Can Bears Ski?

Hearing difficulty is often not visible to others, let alone obvious; but the impact it can have on a person’s life can be large, especially while undiscovered.
Can Bears Ski? is of personal significance for both author and illustrator. Author, Raymond Antrobus had his deafness discovered as a child of six and he draws on his own experiences for this, his debut picture book. Illustrator Polly Dunbar is partially deaf and like the bear in the story, wears hearing aids.
At the start the little bear narrator is puzzled about why everybody keeps asking the title question: his Dad often says it, his teacher too, and his friends at school. Then one afternoon after school, Dad takes him to an ‘au-di-ol-o-gist’. Surprisingly for the little cub, she too asks that same question as she carries out a number of tests. What the audiogram shows is that the little bear has hearing loss.
A while later, after further tests, the audiologist prescribes hearing therapy and lip-reading classes. She also gives the cub ‘a pair of plastic ears called hearing aids.’ At last, he understands what the titular question really is. He also feels the huge impact of the sounds of everyday living which makes him feel tired at times, so out come his hearing aids.
This compassionate reassuring collaboration is a splendid demonstration of the frustration and sense of isolation a young child may well feel in a hearing world; and a splendid portrayal of the love, consideration and empathy of the father character.
This is a book to share widely: as well as enjoying the story, hearing children will learn how best to talk to somebody with hearing loss; those with hearing issues will appreciate seeing themselves sensitively represented.