A River of Hands: Deaf Heritage Stories

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at Queen’s University. She is the co-author of
Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom.

The stories in A River of Hands are written and illustrated by people
who are deaf. The characters in the stories are also deaf and
communicate by using American Sign Language. The first tale, “A Fishy
Story,” is about two boys who decide to go fishing in a toilet bowl.
They take an instant photograph of the monster-size fish they catch
before putting it back in the toilet bowl. “ZZZZZZZ” is about a deaf
couple who go on their first vacation in 25 years. Others at the hotel
become worried when they are unable to awaken the sleeping couple.
“But” is a story about being late. Bobby is late for work for the
first time in 25 years because his signs are misunderstood by a railway
employee. “Unlucky Charm” is about a girl who has a dream about the
consequences of making friendship bracelets from cursed beads.

The authors of the four stories range in age from 12 to 17, and the
illustrators of the stories range in age from 18 to 71. Biographical
information about each contributor is included at the back of the book.
Following each narrative is additional information about some aspect of
the story (e.g., signing, teletypewriters). The book also includes an
afterword by the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf.

Although the book is a unique publication (no “Canadian-produced
children’s literature by a deaf Canadian” exists), the writing is
pedestrian, and two of the stories would have benefited from further
revisions with respect to plot development. Not a first-choice purchase.