Ice Journey of the Polar Bear
by Martin Jenkins; illus. by Lou Baker-Smith
Primary    Candlewick    32 pp.
11/24     9781536235715    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781536242300    $18.99

Winter arrives in the Arctic. The days are shorter, the weather colder. A polar bear searches for a place to make a den, hibernate, and birth her twins. The trek across the ice is more difficult than in years before; ice floes are breaking up, and food has been scarce. Once on land, she finds a south-facing spot and settles down for the winter. The twins are born, she feeds them, and in the spring she and the cubs head toward the sea, where they can hunt for food. But conditions have changed: the ice is disappearing, creating fewer opportunities for them to hunt. Baker-Smith’s soft mixed-media illustrations depict the bears’ journey and are particularly effective in showing the degradation of the ice floes. Detailed back matter offers the main reason: climate change. In clear language, Jenkins describes the causes of Earth’s warming and the effects not just for polar bears but for all life as climate change leads to an increase of extreme weather conditions. He concludes with suggestions individuals can follow to “make a difference when it comes to climate change.” This brief glimpse into the experience of one polar bear ends, as it must, on a sober note of uncertainty about the future of the species.

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.