You Don't Need Words

Describes sign language and other ways that people communicate without words

Grade 2-4-- A lively, informative presentation on nonverbal communication. The lighthearted cartoons deftly convey the text's clearly written narrative, but a page of black-and-white photographs is grainy and poorly reproduced. The book covers a broad spectrum, from Indian sign language to marine flag messages. Children will close it determined to find as many examples as they can of just how we can communicate without the spoken word. Tidy, cheerful, informative, and certain to intrigue readers. (Librarians can have some fun booktalking this one!). --Mary Lou Budd, Milford South Elementary School, OH
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This 48-page picture book attempts to present a simple social history of nonverbal communication; unfortunately it suffers from faulty organization and design. Considerable material is covered here, to be sure: sign language (as used by both Native Americans and the deaf), body language, pictograms, flags, street and directional signs, and more. The information is in fact so wide-ranging as to require greater amplification and better means of accessing it--there is neither index nor table of contents. And the final eight pages, "some extra information," seem an afterthought. Additionally, while Ryan's ink-and-wash paintings have spirit, the information they are meant to convey is often indistinct. The inclusion of three pages of photographs, together with numerous black-and-white pictograms, is out of sync with the rest of the book. Ages 7-10.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An easily read survey of nonverbal communication: facial expressions (but not unconscious body language); familiar gestures like beckoning and more formal hand and arm signals; gestures common to Native Americans and people using American Sign; others that mean quite different things in different cultures (in Swaziland, a throat-cutting motion means ``I love you''); pictures, picture-writing, and nonverbal signage; signal flags, etc. The book is not carefully organized--Gross skips from one subject to another, then reverts to an earlier one--but it includes a fair amount of useful information. Ryan's illustrations are undistinguished but clear and serviceable- -except for one inexcusable nonverbal message: a particularly obnoxious caricature of a stereotypical librarian. An adequate concept book on a subject of interest. Nonfiction/Picture book. 6-10) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.