Photojournalist Zoran Milich has created a delightful book based on city signs. As children become aware that words mean something, they enjoy discovering words on street signs, on all kinds of vehicles, in store windows, on businesses, in parks, and in a variety of other outdoor settings. Playing word games with your children is a great way to get them excited about words and reading. It is particularly exciting when the setting provides a cue for the nonreader that allows the child to successfully identify the word.

Zoran Milich's "City Signs" provides page after page of opportunities (30 photographs in all) for children to have fun talking about pictures and identifying the word or words in them. The photographs all feature things that appeal to children, from horses and ice cream cones to pizza and a fire station. You'll be surprised and delighted at the responses you get when you ask your child to explain what is happening in each photograph.

The quality of Milich's photography is excellent. That he has a sense of humor is evident. Among my family's favorite photographs are the "RAILROAD CROSSING" sign in front of a miniature railroad for children and the horse standing right next to the "HORSES" sign. Some of his photographs not only show the words but illustrate specific actions, such as "push," "pull," "exit," and "enter."

You will want to share "City Signs" with your children for a variety of reasons, including
> enjoyment,
> to encourage imaginative storytelling,
> to excite your children about words and reading,
> to teach them to look for context clues to help identify words, and
> to discuss everyday life in the city, among others.

"City Signs" will be in bookstores in September, 2002. Kids Can Press is the publisher. (ISBN: 1553370031)