Myron Uhlberg

a hearing boy, his deaf parents, and the language of love

Hands of my father

Myron Uhlberg was born the hearing son of deaf parents at a time when American Sign Language was not well established and deaf people were often dismissed as being unintelligent. In this young reader adaptation of his acclaimed memoir, Hands of My Father, Uhlberg recalls the daily difficulties and hidden joys of growing up as the intermediary between his parents' silent world and the world of the hearing.

Growing Up Hearing with Deaf Parents

The Sound of Silence

يدا أبي

By turns heart-tugging and hilarious, Myron Uhlberg’s memoir tells the story of growing up as the hearing son of deaf parents—and his life in a world that he found unaccountably beautiful, even as he longed to escape it. “Does sound have rhythm?” my father asked. “Does it rise and fall like the ocean? Does it come and go like the wind?” Such were the kinds of questions that Myron Uhlberg’s deaf father asked him from earliest childhood, in his eternal quest to decipher, and to understand, the elusive nature of sound. Quite a challenge for a young boy, and one of many he would face. Uhlberg’s first language was American Sign Language, the first sign he learned: “I love you.” But his second language was spoken English—and no sooner did he learn it than he was called upon to act as his father’s ears and mouth in the stores and streets of the neighborhood beyond their silent apartment in Brooklyn. Resentful as he sometimes was of the heavy burdens heaped on his small shoulders, he nonetheless adored his parents, who passed on to him their own passionate engagement with life. These two remarkable people married and had children at the absolute bottom of the Great Depression—an expression of extraordinary optimism, and typical of the joy and resilience they were able to summon at even the darkest of times. From the beaches of Coney Island to Ebbets Field, where he watches his father’s hero Jackie Robinson play ball, from the branch library above the local Chinese restaurant where the odor of chow mein rose from the pages of the books he devoured to the hospital ward where he visits his polio-afflicted friend, this is a memoir filled with stories about growing up not just as the child of two deaf people but as a book-loving, mischief-making, tree-climbing kid during the remarkably eventful period that spanned the Depression, the War, and the early fifties. From the Hardcover edition.

A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love

Hands of My Father

"It was Opening Day, 1947. And every kid in Brooklyn knew this was our year. The Dodgers were going to go all the way!" It is the summer of 1947 and a highly charged baseball season is underway in New York. Jackie Robinson is the new first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers—and the first black player in Major League Baseball. A young boy listens eagerly to the Dodgers games on the radio, each day using sign language to tell his deaf father about the games. His father begins to keep a scrapbook, clipping photos and articles about Jackie. Finally one day the father delivers some big news: they are going to Ebbets Field to watch Jackie play! Author Myron Uhlberg offers a nostalgic look back at 1947, and pays tribute to Jackie Robinson, the legendary athlete and hero. Illustrator Colin Bootman's realistic, full-color illustrations capture the details of the period and the excitement of an entire city as Robinson and the Dodgers won the long-awaited pennant and brought an entire New York community together for one magical summer.

Dad, Jackie, and Me

Mad Dog McGraw

As a baby, Helen Keller lost her hearing and sight to a rare illness. For five years, the world around her was a mystery. Then one day, her teacher taught Helen a single name, and her world started to grow. She went on to graduate from college, write books, and travel the country, speaking out for people with disabilities. Helen Keller’s world never stopped growing. And her story is a reminder that behind every name is something precious, waiting to be discovered.

My Name Is Helen Keller

In simple yet informative language, award-winning children's science writer Melissa Stewart introduces readers to some of the ways human action or inaction can affect frog populations. More than just a book about frogs, A Place for Frogs will open readers' minds to a wide range of environmental issues. Describing various examples--from the northern leopard frog in Minnesota ponds to the harlequin frog in the rainforests of Central America--the text provides an intriguing look at frogs, at the ecosystems that support their survival, and at the efforts of some people to save them.

Myron Uhlberg

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