On Sunday, Ayling-Ellis will make her debut in the CBeebies story corner, telling the tale in BSL of a young bear and his father on their journey into the discovery and management of deafness. I love how although the found bear can’t hear what people are saying and repeatedly hears can bears ski? Instead of can you hear me? The attention the authors gave to the small sounds that the bear feel including the crunch of snow as he walks along it, but also the silence. For example when dad bear has the TV on, the small bear cannot hear the tv but can see the man in a blue bodysuit skiing fast down a slope. Dad Bear has a hard time waking up this little bear, stepping so loudly that the radiator shakes and the bed "rumbles like a large empty tummy, etc. "I'm up! I'm up!" he says, dresses and shares he loves his colors LOUD. Snow is out the window and everything is still. Dad counts up the stairs to hurry for breakfast. Dad says something; Little bear thinks it's "Can bears ski?" Raymond Antrobus, a deaf poet, shows a little more about little Bear, on the way and at school, often hearing "Can bears ski?" In subtle ways, readers realize something is the matter and little Bear must not be hearing well. After a visit to an audiologist and seeing his audiogram, soon he gets hearing aids and lessons in lip-reading. We see him enjoying Dad Bear reading a book at bedtime. Figuring out there's a hearing challenge is shown in fun scenes with bears and various animals at school and in the neighborhood by Polly Dunbar, partially deaf. It also shows that there is a way to help. In the story the boy bear unintentionally ignores his friends’ greeting, and he is unable to join in with the laughter of his friends at school lunches. What a fabulous children’s book this is. I can hazard a guess that there aren’t many children’s books out there that are about hearing lose/deafness. I commend the author who is deaf himself for writing a book he would have loved as a child.

Can Bears Ski? - CBeebies - BBC Rose Ayling-Ellis - Can Bears Ski? - CBeebies - BBC

For Deafinitely Theatre, Paula’s previous productions include: Two Chairs, Motherland, Children of a Greater God, Playing God, Double Sentenceand Gold Dust. She also devised and directed The Boy and the Statuefor Deafinitely
at the Tricycle Theatre and on a London schools tour. Paula has directed two productions at Shakespeare’s Globe: Love’s Labour’s Lostfor the Globe to Globe Festival, as part of Deafinitely’s 10th anniversary celebrations, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her most recent productions for Deafinitely include: Tanika’s Journey(Southwark Playhouse), Grounded(Park Theatre), a national tour of family show, Something Elseand Contractionsat ND2 in 2017. This book has two goals: to tell a fun and interesting story, along with introducing children to some things faced by a person with a hearing loss or who is deaf. Both goals are met by the author and the illustrator, who themselves have hearing losses. Raymond is deaf, and Polly is partially deaf. Because of that, the two bring first-hand knowledge to this tale.Stephen Collins has 13 years of experience as an actor, workshop facilitator and recently working as a Deaf Creative consultant/directing. He is the Lead Artist for The DH Ensemble and Associate Artist with 1623 Theatre. Could it mean a trip to the audiologist? Boy Bear will be asked to press the board every time he hears a sound beneath his head phones. Yet he has been feeling the vibrations of the day, from the staircase to the banister to Dad Bear awakening you. Then he been aware of the silence of the day, and later the silence all about him. Can Bears Ski? by Raymond Antrobus is a picture book about a little bear who cannot hear his dad or friends very well. He is constantly confused why people keep asking him "can bears ski?" only to find out later they were saying "can you hear me?" It turns out by the end he has been diagnosed with hearing loss by doctors. With a set inspired by Polly Dunbar's stunning illustrations, puppetry and music, Pied Piper Theatre Company is delighted to be working with Paula Garfield and Deafinitely Theatre to bring this beautiful story to the stage. This striking world première from the nationally acclaimed British theatre company Deafinitely Theatre (The Vagina Monologues, Everyday and 4.48 Psychosis) is inspired by the extraordinary experiences of deaf people living with dementia.

Rose Ayling-Ellis - Can Bears Ski? - CBeebies - BBC

I love how most of the read-aloud for this book includes ASL signing in the video. It is quite inclusive, and what this book is all about. My favorite illustration overall is when the little bear is getting ready in the morning, and he describes the colors of his clothing. In the picture, he stands confidently and comments how he likes his colors LOUD! It's completely adorable. It is a good thing to include a wide array of books for your students/child, but great when it includes positive and confident representation like this book does. This is a book that would be perfect for a deaf child to read about something that they have in common with the main character. It is also a wonderful book to educate others about deafness and how a child might feel if they can’t hear or can only hear slightly. Can bears ski? What a random question to ask little bear. This book follows the story of a little bear who we find is hard of hearing. Antrobus and Dunbar have created a lovely book to show children what it is like to be hard of hearing. With the help of family and professionals the young bear who struggled to hear people talk and know what they were saying learns different techniques to help him such as lip reading and heading aids. This book is a great one for showing children with hearing loss like boy Bear that there’s nothing to be afraid of and that everything works out well. The book is also a great one to share with children who don’t have hearing problems but who may encounter a child with some, like a school friend as it will show them some of the difficulties that children can face not hearing, with an ultimately positive message around the situation. I remember having a book like this at my primary school about being diagnosed with diabetes when it had first happened to me, and I remember it being a very helpful book to others in my class as they understood my condition better and therefore I do think this would be a great book for children to understand fellow kids with hearing problems.Bear is moved to the front of the classroom at school, he is still not quite sure what his teacher says.

Can Bears Ski? by Raymond Antrobus: 9781536212662

The Pied Piper Theatre Company and Deafinitely Theatre present a retelling of a story by Raymond Antrobus and Polly Dunbar The story draws on the author’s own experience to show how isolating it can be for a deaf child in a hearing world. This book describes life as a deaf person who uses vibrations, loud noises, and lip reading to communicate with the outside world. I think it's a great thing to include little bear's appointment with the audiologist. This part of the book could really be beneficial when helping decrease anxiety with those who also need to go see the same type of doctor. Plus, it gives information to those who don't, knows what people with hearing issues sometimes do to help them.

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Tina was head of Youth and Education at The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford for fourteen years and toured nationally with YAT. Her plays have been performed in Europe and in Singapore. She has also directed ’Snowflakes’ for Oxford Playhouse. Can Bears Ski? That’s what it seems Dad Bear asks at breakfast. Then again, that’s what it sounds like at the lunch table when everyone is laughing at something David Bear says. However it’s not very clear. Teacher Bear asks too, ‘Can Bears Ski’? What does it mean? I wish this book had been available to me when I was teaching. It would have helped me to better teach the children in my classes who experienced sound differently and enabled me to better support the families of those children as they dealt with the daily challenges that deafness can bring. Speaking about signing for CBeebies, Ayling-Ellis said: “I am super excited to read my first CBeebies bedtime story in British Sign Language and it’s even more wonderful to share a story written by a deaf writer.