Nanuk the Ice Bear

Polar bear Nanuk shows her cubs the ways of her "quiet white world." But there is cause for concern: "The ice is melting. The sea is rising. Soon there will be no place to hunt." The story, illustrated in Winter's recognizable precise style, ends with Nanuk's hopeful dream. The fluid, well-paced text, with its unapologetically environmentalist message, is written in simple, declarative sentences.

Nanuk the Ice Bear lives "at the top of the world." Nanuk's life is pretty standard, as far as polar bear existence goes: some hunting, finding a mate (as Winter calls it, "the dance of courtship"), hibernation. Eventually Nanuk gives birth to cubs and shows them the ways of her "quiet white world." But there is cause for concern in Nanuk's changing environment: "The ice is melting. The sea is rising. Soon there will be no place to hunt." The story ends with Nanuk dreaming a hopeful dream of a snowy future. Winter's small-scale illustrations in her recognizable precise style appear in rectangular frames throughout. On the book's first spread a sea-green wave floats subtly along the bottom of the pages; flipping through the book, the wave gets steadily higher. Eventually, as Nanuk's homeland melts away, the entire background is a flood of ocean-hued blue, but the final spread reverses the pattern with a white wave along the bottom: an optimistic sign of a snowy future? Winter's text, with its unapologetically environmentalist message, is written in simple, declarative sentences that generally start on the right-hand side of the spread and continue on to the next page, making for a fluid, well-paced read. The font is regrettably small, the "nursing" page is somewhat confusing, and "Further Reading About Polar Bears and Global Warning" (the only back matter included) consists of books that skew older, raising the question of target audience. But despite these minor issues, this is a thoughtful and thought-provoking work. sam bloom