Ling Ling Bird Hears with his Magic Ears

by Tanya Saunders

‘Ling Ling Bird Hears with his Magic Ears’ takes us on an exciting journey through the world of sound, designed to help build listening skills in young children in the early stages of learning to listen and speak. We accompany Ling Ling Bird, who is deaf and 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. Children first need to learn to listen before they can learn to speak. With a typically hearing child, this happens naturally and automatically; with a deaf child, who has gained access to sound through hearing aids and/or cochlear implants, the process often needs to be more deliberate. The child first needs to learn to pay attention to sound, then to understand that sound has meaning and finally that it has power – they can use their voice to get what they want, to express themselves and to join in with others!

Children will learn to imitate environmental sounds before they can say proper words – so for example, a child will say ‘baa’ before they say ‘sheep’. Using the ‘auditory hook’ mechanism, this book allows children to hear a range of common environmental ‘learning to listen’ sounds (the more often they hear them, the easier it will be for them to eventually say them) as well as hearing the proper words. The book uses simple rhymes to link the fun ‘learning to listen’ sounds. The use of rhymes aids language development and helps to build phonological awareness.

The book acknowledges that learning to listen and speak is hard work for deaf or hard of hearing children, who often experience heightened levels of auditory fatigue. At the end of the day, as at the end of this book, it is wonderfully relaxing for them to take off their magic ears and enjoy the total silence.

ABOUT LING LING BIRD:

This unstoppable, cochlear implant-wearing bird is on a mission to inspire deaf children to dream big, and to help more people understand both the ongoing challenges faced by - and incredible opportunities open to - deaf children today. Despite his profound hearing loss, he’s not sad and he’s not cross. He has bionic ears that help him to hear! He’s proud of his individuality and bright exuberant personality.

BRIEF EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK:

“This man likes to laugh – haa haa haa;
Sheep don’t laugh, they just go baa…
Ling Ling Bird has a toy train – choo choo, choo choo
and a pet owl – hoo hoo, hoo hoo."

For extra details about this book and what inspired her to write it, see the author’s HearSay blog.