The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
– Dr. Seuss
Please Support My Campaign
to Create a Free Auslan Story-time Library
Being read to is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways parents and teachers can support children to acquire language skills. Stories and picture books help young children explore and understand the world around them.
By sharing picture books with a child, the adults around them also show children that reading matters. For deaf children, it is critical to ensure there are opportunities to experience stories read to them with Auslan.
Library story times are a cherished childhood experience. There is a need to create an Auslan Story Time Library so that deaf children and others can enjoy great Australian picture books read in Auslan. This is also particularly important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who experience hearing loss at much greater rates than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
I am gifting permission to produce free Auslan versions of my two picture books – Ten Little Figs, illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom and published by Walker Books. It was a 2021 Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book and was shortlisted as a Book of the Year by Speech Pathology Australia and my newest book Emergency Emergency – Vehicles to the Rescue, illustrated by Tom Jellett and published by Wild Dog Books.
All money raised will go to the professional video production of Auslan story times signed by qualified Auslan signers, including First Nations Auslan signers. The videos produced will be available free to everyone.
The Auslan Storytime Library will enable deaf children and parents to participate in story-time sessions in their local libraries, preschools, kindergartens, childcare centres and schools.
Stories and storytellers help us see who we are and who we can be – deaf children need to see themselves in those pictures too!
Your donation can help make bring this project into being!
https://www.gofundme.com/creating-a-free-auslan-video-storytime-library
Thank you!
Rhiân
