Can Bears Ski?

Is Little Bear ignoring his friends when they say hi, or is something else going on? A discovery opens new doors in a tale that will delight 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. In this lyrical picture book, award-winning creators Raymond Antrobus and Polly Dunbar draw on their own experiences to tell Bear's story.

Author: Raymond Antrobus
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 11/10/2020
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.75h x 11.00w x 0.45d
ISBN: 9781536212662
Audience: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 2.4
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 513525 / Can Bears Ski?


Award: Ezra Jack Keats Book Award - Honor Book


Review Citation(s):
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 11/01/2020
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2020
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2020 pg. 65
Booklist 01/08/2021
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2020 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author
Raymond Antrobus is a deaf poet and teacher. He has won the Ted Hughes Award and became the first poet to be awarded the Rathbones Folio Prize. About Can Bears Ski, his first picture book, he says, "It's the book I could see myself reaching for as a child, and I can't wait to have it exist in the world." Originally from London, Raymond Antrobus now lives in Oklahoma City.

Polly Dunbar is a partially deaf author-illustrator who has created several books for young children. Her works include Penguin, Hello Tilly, Pretty Pru, Good Night, Tiptoe, and A Lion Is a Lion. She is also the illustrator of Pat-a-Cake Baby and Here's a Little Poem, among other titles. She lives in England.