Fiction - Miscellaneous People, Places & Cultures, Fiction - Animals - Mammals, Fiction - Native Americans, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous

Ice Bear and Little Fox

Name: Ice Bear and Little Fox
Author: Jonathan London, Daniel San Souci
ISBN: 9780525459071

by Jonathan London, Daniel San Souci

Write a review

Overview

Following the critically acclaimed Red Wolf Country, Jonathan London and Daniel San Souci team up again for another action-packed nature tale. Readers can share the adventures of a young polar bear during the most danger-filled period of his life—his first year away from his mother. And almost everywhere Ice Bear goes, an alert little companion follows, keeping guard over his mammoth friend by warning him when trouble is near. In a brilliant blue palette, San Souci's watercolors exquisitely render the striking, panoramic landscapes of the northern tundra. Young readers will enjoy the unlikely friendship between creatures big and small, while adult readers can appreciate both author's and illustrator's care for authenticity of detail. A must-have tour de force for nature lovers of any age.

Describes how a polar bear and the little fox that follows it survive over the course of a year in the Arctic. Includes afterword with facts about Arctic animals and Inuit peoples.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Children's Literature - Seth Berg

This simple story follows a year in the life of a young male polar bear on his own for the first time. No humans populate the world of this book. We see the magnificent bear hunt, swim, and escape from some killer whales. The bear is accompanied by an arctic fox, which eats the leftovers and watches out for the bear. Although this is a nature book and not a storybook, one can sense a relationship developing between the species. The text is as sparse as haiku. For every two pages, there is one painting and fewer than 50 words, and the diction casts a chilly air on the frozen landscape: "Somewhere behind him, something follows." The paintings show both the vastness of the tundra and the massiveness of the polar bear. The snow looks cold, the animals impressive. Especially memorable is an underwater scene with the bear diving down. This educational and poetic book lends itself to primary classrooms studying biomes or bears. The afterword is a scientific treatment of the facts behind the story.