Ice Bears at Ice Edge
by Robert Burleigh (Author) Wendell Minor (Illustrator)
From writer Robert Burleigh and illustrator Wendell Minor, an award-winning and bestselling picture book team, comes a gripping climate change-themed tale of a polar bear family fighting to survive.
It is March in the cold North. The long-gone sun is rising.
Silvery ice glitters. Snow sparkles in the hazy glow.
Two polar bears stand at ice edge: mother and cub.
A mother polar bear and her cub are busy searching for food, when suddenly, the ice they stand on breaks away--crack! Cut adrift, her cub is out of reach as the treacherous sea begins to carry him away. In she dives! Can they return to land safely?
Simply told yet dramatic, and with realistic, exquisite illustrations and informative back matter with facts about polar bears, Ice Bears at Ice Edge immerses readers in one animal family's story, while also highlighting the broader plight of endangered wildlife whose habitats are threatened by climate change.
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Kirkus Reviews
Tender, if a bit unwieldy from being so heavily back-loaded with background facts.
Booklist
School Library Journal
Gr 1-4--"The land of the ice bears stretches far in all directions. White snow. White ice. White bears." Thus begins a story of a polar bear and her cub who find themselves drifting off to sea on an ice floe as they hunt for food. When the cub tumbles off the floe into the sea, his mother jumps in to save him and begins an arduous swim back to shore as their strength wanes. After reaching shore and cuddling, the mother and cub return to their den as "the ice cannot be trusted," and they must wait another day to hunt. Gorgeous spreads of color sketches in soft blues, yellows, oranges, browns, and white emphasize the spare Arctic surroundings but convey the energy of the cub and the desperation of the mother as she struggles for their survival. The text is lyrical and moving. Some phrases are in big, bold font and all caps, which works to convey the alarm of the moment. Back matter includes facts on the bears, climate change, and both an author's note and artist's note. VERDICT The polar bears' fight for survival is dramatic and touching, and indirectly highlights with the impact of the climate change on wildlife. First purchase.--Tamara Saarinen
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV029010 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Environment
JUV030120 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Polar Regions
Polar bear
Habitat
Climatic factors
