Jacqueline Moody-Luther

Summary: This book explains to children how polar bear cubs travel and are cared for by their mother. It is about two new born cubs, who grow up in their den during winter and don’t leave their mother’s side. As they travel during the Spring, the mother catches food for the cubs and protects them from predators. Their goal is to make it to land for the summertime, which is accomplished after they hop onto different pieces of ice.

The “big idea” of this book is to educate children about hibernation. I believe this book is very valuable for children, because there are specific bolded words which are assisted by an informational glossary in the back of the book. For example, the word Den is bolded and is simply defined at a child-level definition as “a small, comfortable area where animals live.” The text is large and easy to read, with plenty of open space between lines. I also like how the text had its own separate page with a white backdrop and was assisted by a drawing of the polar bears on the page next to it.… (more)