The Handmade Alphabet: 7

From a hand grasping two asparagus stalks to a zippered sleeve tracing the letter Z, Rankin's alphabet book is a glorious success as it displays the American Sign Language alphabet. The colored pencil illustrations on charcoal paper of varied hues depict one letter on each page--a pencil's eraser rubs away at a hand that signs the letter E , an icicle is balanced on a pinky, a muscular hand makes a V while holding a valentine. The hands here are as diverse and individual as the objects surrounding them--a baby's chubby fingers grip plastic keys, matronly hands with magenta-polished nails form the letter N , vivid bones of a hand, seen in an X-ray, show off X . Rankin's prefatory note describes how her deaf stepson ``gained more thorough undertanding and total communication'' when he learned sign language at Gallaudet University. In her third book, the artist proceeds to expand the awareness of those in the hearing world in an exceptionally striking ABC that speaks in an eloquent language all its own. All ages. (Oct.)