Linguistics books for kids: What Makes Us Human, Victor D. O. Santos and Anna Forlati (opens in new tab)

“When you were a baby you hardly knew me.” “I’m sure you saw me today. Or Heard me. Or felt me.” Victor D. O. Santos has written an utterly charming first person riddle of a picture book. The text balances the rich, multimodal, diverse reality of what language is with accessible vocabulary that is approachable with younger readers. Re-reading is rewarded by Anna Forlati’s expressive illustrations, which provide some visual red herrings alongside clues to pick over when you come back around. A...