This book goes through some of the basic signs you’ll want to start with in the form of a little rhyme paired with an illustrated example of the sign. Overall, it worked really well as an introduction to ASL for young kids.

Teaching signs is such a great idea for all children. It helps them be more inclusive when they grow up but also can help them when they're learning to speak because signs can often be easier than spoken word. I've been teaching my son to sign since he was born and it has been essential as he's slightly behind on speech milestones, but can do quite a few signs.

Signs are hard to do in illustration since they require motion, but I thought this book did a great job of capturing them. Some signs may be a bit challenging for a younger kid to understand on their own, but easy enough for an adult to figure out and then demonstrate. I also very much appreciated the diversity throughout the book’s illustrations because it’s so important for kids to be able to see themselves and others in books (though, a queer parent couple would have been nice to see).

My only complaint is with some of the typography choices. The example word could be more prominent visually, the line-height needs to be increased, and the font felt a little harder to read than necessary.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC digital copy. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.

Extremely adorable and informative book! Creatively introduces ASL in a memorable rhyming pattern. The descriptions and pictures work together to help instruct correct movement for each sign.

5 out of 5 stars and my respect to the author and illustrator.

Little Hands, Big Smiles is a wonderful, smart, and elegant book showcasing basic ASL skills, words, and more for kids.

I LOVED Little Hands, Big Smiles. The wording is simplistic enough for kids to learn quickly, whilst being colourful and interactive enough to also create a beautiful book that families can return to over and over again. The book is for every kid and parent as it is diverse, showing kids that families and other children can look different/have different families, etc, whilst sharing the commonality of language, love, and respect.

The illustrations were really lovely, as mentioned super colourful, bright, and vibrant.

The book also contains a section at the end for basic words and a game to help kids memorise the things they have learnt.

I can’t wait for more families to read and enjoy this fantastic book!

Such a helpful book for teaching toddlers & preschoolers American Sign Language. The pictures and signs were easy to follow. I found myself doing all the signs the first time I read through the book. A fun tool for early communication!

Little signs, big smiles is a short children's book that aims introduce kids to a over a dozen fundamental ASL sign language words. It does so with one to two illustrations per page, with children and their families or caregivers in our variety of everyday situations, from home to the park to school.
The book does everything that it sets out to accomplish, but I felt that it was somewhat lacking. While the illustrations are colorful and I appreciated that every child will see someone who looks like them, I was not an enormous fan of the art style. That is obviously very subjective, but it felt a little lacking in uniqueness and specificity. Similarly, while it makes sense that a short children's book endeavoring to introduce so many signs will not have an opportunity for much or any story, there didn't seem to be any uniting character or theme. To compare, a Dr Seuss book introducing every letter of the alphabet will also lack story, but it does feel like it has a uniting vibe or tone, that being play and whimsy.
Would I recommend this book to someone, with all of those caveats? Yes. This children's book is perfectly adequate to help a child learn all many useful sign language words, something which we did with our own kids. It will probably not become the sort of story that you keep and cherish and hope to hand down when your children have their own children, but it certainly does a competent job of introducing a number of very useful ASL words to kids.

What a wonderfully inclusive, beautifully illustrated introduction to ASL for kiddos! I really appreciate how the signs are shown in context *and* they're explained with pictures and written instructions in the back. Super helpful! This will make an awesome addition to any child's library.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this. What a great way to teach kids ASL. It was simple but had quite a few words exampled in it.

What an absolutely delightful children’s book highlighting ASL words! I love that each page features a different word and that such a diversity of children illustrate the signs. The illustrations are clear and bright, and I know my young children would adore them. I appreciated that the ASL words used were simple and things children would use in everyday life. This is definitely a book I would consider adding to my personal library, and it is perfect for helping children expand their ASL vocabulary.

This cutely illustrated book with rhyming text introduces young children to sign language. Each picture and the story show some aspect of a toddler-young school age child's day with an accompanying sign in a circle.

At the end of the book there is much additional, helpful information.

I very much like the idea of introducing signs to young children. Not only will they have another tool for communicating but it their awareness of those who may have hearing loss will help to make them more understanding, hopefully.

Many thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this title. All opinions are my own.

Little Signs, Big Smiles: ASL for Tiny Hands is a heartwarming and practical introduction to American Sign Language (ASL) for the youngest learners and their caregivers. Vielka L. Montout has created a beautifully accessible guide that turns early communication into a joyful and bonding experience.

