Book Review: Ice Bears

International Polar Year is drawing to a close and I am still commemorating the occasion with posts dedicated to polar ecology.


Title: Ice Bears
Author: Brenda Z. Guiberson
Illustrator: Ilya Spirin
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

So far, this book is my early favorite for the Outstanding Children’s Book Award in Animal Behavior for this year. The author accurately describes the behavior of polar bears, focusing on a mother-twin cubs unit. The illustrations supplement the narratives. I especially like how the author uses onomatopoeia to describe some of the animal behavior like nursing and vocalizations between mother cubs. Because of the endangered nature of this species, the book serves as a perfect example of how the fields of animal behavior, ecology, and conservation blend together to help us understand how species interact with each and their environment. And be sure to check out the Arctic Ice Report following the story proper. It summarizes the state of the polar bear and other polar animals to climate conditions of the arctic region. Ice is an important environmental condition that North Pole animals like the polar bear, seals, caribou, fish, and foxes require. The need each other and they all need the ice to survive.

It’s not too late to make your voice heard. Sign the Center for Biological Diversity’s petition to save the polar bear and bring awareness of the need to protect the habitat of other polar wildlife.