Can Bears Ski?
The debut children's book from award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus, author of The Quiet Ear, that tracks a father-and-son journey into the discovery and management of deafness.
"This is a powerful and beautifully created book." - Able
“This multi-layered, skillfully woven story provides a brilliant insight into how children make sense of their experience when they don’t have the words to describe it.” - The Scotsman
“This is a book which should certainly have a place in every primary school for children, teachers, parents and staff.” - The School Librarian
Featured on the BBC news, the ITV news and in a deaf storyline on Coronation Street as well being the first book to have ever been read entirely in BSL on CBeebies Storytime by Deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Boy Bear cannot hear Dad Bear coming to wake him up in the morning. He only grasps little bits of what his teacher and friends say to him. And, all the time, Boy Bear keeps hearing the question, “Can bears ski?” What does it mean? With the support of Dad Bear, Boy Bear visits an audiologist and gets hearing aids. And suddenly, he understands... "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
Now with an illustrated BSL alphabet included, Raymond and Polly draw from their personal experiences of deafness to show how isolating it can be for a deaf child in a hearing world and all the many different ways to communicate love. A great book for creating Deaf Awareness, as well as helping build empathy and making welcoming, inclusive spaces for Deaf children.
“The detail of how Little Bear can feel the vibration of Dad’s feet on the floor rather than hear his voice in the morning, and how he can feel the crunch of the snow under his feet when he walks to school, as well as the experience of visiting an audiologist, bring an authenticity to the depiction of being deaf or hard of hearing in childhood alongside a lovely story told in a relatable child voice.” - Booktrust
Raymond Antrobus became the first poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize, and in 2021 he was awarded an MBE for his services to literature. His adult poetry collection The Perseverance won Raymond the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and the Ted Hughes Award. His poetry collection, All the Names Given, was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize. Can Bears Ski?, illustrated by Polly Dunbar, was Raymond's picture book debut. Find him online at raymondantrobus.com and on Instagram as @raymond_antrobus.
Polly Dunbar is an award-winning author-illustrator whose books for Walker include Put Your Shoes On, Red, Red, Red, A Lion Is a Lion and the bestselling Penguin. She has also illustrated books by novelists David Almond and Michael Morpurgo, poets Michael Rosen and Raymond Antrobus and her mother, picture-book author Joyce Dunbar. Find her online at pollydunbar.com and on Instagram as @PollyDunbar.