The book shines with its charming illustrations of babies and toddlers using everyday signs, making it visually engaging for little ones and easy for adults to follow along. Each sign is paired with a simple written description, helping caregivers feel confident as they teach and reinforce ASL during daily routines.

What truly sets this book apart is its emphasis on bridging the gap between pre-verbal children and their families. Readers have praised it for its clarity, warmth, and ability to reduce frustration by empowering children to express their needs before they can speak. While some may desire a bit more detail on certain signs, the book’s overall structure makes it a strong and accessible resource.

In all, Little Signs, Big Smiles is a thoughtful and encouraging addition to any family's bookshelf. It’s especially valuable for parents, educators, and caregivers looking to support early language development in a fun, inclusive, and meaningful way.

As someone who has been conversationally fluent in ASL since high school, I was really excited to see how a book about ASL signs geared towards children would be. I LOVED this book! I really enjoyed the vocabulary, the steps included for creating the signs, and the diversity and inclusivity of the characters and artwork. While this is an ASL book with a more child-like style and very basic beginning signs, it would be an incredible tool for those who have no prior knowledge of ASL! Some of the included signs were mom, dad, dog, cat, eat, more, please, hello, goodbye, friend, and many more!

I received a copy of this eBook from netGalley for a honest review.

This is one of the best ASL books for kids I've read. It's a story book too with multiple words in ASL to learn that will help in the daily life of kids.

This book is everything I thought it would be. The bright inclusive pictures showing all types of families and the demonstrations to help sign the words as you read along. I would love if there were some Australian Sign Books like this as well.
Perfect for reading to younger children and older children who can follow along with the simple sentence structures.

Netgalley ARC - 3.5 stars rounded up. This is a good introduction to some basic ASL signs that are useful and intuitive for kids. I wish the word being defined in each rhyme was more distinctly bolded and that the hands were larger in general, rather than the magnified heads, so we could see the signs more clearly.

As someone involved with disability activism, anything that promotes learning ASL for the abled public is on my nice list, so I was super excited to see an ASL book for kids. Most ASL books (even the kids ones) have a hard time indicating motion and end up doing side by side grids that confused me as a kid, this one does not. The art is not too overwhelming, it’s very smooth across the page and the little rhymes make the hand motions memorable. This is perfect for little kids to learn a little bit of sign language.

This is such a great book for learning the basics of ASL. It’s super informative and inclusive and such a great way to learn some basics of sign language. While this book is definitely aimed for younger children, I’d still recommend it to all ages because, as I stated previously it’s super informative and who doesn’t love a picture book!

5 stars ⭐️

This was such a cute, informative and inclusive book for young children learning ASL.

While scrolling for books on NetGalley, my toddler daughter saw this cover and immediately started tapping on my tablet to look at it closer. We opened it and went through the entire book (twice). Good thing she knows the sign for “again”! She loved the clear pictures and the rhyming captions.

I’m almost ashamed to admit that I didn’t understand the importance of learning (at the very least basic) ASL until my middle child was speech delayed. While going to speech therapy with my him a few years ago, my husband and I started to learn and teach some basic ASL signs so that our (then) 3 year old could communicate with us better.

I wish I had come across a book like this then, but luckily I’ve come across it now and have a great reference book for my almost 2 year old daughter. We immediately started using basic ASL with her from the start so this book was very fun for her to flip through and do her signs along with the pages, we even learned a few new ones like “cat” and “dog”

I thought the summary and questions/game portion in the back was brilliant and this is definitely something I would want to go over with my oldest son (7) as well.

This was brilliantly done! I’ll be getting a physical copy for the house.

Thank you NetGalley for early access to this one!

This is a fantastic resource for parents and caregivers!! I read this with my 4 year old daughter who knows some ASL because we have been teaching her since before she could speak. It’s so helpful and beneficial to know when they are younger and they can’t speak yet. But not only that, it’s great to know another language and this book illustrates and teaches it in an effective and beautiful way, not just for younger kids like my daughter but for the older kids like myself!

Very well done!

What a truely amazing and beautiful book. I read this to my 4 year old niece and we did all the hand signs together. The art is beyond stunning and it was so easy to follow and learn.
I’ll definitely be buying her a physical copy when it comes out. We now have our own secret way of talking that we’ve been using all day.. Since finishing she’s has asked to learn more. I have to say, I’m excited as well. I really appreciated the diversity represented.

This was such a cute read! I read this one with my two toddlers who know a little bit of sign language from having speech delays (1 had one in the past and 1 has a current slight speech delay) and it was so fun to learn some new signs. The illustrations were adorable and my children truly enjoyed this storytime experience.