Polar Bear

September 19, 2022
The team behind Honeybee and Giant Squid portrays beauty and suspense in the lives of a polar bear family struggling to adapt to a warming Arctic. In an early image, two cubs nestle by their mother’s great bulk. Following a month of waiting for the cubs’ birth and four months of nursing them, the mother bear—now in desperate need of food—leads them “along a trail that she took with her own mother... along a trail her cubs will take when they are grown.” When they arrive at the ice, though, she finds that it’s melting rapidly, forestalling the hunting— and the nourishment—that its presence allows. In a tense moment, she further finds herself stranded with her cubs on a broken floe: “What has happened to the Arctic spring world she has always known?” Yet through numerous trials—threats from wolves, unsuccessful hunting, and a marathon swim—the mother’s judgment and experience keep her cubs safe. Fleming’s lengthy verses persuasively portray the world through a polar bear’s senses, and Rohmann’s vivid close-ups of the bears are matched by spacious spreads that capture the distinctive light of the north. Back matter supplies an author’s note and further facts. Ages 4–8.

October 1, 2022
The creators of Honeybee (2020) tell the story of a polar bear in the wild shepherding her two cubs through their first boreal year. Readers hoping for a complete overview of a polar bear's life cycle will have to look elsewhere, but Rohmann's scenes of roly-poly cubs sleeping in a heap, gazing up at viewers, and wrestling in settings either icy or strewn with summer wildflowers as mom sniffs the air alertly serve those content with partial glimpses of the big, furry cuties well enough. A brush with two wolves who are quickly driven off and an exhausting swim portrayed in a double gatefold after a chunk of ice breaks off and somehow carries the bears far out to sea before they can react add some manufactured drama. But, Fleming makes clear, the main danger polar bears face is that the sea ice will not remain frozen long enough for mother bear to hunt the seals she needs to survive both long months in the den with newborn cubs and the summer when that main source of food (never shown here being either caught or eaten) becomes too difficult to catch. This leads to a superficial description of climate change in the backmatter, which also offers a list of extra polar bear facts. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Straightforward though somewhat bland, especially compared with the creators' earlier collaboration. (websites, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

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Starred review from October 28, 2022

Gr 2-5-A gripping drama captured in scientifically rich but not overwhelming text. The Sibert Medal-winning team (Honeybee) now takes readers to the Arctic to witness the life of a mother polar bear and her cubs. Emerging from winter with two children, after months of living off her stored fat, the mother must now find food. Seamlessly blending details about polar bears into a dramatic tale, Fleming takes readers to the water's edge where the mother bear hunts for ringed seals in the icy waters of springtime on the Hudson Bay. Climate change has made the life of a polar bear even more challenging, and the author has done a masterful job of connecting readers to the plight of this one family. Neither illustrations nor book design anthropomorphize the animals but readers will be on the edge of their seats as they follow the trio on their journey of survival, made all the more treacherous by a warming planet. Back matter, including a caption-rich diagram of a polar bear, additional resources for more learning, and ideas for the fight against climate change are included. VERDICT Gorgeous illustrations capture a fragile ecosystem, making this an outstanding collaboration that belongs in all library collections.-John Scott

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2022
Showcasing another fascinating animal (Giant Squid, rev. 9/16; Honeybee, rev. 3/20), and with their usual dynamism and immediacy, Fleming and Rohmann turn their attention to polar bears, specifically a year in the life of one female and her two cubs. In April the mother emerges from the den in which she's been nursing for four months. Her stored fat has sustained her, her milk providing nourishment for the cubs. But now it's time to eat, and she guides her cubs to Hudson Bay, where she can position herself on the ice to hunt. By June the mother and cubs have grown bigger and stronger, but they "must fatten up now...to survive summer's lean months." An attempt to capture "one last meal" causes the ice to break, and the trio drifts far out into the bay. Their swim back to shore is arduous and dangerous for the cubs (the long passage of time is revealed in a dramatic gatefold); once back on land, they must wait until the bay refreezes, which shortens the feeding calendar. Rohmann's early oil paintings depict the bear as an apex predator, but Fleming's straightforward text makes it clear that this creature faces potentially fatal danger -- even the most powerful animal cannot overcome the grave threat of habitat loss. "Too much ice is melting too soon. And too little ice means too little food." Back matter addresses climate change head-on, while a diagram explains how the bear's physiology helps it survive. Ten "cool facts" about polar bears, a list of websites, and a selected bibliography complete this outstanding book. Betty Carter

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from November 1, 2022
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* Fleming and Rohmann's latest collaboration (a companion to the award-winning, Giant Squid, 2016, and Honeybee, 2020) spotlights a mother polar bear and her cubs over the course of a year, spring through winter. Using lyrical prose that carefully avoids anthropomorphism, Fleming vividly depicts this Hudson Bay, Ontario, setting and these apex predators as they trek "across frozen ponds, / and slippery ridges, / and gullies filled with powder-fresh snow." The trio encounters wolves, has trouble catching seals (a major food source), and endures a dangerously long swim back to shore after their sea ice breaks away from the larger floe. Rohmann's magnificent oil paintings feature blue, green, and gray backgrounds that nicely set off the bears. Spreads are varied and include wide-angle landscapes (including a double-gatefold seascape) as well as dramatic close-ups, depicting teeth bared against wolves, claws in search of prey, and a precarious snooze at the edge of an ice floe. Fleming notes that mother and cubs will spend another year together before going off on their own; back matter includes an informative diagram detailing Ursa maritimus and its adaptations to the cold, a note on climate change and its impact on sea ice, cool facts, and additional resources. A majestic polar plunge not to be missed.

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July 1, 2022
Showcasing another fascinating animal (Giant Squid, rev. 9/16; Honeybee, rev. 3/20), and with their usual dynamism and immediacy, Fleming and Rohmann turn their attention to polar bears, specifically a year in the life of one female and her two cubs. In April the mother emerges from the den in which she's been nursing for four months. Her stored fat has sustained her, her milk providing nourishment for the cubs. But now it's time to eat, and she guides her cubs to Hudson Bay, where she can position herself on the ice to hunt. By June the mother and cubs have grown bigger and stronger, but they "must fatten up now...to survive summer's lean months." An attempt to capture "one last meal" causes the ice to break, and the trio drifts far out into the bay. Their swim back to shore is arduous and dangerous for the cubs (the long passage of time is revealed in a dramatic gatefold); once back on land, they must wait until the bay refreezes, which shortens the feeding calendar. Rohmann's early oil paintings depict the bear as an apex predator, but Fleming's straightforward text makes it clear that this creature faces potentially fatal danger -- even the most powerful animal cannot overcome the grave threat of habitat loss. "Too much ice is melting too soon. And too little ice means too little food." Back matter addresses climate change head-on, while a diagram explains how the bear's physiology helps it survive. Ten "cool facts" about polar bears, a list of websites, and a selected bibliography complete this outstanding book.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)