year of senior high and John is in the final year of junior high.

Excerpts