Polar Bear Morning

 

Polar Bear Morning

by Lauren Thompson, Pictures by Steven Savage

2013 

978-0-439-69885-6

A polar bear cub awakens to explore the surroundings and finds a friend to play with.  The polar bear cub and the "snow cub" run all the way to the edge of their icy environment.

The best aspect of "Polar Bear Morning" is the artwork, using a monochrome color scheme and interesting geometric shapes on the page.  Triangles and squares pop out of the pictures, that will most likely prove a good talking point when reading to younger children.  The plot of the story is less interesting.  The two bears run and play and are friends, and that's about it.  I was confused as to what differentiated the "snow cub" from the polar bear cub.  Were they the same species?  I'm too hard on the book, by posing these questions, I'm sure.  On a positive note, the book describes well, the characters that live on an ice sheet: polar bears, seals, seagulls.  The book might spark the interest of a future environmentalist.