The "World of Signs" is a DVD for infants and toddlers that interweaves American Sign Language and culture with music and art from China, Russia, Mexico, Israel, Egypt and the United States.

Its creator, Shirli Nikolsburg, a Squirrel Hill mother and developmental psychologist who specializes in early music education and the performing arts, will present two free workshops on the concept for babies and their caregivers. These will be held:

• Aug. 9, 11 to 11:30 a.m. at Barnes & Noble Bookseller at the Waterfront, Homestead.

• Aug. 16, 3:30 to 4 p.m. at Borders, 5986 Penn Circle South, Eastside.

Ms. Nikolsburg, who was born and reared in Israel, said she created the interactive educational DVD after she found that using sign language helped her communicate with her infant daughter, Talia, who's now 4.

Sign language empowers babies to communicate their wants and needs, she said, and she saw the benefits of this when her daughter had a severe ear infection when she was 15 months old.

At the time, the doctor said the little girl had recovered, but her daughter was communicating the word "pain" and showing her mother her ear. As a result, the doctor put the girl on a stronger antibiotic to get rid of the infection.

"I didn't teach her more than 15 or so words," Ms. Nikolsburg said. "I didn't want to overuse the vocabulary but to keep it simple and very precise. She really had a very clear understanding of what the words meant."

Once Talia started talking, she stopped using sign language, but in her first months, the sign language was helpful.

Using simple sign language in the DVD, which introduces six words, Ms. Nikolsburg incorporates music and dolls from other countries, including the United States. An accomplished pianist, her home is filled with music, as she's married to Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra cellist Michael Lipman.

The first 20 minutes of the DVD is in English and the remaining 18 minutes is in Spanish; both languages use the same sign language gestures.

Not only does she hope the DVD will expose young children to languages and music from different places, but also she hopes her workshops will draw mothers and caregivers from a wide array of cultures.

"I have this hope that if we can have this workshop with babies from different countries we can start to learn to know each other better," she said. "I believe education is really the key to knowledge to know one another."

The DVD is for babies 6 months to toddlers. It sells at the Waterfront Barnes & Noble and Eastside Borders at $16.99. You can learn more about the DVD at www.bravobabies.org.