Snow Bear [Hardcover]

Jean Craighead George (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1900 | Age Level: 4 and up

Bessie and a polar bear cub named Snow Bear play on the ice, while her older brother and the mother bear watch to make sure that everyone is safe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Minor and George (Morning, Noon, and Night) team up again, this time to produce a sort of Arctic Blueberries for Sal. When a small Eskimo girl explores a huge block of ice, she befriends a polar bear cub who has wandered away from his mother. With virtually identical reactions, the girl's older brother and the polar bear mother watch the youngsters cavort: "Up on the ice ship Vincent watches Bessie playing with Snow Bear. Little cubs are friendly. Up on the ice ship, Nanuq watches Snow Bear playing with Bessie. Children are friendly." When a dangerous male polar bear appears, they all run for safety. Set against exquisite ice-blue landscapes, Minor's tableaux are filled with drama and humor: winsome Bessie and stuffed-animal-cute Snow Bear turn somersaults, dance together and cuddle in a snow cave. But even with the glorious paintings and the very appealing premise, the story doesn't entirely succeedAthe context isn't clear enough. Is it fantasy or true to life that a child can safely receive a kiss on the nose from a polar bear cub? Or that a child and cub can mimic each other's movements so closely? Minor and George blur the line between observation and personification of the bear characters. Sometimes, too, the text sounds artificial in its overlay of Eskimo wisdom, as when Vincent recalls his father's advice ("The Arctic cannot be rushed. If we wait, the answers will come"). Kids may enjoy imagining themselves in Bessie's place, but the book seems to be setting up a scenario rather than delivering a full-fledged story. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2 A ship-shaped upthrust of ice entices Bessie to pull on her parka and set off for imaginary voyages. She encounters Snow Bear, a polar bear cub, and they become instant companions, frolicking happily in the Arctic snow. Watched over separately by the cautious mother bear, Nanuq, and Bessie's wary older brother Vincent, the little ones enjoy one another's company until a large male bear appears. His predatory intrusion sends Bessie and Vincent off toward home, and Nanuq and Snow Bear to safety in another direction, while the great ice "ship" slips into the sea. The simple, pleasing text is accompanied by luminous watercolors that faithfully record this charming (if improbable) chance meeting. The pictures are brilliantly colored, detailed even to depicting frosty breaths among the icy blues, frigid greens, and snowy whites, with the two Inuits as rich dark spots in the landscape, in their beautifully decorated fur parkas. While the story calls to mind Robert McCloskey's Blueberries for Sal (Viking, 1948), Bessie and Snow Bear's delightful meeting stands foursquare on its own booted feet (or furry paws). Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (January 1, 1900)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786804564
• ISBN-13: 978-0786804566
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,193,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jean Craighead George was born in a family of naturalists. Her father, mother, brothers, aunts and uncles were students of nature. On weekends they camped in the woods near their Washington, D.C. home, climbed trees to study owls, gathered edible plants and made fish hooks from twigs. Her first pet was a turkey vulture. In third grade she began writing and hasn't stopped yet. She has written over 100 books.Her book, Julie of the Wolves won the prestigious Newbery Medal, the American Library Association's award for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children, l973. My Side of the Mountain, the story of a boy and a falcon surviving on a mountain together, was a 1960 Newbery Honor Book. She has also received 20 other awards.She attended Penn State University graduating with a degree in Science and Literature. In the 1940s she was a reporter for The Washington Post and a member of the White House Press Corps. After her children were born she returned to her love of nature and brought owls, robins, mink, sea gulls, tarantulas - 173 wild animals into their home and backyard. These became characters in her books and, although always free to go, they would stay with the family until the sun changed their behavior and they migrated or went off to seek partners of their own kind.When her children, Twig, Craig and Luke, were old enough to carry their own backpacks, they all went to the animals. They climbed mountains, canoed rivers, hiked deserts. Her children learned about nature and Jean came home and to write books. Craig and Luke are now environmental scientists and Twig writes children's books, too.One summer Jean learned that the wolves were friendly, lived in a well-run society and communicated with each other in wolf talk -- sound, sight, posture, scent and coloration. Excited to learn more, she took Luke and went to the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska, where scientists were studying this remarkable animal. She even talked to the wolves in their own language. With that Julie of the Wolves was born. A little girl walking on the vast lonesome tundra outside Barrow, and a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park were the inspiration for the characters in the book. Years later, after many requests from her readers, she wrote the sequels, Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack.She is still traveling and coming home to write. In the last decade she has added two beautiful new dimensions to her words beautiful full-color picture book art by Wendell Minor and others and - music. Jean is collaborating with award-winning composer, Chris Kubie to bring the sounds of nature to her words.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely picture book from the author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES, March 3, 2001

By 

Isabel Harding (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snow Bear (Hardcover)

Jean Craighead George combines her love of Eskimo culture and wildlife in this splendid picture book. The story is of a young Eskimo girl named Bessie who, while out exploring one Arctic evening, meets a polar bear cub named Snow Bear. The two immediately become the best of friends, while Bessie's brother and Snow Bear's mother watch over them like the good caretakers they are. The story wonderfully shows how animal life often reflects the ways of humans--close family bonds, playfulness, and a sense of happiness abound between both species. Wendell Minor's spectacular illustrations light up every page. They are filled with warmth, humor, and excitement, and are breathtakingly beautiful. The quiet elegance of Eskimo life and the powerful magnificence of the polar bear are gloriously depicted. Other George/Minor picture books include the remarkable ARCTIC SON, the story of Ms. George's grandson who lives at the top of the world. More ice, Eskimos, and polar bears can be seen in this radiant story. MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT tells the story of many different animals all over the United States and what they do during the transition from sunrise to sunset. Mr. Minor's illustrations are cozy and cheerful. EVERGLADES is another example of the excellent combination of Ms. George's poetic style and Mr.Minor's lush watercolors. It tells the story of the rise and near-fall of one of the world's greatest and most unique ecosystems, the Florida Everglades. Mr. Minor also did the art for the covers and some of the illustrations for Ms. George's spectacular JULIE OF THE WOLVES books. The fourth in the series, not a chapter book but a picture book entitled NUTIK THE WOLF PUP, is written with the same close view into the relationship between humans and animals as SNOW BEAR, but Mr. Minor did not do the illustrations for this book. Jean Craighead George, author of more than eighty books for children and young adults, will surely inspire and warm the hearts of her audiences with SNOW BEAR.

4.0 out of 5 stars George takes on the North, May 18, 2008

By 

Backroads "Scatter-brained book fan" (Cache Valley, Utah) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Snow Bear (Paperback)

I'm a huge fan of Jean Craighead George. However, I was not aware that she was in the business of doing picture books. Granted, these gorgeous paintings were not hers, but the sweet, lovely story about friendship in the Arctic certainly was.In her classic back-to-nature fashion, Ms. George tells the story of innocence in a harsh world that usually does not tolerate innocence. A young girl plays with a polar bear cub even as her old brother hunts down the cub's mother. It's beautiful, sing-song prose that is just as captivating as the marvelous paintings. It's much shorter than George's other novels, but the same spirit remains.