Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle
Little Brown & Co, 1997
ISBN: 0-316-57244-6
Ages 7 and up
AWARDS AND REVIEWS:
Top Ten Animal Books for 1998, Booklist
"Lovely acrylic paintings accompany this informative and lyrical text that focuses on a mother polar bear and her two cubs. The blue-gray palette perfectly evokes the frozen and forbidding landscape that the animals travel through after leaving their snug den. Polar bear diet, habitat, and parenting behavior are smoothly integrated into the satisfying narrative."
- School Library Journal
CREATING THE BOOK:
This particular book took me north of Barrow, Alaska, to observe polar bears in their sea ice world. This was quite an adventure! I visited the area in May, when the sea ice was moving and open leads were forming. This can be a very dangerous time of year. The Inupiat residents of Barrow had recently harvested a bowhead whale, and a number of polar bears were feeding on the whale carcass.
I traveled out on the sea ice with wildlife biologist Craig George. Craig is the son of Jean Craighead George, the woman who wrote Julie of the Wolves and many other wonderful children's books. Craig introduced me to the habitat of the polar bears as we traveled by snowmobile several miles offshore. I was lucky to observe a mother polar bear and her two cubs -- magnificent creatures! I placed my boot inside the enormous tracks of adult polar bears, saw a ringed seal slip beneath the water, and marveled at the pressure ridges and the jumble of ice that forms when sheets of ice collide together. The sea ice environment was so unlike anything I had ever experienced. I felt as though I was walking on a foreign planet!
Once again, I was fortunate to collaborate with Alaska wildlife artist Jon Van Zyle, who created beautiful acrylic paintings for the polar bear book. Jon did a wonderful job portraying the beauty and drama of the polar bear's world.
FUN FACTS FOR KIDS:
Did you know that...
*A polar bear cub only weighs about one pound at birth, about the same size as a guinea pig.
*Some pregnant polar bears den in snowdrifts on the sea ice. Other bears den in snowdrifts on land.
*The cubs in A Polar Bear Journey were born on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an important wildlife region that has the highest density of land-denning polar bears in America. It is also an area that is threatened with proposed oil development.
*More than 200 members of Congress have proposed that the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge be protected as wilderness. This action would permanently protect the home of the polar bears, caribou, muskox, wolves, grizzlies and many birds.
*You can help protect the home of the polar bears, caribou and other arctic animals by writing your congressman or senator in Washington D.C. Urge them to support the Arctic Refuge wilderness bill. Your letters can make a difference in saving the Arctic!
