Summer Signs for Storytime

American Sign Language, eCourses and Webinars, Professional Development, Resources for Teachers and Librarians, webinars
Illustrations of a sun, watermelon, beach ball, sunglasses, beach umbrella, and flip-flops appear against a green background. Text reads: Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 12-1 PM Eastern/11 AM-12 PM Central/10-11 AM Mountain/9-10 AM Pacific. Includes recording access. Presented by Kathy MacMillan, NIC, M.L.S. Register at StoriesByHand.com/webinars
Little Hands Signing in Storytime: Summer Signs

Wednesday, June 3, 2026 from 12-1 PM Eastern/11 AM-12 PM Central/10-11 AM Mountain/9-10 AM Pacific

Online session via Zoom (1 hour webinar). Includes recording access for 30 days.

Learn basic American Sign Language and extension activities to use in summer storytimes! Learn how to incorporate ASL into storytime songs, rhymes, and stories in a respectful and effective way. Certificate of completion available with successful completion of post-test.

Pricing:

  • Individual: 45.00 (includes live webinar and recording access for 30 days after the live event)
  • Group rates available for groups of 10 or more. Contact info@storiesbyhand.com for more information.
  • Optional Add-on: Individualized video feedback: 25.00. Submit a video (up to 10 min) demonstrating your planned signing activities for storytime and receive individualized feedback on sign choices, production, and more from Kathy MacMillan via return video within 14 days. Must be used within 6 months of purchase.

Register now

……………………………

All upcoming webinars and series

Feedback from workshop and webinar participants

Find out more about booking a private webinar for your group

FAQ: eCourses and Webinars

Purchase recording access to past webinars

FREE Webinar: Pathways to Publishing

Authors You Should Know, On Publishing, Upcoming events, webinars

Join MD/DE/WV SCBWI on Thursday May 21st, at 7pm Eastern time for a lively discussion with published authors Kathy MacMillan, Daniel Swanson & Tracy Gold as they discuss their pathways to publication and share their tips from along the years.

Pathways to Publishing Panel

Thursday, May 21, 2026, 7:00-8:30 PM Eastern

Presented by SCBWI MD/DE/WV

Featuring Kathy MacMillan, Daniel Swanson, and Tracy C. Gold.

Cost: FREE!

Join us for a lively discussion with three published authors as they discuss their pathways to publication and share their tips from along the years. We’ll have a full 30 minutes for Q&A after their talks, so this is a great time to bring your publishing-related questions to the table. The panel will be moderated by our chapter regional advisor Mirka Hokkanen. This event will be recorded and a replay will be sent the following day. You’ll have 30 days to watch the replay.

Read This!: SPACE FOR SAFFRON by Rie Neal

ASL/Deaf Culture Book Reviews, Authors You Should Know, Read This, Reviews

Space for SaffronSpace for Saffron by Rie Neal
Summary: Ten-year-old Saffron Sawyer loves science, experimenting, and learning new things. From making homemade slime in the back of her moms’ (Mama and Mimi) coffee shop to adopting tadpoles out of the river to learning how to fix bikes from watching YouTube videos, Saffron is confident she’s prepared for any challenge. But when Mama announces they are moving to Silicon Valley to take over Gran’s café, it’s Saffron’s biggest undertaking yet. Silicon Valley is very different from what Saffron’s used to. The streets are filled with electric cars instead of pick-up trucks, and instead of fixing their bikes, people buy new ones. Even worse, the coffee shop is struggling, and if it closes, Saffron and her moms will move again—leaving Gran behind. The one bright spot is Saffron has started at school just in time for the STEM Expo. Science has always been her favorite subject and she’s excited to present her project…until she sees the elaborate presentations her classmates have planned. Convinced she can never measure up, Saffron decides not to join the expo after all. But when Gran takes Saffron to a space-themed art installation in San Francisco, Saffron has an idea for a STEM Expo project that could help her win over her classmates—and maybe even save Gran’s café for good.

Saffron is a lovable space nerd who sometimes gets so excited to DO SCIENCE that she just can’t get out of her own way. After a particularly embarrassing disaster costs her mom her job, Saffron and her moms relocate to Silicon Valley to take over the ailing family cafe. It’s a whole new world for Saffron as she makes friends with the STEM-forward kids in Silicon Valley. When she figures out how to combine her STEM Expo project with an imaginative plan to save the cafe, she’ll need all hands on deck. Saffron’s deafness and her use of a BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid) are woven naturally into the story, which is filled with humor, heart, and endearing characters.

SPACE FOR SAFFRON is out now.

View all my reviews

Read This!: CALL YOUR FATHER by Tracy C. Gold and Vivian Mineker

Authors You Should Know, picture books, Read This, Reviews

Call Your Father: A Tender Picture Book for DadsCall Your Father: A Tender Picture Book for Dads by Tracy C. Gold
Summary: From life’s highs to life’s lows, there’s one person who is always the first one we call: our father. He’s the one we want to comfort us, to wipe our tears, and to share our triumphs. Whether it’s falling off your bike or building your first crib, you can never have too many reasons to call your father. In this beautiful and relatable picture book, follow a father and son through the years as they face each new stage of life together. Accompanied by gentle rhymes from Tracy C. Gold and tender illustrations from Vivian Mineker, this book delivers the powerful and touching message that you are never too old to need your father. The perfect gift for the fathers or grandfathers in your life who always answer the call, this picture book just might make dad cry.

A poignant companion to Gold and Mineker’s previous collaboration, Call Your Mother, this book is a perfect gift for father figures of all kinds. We follow the protagonist from the time he is a little baby rolling on the rug, babbling “Ba ba ba! Da da da!” through the challenges of growing up, from skinned knees to speaking up for classmates, and on into the college years and ultimately becoming a father himself. At every stage, the refrain is the same: “Call your father”…and he always shows up. Gold’s moving text, accompanied by Mineker’s colorful illustrations, shows how the details of Dad’s support might change over the years, but his caring presence remains constant.

CALL YOUR FATHER is out now.

View all my reviews