The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. Art of a little brown bear in an orange shirt stretches from the bottom to the centre of the cover. The bear is smiling and has a blue hearing aid in each ear. Text at the top of the bear reads:
The title “Can Bears Ski?” in large red writing,
The author’s name “Ray Antrobus”, in smaller, blue writing, immediately lower left of the title,
The illustrator’s name “Polly Dunbar”, in smaller, blue writing immediately lower right of the title.
The background is made up of light and dark yellow stripes. /end]

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Content Warning:

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Summary:

Is Little Bear ignoring his friends when they say hi, or is something else going on? A discovery opens new doors in a tale for kids with deafness and all children learning to navigate their world.

Little Bear feels the world around him. He feels his bed rumble when Dad Bear wakes him up in the morning. He feels the floor shake when his teacher stomps to get his attention. But something else is missing, like when his friends tell jokes that he isn’t sure he understands, or when all around him Little Bear hears the question, “Can bears ski?” Then, one day, Dad Bear takes him to see an “aud-i-olo-gist,” and Little Bear learns that he has been experiencing deafness and will start wearing hearing aids. Soon he figures out what that puzzling refrain is: “Can you hear me?” Little Bear’s new world is LOUD and will take some getting used to, but with the love and support of Dad Bear, he will find his way.

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Notes:

This book was nominated for the 2021 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award.

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Archivist Comments:

Look at the little smile on that bear! Adorable.

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