Bruce Simpson never thought he’d become a published author one day, but when creativity strikes, there’s no way to stop it.
Now the local kindergarten teacher and songwriter has tapped into that creativity — plus his neighbour’s love of trees — with his self-published children’s book Paislee and the Talking Tree. And he’s had it translated into American Sign Language (ASL) and made that version available for free.
It all started, he said, when he heard that his neighbour waters the trees on his property.
“He takes a wagon and he waters the baby trees on their block,” Simpson said.
“I had this idea that if a child knew that they could water a tree, they would want to, they would get their hose, and they would probably have fun.”
So he grabbed a notebook that was gifted to him by one of his students, Paislee, and wrote the whole book.
Simpson also said he knew “as soon as I wrote it” that it would be a picture book, and he enlisted the help of illustrator and fellow Hamiltonian Rae Bates.
“It’s important for children to have access to these ASL translations, so they can participate in story time,” says Jennifer Reda-Lagrandeur, with her daughter Hazel. (Jennifer Reda-Lagrandeur)
Simpson says the ASL translation happened when he was looking for ways to make the book more accessible.
First, he had two braille copies made of Paislee and the Talking Tree, which he said he plans to donate to Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA). Then he got an ASL translation, which he made available for free on YouTube.
Simpson worked with the Canadian Hearing Services (CHS) to translate the book, as well as the book’s companion song, “The Tree Said Hello.” Both translations were performed by Canadian deaf actress Dawn Jani Birley.
“I didn’t really know how they were going to do it. I just gave them all the material, and waited for months,” he said.
“They said they had this person in mind to do it, that they had to wait a little bit, and it all worked out. But last week, when they showed it to me, I was like, ‘wow, this is fantastic.'”
A vital tool for deaf children
Brian McKenzie, director of interpreting and translation services at CHS, told CBC Hamilton that working with Simpson was “an absolute pleasure” and highlighted the importance of ASL translations for children’s books.
“We applaud his willingness to share his talent widely by making the materials accessible in ASL,” said McKenzie. “The addition of an ASL translation allows the creativity and artistic nuances to be enjoyed and experienced visually in ASL.”
According to Mohawk College professor Evan-Wyatt Stanley …….
Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/asl-1.6366924