Reading About Getting Hearing Devices: Here Are 8 Great Children’s Picture Books

We want our daughter to have books that address the unique challenges that children face when transitioning to listening devices.

Books can also help siblings and friends better understand the process.

So, we thought we'd do a round up! (We haven't read all of these, but we'd love to one day.)

Let's Hear It for Almigal

From the Publisher

Mom's Choice Gold Award Winner for Values and Life Lessons

This fun and original picture book introduces Almigal, a spunky little girl with hearing loss who is now determined to hear every single sound in the universe thanks to her new cotton candy pink cochlear implants. These sounds include a baby’s funny giggle, the robin’s chirps outside the window, the soft song played during ballet class, and especially her best friend Chloe’s teeny-tiny voice. But most of all, Almigal wants to hear her parents whisper to her when they tuck her into bed every night. Almigal’s spirit will have both children and parents alike rooting for her, while the story delivers a positive message about accepting and celebrating differences.

Written by an LSL parent.

Illustrated by the illustrator of the Eloise series.

Our Review

So many LSL families recommend this book, and we can see why!

Almigal is fun and relatable, and she takes us along her journey from using hearing aids to getting a cochlear implant. She's full of humor, energy, love and enthusiasm. And, the story includes some helpful tips about what not to do with your devices. We love Almigal's excitement about her cotton-candy pink devices, and her unabashed joy in hearing sound. We can't wait to read this one to our daughter.

It's sadly seems to be out of print, so we chased down a second-hand copy.

$26.54 at Amazon (Used)

Maxi's Super Ears

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From the Publisher
This is the story of the time a brave, young boy got his first set of hearing aids. Join Maxi on his journey into the world of hearing, where he learns to accept each other for what makes us unique. When he learns to embrace differences, he is introduced to a world of love and friendship!

Gracie's Ears

From the Publisher

This is the story of Gracie, your everyday fun-loving kid who does everything that you do, but has trouble hearing. It's as if her ears are sleeping! Can anyone or anything wake up Gracie's ears? Based on a true story. Told in rhyme, this uplifting story with gentle illustrations is based on a real little girl who doesn't realize her ears aren't working like most people's do. When her family searches for answers, she discovers the wonder of hearing aids and the sounds of the world. Gracie's Ears introduces what hearing aids are to young children needing help to hear and to their friends who wonder - what are those things in their friend's ears and what do they do?

Our Review

This rhyming book is simple and sweet.

Gracie has trouble hearing, so she gets her hearing aids and enjoys listening to sounds. We love the detail in the audiology visit, and hearing aids look just like ours! The illustration of the mold options is awesome, and conveys the colorful choices. One very small change we'd make is to say the line "stickers for boys and gems for girls" as "stickers and gems for boys and girls" to make it a little more open. But, that's just a personal preference, and an easy change to make while reading. We love that the book depicts Gracie's delight at listening to sounds with her hearing aids.
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This would be a great book for introducing a child's use of hearing aids to a classroom. We look forward to reading it with our daughter.

Zola Gets Hearing Aids

From the Publisher

Zola has a problem. She does not hear as well as other kids. Today is the day she goes to the doctor, a special doctor, to check her hearing. Zola is worried because she has heard all about those kids who do not hear well. Her greatest fear is having to wear a hearing aid. She is worried about how her friends will react if she has to get a hearing aid and wear it to school. Will they tease her? Will she be bullied or will they accept her and still be her friend? Not sure about what the day will bring, with great sadness and frustration, she pushes back her blanket and gets out of the bed to go to the doctor’s office.‍

Mila Gets Her Super Ears

From the Publisher

Come join Mila and her family on their journey as they navigate the world of hearing loss, hearing aids and cochlear implants! Mila refers on her newborn hearing screening, and her family begins to navigate this new world. After two years, Mila’s hearing drops and she quickly becomes a candidate for cochlear implants. Her family does not know what to expect, and neither does Mila. We touch on an ABR, initial diagnosis, the listening booth, the cochlear implant procedure and the multiple therapies that our children with hearing loss require all in a positive way. The characters are happy and curious; the illustrations are colorful and lighthearted and the language is easy to understand and relatable. This is Mila’s journey to cochlear implantation. With her family by her side, she can do anything.

Written by a teacher of the deaf.

Can Bears Ski?

From the Publisher

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.

The author and illustrator both have hearing loss.

Our Review

This book is so well written, and the illustrations are gorgeous.

The plot has some grounded familiarity, and some imaginative whimsy. This would be a lovely book for any child. It's the rare children's book that stays in our minds long after we close it. We only wish there were some happy illustrations of Little Bear wearing his hearing aids! It took us a few reads to notice that Little Bear's grimacing in the illustrations where he's wearing them, then he takes them off, and then he's shown happy but without his hearing aids on.

We wish they could re-issue this book with Little Bear wearing his hearing aids through the sweet last few scenes. Then it would be perfect! 

Ling Ling Bird Hears with his Magic Ears

From the Publisher

‘Ling Ling Bird Hears with his Magic Ears’ takes us on an exciting journey through the world of sound – ideal for helping young children in the early stages of learning to listen and speak. We accompany Ling Ling Bird, who is deaf – his ears don’t work but not to worry - he wears cochlear implants that help him to hear. Together we listen to what he hears with his super magic ears!

“Ling Ling Bird likes the big moo cow…but not the cat that says meow.
The lion is loud when it roars; so is the crocodile snapping its jaws!”

Aimed at young children (0-3 years old) and early listeners (listening age of 0-3 years), this 36-page book is bursting with colour – illustrated throughout with bright and bold images, ideal for little people with inquiring minds.

The book is designed especially for families seeking a listening and spoken language outcome for their child/ren.

Bessie Needs Hearing Aids

From the Publisher

Did your child just get hearing aids? Is your child feeling self-conscious about their hearing loss?

"Bessie Needs Hearing Aids" is a children's book that will help children with hearing loss understand the process, and that they are not alone. The author went through the through this process of getting hearing aids and bases the book on this, so it will resonate with children just learning of hearing issues, or coping with wearing hearing aids. The book received numerous accolades so it was decided to make it available to all, in order to possibly help other children with hearing loss. When a child goes through the process of getting hearing aids, it is scary for them and difficult for a parent to explain. This is a story of Bessie the bunny, who was so excited to start school only to have the kids get frustrated when she was not hearing them properly. Bessie visits the audiologist and learns about hearing aids and how they can help with her hearing loss. Illustrated by Toby Mikle, who has received many accolades himself in children's book illustrating.

Written by a teenager who uses hearing aids.

Our Review

This book is adorable! 

The bunnies are so cute and appealing. The plot is simple, but with nice details. We love that it's written by a teenager who uses hearing aids! Overall, we are very happy with this book and excited to read it to our daughter. Our only tweak would be to Bessie's embarrassment that she couldn't hear anyone. For now, we would change that to Bessie's frustration or exhaustion. We don't want to telegraph to our baby that it's embarrassing to be unable to hear. But, we understand why the author felt that way, and that it's true to life as children get older.

This would be a great book to read to a class to explain a child's use of hearing aids.

Check out more children's books featuring deaf characters here!