A Flower in the Snow

PreS-K—In this improbable story, a girl lives in an igloo and her best friend, a polar bear, lives in a snow cave. The two do everything together, from skating to "rolling giant snowballs, or even catching a cold!" One day Bear finds a flower growing in the snow and gives it to Luna, who loves it and becomes distraught when it eventually dies. An excellent friend, Bear sets off on an around-the-world trip to find Luna a new one. He travels to places that surely challenge a polar bear's survival, but he never finds a flower and returns home, where Luna has been missing him and wants to share her surprise-another flower growing from seeds saved from the original. Happy again, the two plant the remaining seeds in the snow and dance among the flowers that bloom in the snow. Corderoy's text is, no doubt, meant to be circular but seems rather pointless. Allsopp employs a soft, pastel palette with judicious touches of red for her appealing illustrations, which cannot overcome the weakness of the narrative.—Sharon Grover, Hedberg Public Library, Janesville, WI