Family Play Festival Five Practices: TALK

Young children will learn what life can look like for an autistic child who uses nonverbal communication by following a mother and child on a day where they use a tablet to communicate with others.

"Mama Shamsi is off to the market, and today, Samira gets to go with her! Samira loves spending time with her grandmother, and she especially loves her chador, which Mama Shamsi wraps around herself every time they leave the house. As the pair get closer and closer to the market, Samira is worried about getting lost in the crowded streets of Tehran, until she has an idea: She can hide under her grandmother's chador. But when Mama Shamsi says no--if...

"Help little ones learn to talk with fun-to-read rhymes, written by an early speech expert! Created by a speech-language pathologist, My First Learn-to-Talk: Things that Go uses a proven approach designed to help little ones master the skills they need as they learn to talk and communicate. Each page features: A simple, exclamatory sound that is easy for little ones to replicate and can be used to build bigger words; Rhythm and rhyme to encourage...

"The beautiful simplicity of a garden is depicted through digital woodcut illustrations and engaging nonfiction text presented as a series of sweet questions and gentle replies. Less of a traditional how-to and more of a how-to-appreciate, this soothingly sparse text paints an inviting and accessible picture of what a garden offers. And with an all-child cast, the absence of an adult presence empowers readers to view the garden and its creatures through...

"Tell me a story-a new one-and make it about a ______! In this picture book, a child asks their father to tell them a story. But not just any old story, a new story. "And make it about a lion!" The dad begins, but the child interrupts again and again: "The lion doesn't have to be SOOO BIG." "Why is the lion so small? Doesn't he eat dinner?" "Fred? I can think of a hundred zillion better names to give a lion!" Finally, Dad suggests telling the lion...

"A cast of animal characters are formed one by one, piece by piece in this visual play on the interaction between shapes. If just three simple shapes can combine to create a fish, then four shapes make a...? Young readers are invited to guess before turning the page to reveal the latest animal added to the pack. Part guessing game, part visual narrative, young readers will follow along as shapes are added to build new characters, and laugh along as...

"Two curious children go for a walk, asking imaginative questions about the natural beauty that surrounds them." --

A gorgeous rumination on belief and imagination featuring Henrietta (Etty) Darwin and her famous father, Charles. Etty loves make-believe. Her dad loves science. Etty believes in fairies. Her dad would need to see some proof that they exist. But they both love nature, conversation and each other. Etty went on to become a valued and keen editor of Charles's work and a thoughtful and intellectual being in her own right. This imagined conversation between...

"When the babysitter is unable to come, Daniel is woken out of bed and joins his parents as they head downtown for their jobs as nighttime office cleaners. But the story is about more than brooms, mops, and vacuums. Mama and Papa turn the deserted office building into a magnificent kingdom filled with paper. Then they weave a fantasy of dragons and kings to further engage their reluctant companion - and even encourage him to one day be the king of...

"A young boy building a train track with his friend is headed for trouble until a teacher steps in and helps him learn social cues of anger and happiness" --