The Polar Bear

by Jenni Desmond (Created by)

Overview

A gorgeously illustrated nonfiction book about the polar bear, this is a factually accurate as well as a poetic exploration of polar bear bodies, habits, and habitats. Working in a painterly, expressive way, Jenni Desmond creates landscapes and creatures that are marked by atmosphere and emotion, telling a story about bears that engages the reader's interest in amazing facts as well as their deep sense of wonder.

A graduate of the renowned MA program in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art (ARU), Jenni Desmond works from her studio in London, UK. This, her second book for Enchanted Lion, will be followed by one about elephants.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592702008
Publisher:	Enchanted Lion Books
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	273,310
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 11.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD1100L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

A graduate of the renowned MA program in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art (ARU), Jenni works from her studio in London, UK. She uses collage, paint, and colored pencils to create her artwork, which she then scans and edits by computer. Jenni strives to make her illustrations entertaining, beautiful, and funny in equal measure. Her first picture book, Red Cat, Blue Cat, won the Cambridgeshire “Read it Again” Picture Book Award in 2013.

Editorial Reviews

A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2016

"Following the success of The Blue Whale, Desmond has delivered another poignant and refreshing look at these magnificent animals, threatened with extinction." —Picture Books Blogger

"With a touch of metafictional flair, a young girl pulls this very book down from the shelf to read about polar bears and is immediately immersed in their fascinating world. She learns about their habitat, physical characteristics and adaptations, and feeding and hunting habits. The writing is engaging, and facts come at a fairly quick pace. The mixed-media artwork is charming; broad washes of color are balanced by lovely details of polar bears as they go about the business of their lives."—STARRED REVIEW, Jody Kopple, School Library Journal

"An empathic illustrated invitation into the world of one of our planet’s most vulnerable creatures."—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

"From the first page, Desmond creates an immediate bond with readers. She depicts a young girl reading a book, The Polar Bear, the same book we are also holding. Absorbed, the girl enters the narrative, discovering many facts about polar bears as she begins to follow one bear across the frozen Arctic. Although not consistently graceful (“On warm days, they [bears] might stretch out on their back with their feet in the air or lie down on their stomach”), the enumerative text is clear and informative. But it is the mixed-media collages that steal the show here. Whether depicting the vast polar landscape; or creating a diagram of the features of the polar bear (including bad breath!); or illuminating a text point, such as a female in her den; or using a chart to represent the bear’s food sources, the double-page-spread illustrations add detail and depth to the text. The young girl, introduced initially, appears throughout, dancing under framed spot art clarifying the features of polar bear paws or laughing as she tries to avoid getting wet as the bear shakes off water. The narrative comes full circle with parallel events: a female bear gives birth, completing the journey through the seasons, and the young girl, now back home and finished with reading her book, curls up to sleep."—Betty Carter, The Horn Book

From the Publisher

★ 12/01/2016
Gr 1–4—From the author/illustrator of The Blue Whale comes another enchanting and informative title about a threatened species. With a touch of metafictional flair, a young girl pulls this very book down from the shelf to read about polar bears and is immediately immersed in their fascinating world. She learns about their habitat, physical characteristics and adaptations, and feeding and hunting habits. The writing is engaging, and facts come at a fairly quick pace. The mixed-media artwork is charming; broad washes of color are balanced by lovely details of polar bears as they go about the business of their lives. The young girl turns up as a witness in many of the scenes; an especially sweet one depicts the bear and the girl peering into a hole in the ice as they wait for a seal to pop up for air. Perspectives vary from high overhead to up close and personal with the bear. The thick pages only add to the lush feel and quality of the work. VERDICT With beautiful, creative illustrations, this is a must-have for elementary nonfiction collections everywhere.—Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

School Library Journal

2016-10-08
In this companion to The Blue Whale (2015), Desmond introduces the polar bear’s habitat, physical characteristics, life cycle, and food sources.The pithy text clearly explains such adaptations as the bear’s two layers of fur and extraordinary sense of hearing. Details about hunting for food, raising young, and the crucial role played by sea ice in the bear’s range are smoothly delivered. The digitally finished illustrations, combining paint, pencil, crayon, and printmaking techniques, are lovely when texturally evoking ice, sea, and fur. Threading throughout, though, are fanciful depictions of a black-haired, brown-skinned child—perhaps intended to appear Inuit. Wearing a red crown, fur-trimmed parka, striped tights, and boots, she plays in various scenes (often toting this very book). A spread likening the polar bear’s weight to that of 7-year-olds depicts 20 cavorting children. Most appear to be Inuit or at least First Nations, but the white child from The Blue Whale is shown, sharing that book. The penultimate spread shows the girl sleeping, entwined with a bear and cubs. The juxtaposition of fantasy and realism is confusing and undermines the book’s informative aspects, and no cultural context is provided for the Inuit depictions. Environmental threats to the polar bear’s habitat are relegated to a brief author’s note; there are no resources for further information. An uneven effort. (Informational picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews