Polar Animals: Polar Bears

Children's Literature

The cover of Polar Bears, in the "Pebble Book Series," shows a cuddly bear that could be stuffed and found in any child's room except this one is real. Polar bears tend to prefer being alone and love the cold artic weather labeled on the map on page eight. Other cool facts include what they eat, where they sleep and how they keep from freezing during below zero weather. Find out if polar bears can live on ice and what family this warm-blooded animal belongs. The best part of this book is the fascinating photographs of how these creatures exist in a world that does not allow many living things to survive. The picture tells the story as well as the simple text. Townsend did a terrific job of organizing this book. In the front, the reader finds a table of contents that gives quick access to all the interesting facts. Check out the reference information in the back. It list titles of more books on polar bears, a glossary with easy definitions including the meaning of mammal, and a word list/index which helps the reader to find the page number of certain words that have been used. Do not forget there is an on-line link to other resources. Remember books of this quality do not come cheap. Part of the "Polar Animals" series. 2004, Capstone Stone Press, Ages 5 to 8.
—Julia Beiker

School Library Journal

K-Gr 1-Three commonly known polar animals are spotlighted in small-format titles. A description of each creature, mention of where it lives with a world map highlighting the area, and what it does to survive are the focal points of these early readers. Not much information is provided but a few facts about each animal are related through simple sentence structure and vocabulary. The eight or nine pages of text per book face full-page photos that show the animals close up and in their environment. Pick and choose which subjects are needed to beef up your easy nonfiction sections.-Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.