Little Polar Bear and the Pandas

by Hans de Beer

Overview

A brand new story featuring Lars, the beloved little polar bear!

The Arctic is teeming with tourists. Little polar bear, Lars, wants to steer clear of humans and their big snow vehicles. But when he catches a whiff of something delicious on their ship, he decides to investigate. Before Lars knows it, he’s on an adventurous trip to China where he meets two lovely pandas. Can these new friends who are so different help him find his way home?

This new story about the beloved little polar bear will delight children and is a great reminder that friends can be found anywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735844285
Publisher:	NorthSouth Books
Publication date:	03/16/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	799,754
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Hans de Beer was born in Muiden, near Amsterdam, Holland. After briefly studying history, he finished his studies at the Rietveld Art Academy in Amsterdam. Little Polar Bear, Hans’s art school graduation project, brought him worldwide success and countless awards, and has been translated into thirty languages so far. Today Hans lives and works as a freelance illustrator with his wife, the Italian illustrator Serena Romanelli, in Amsterdam and near Florence, Italy.

Editorial Reviews

Large sections of text are frequently broken up by beautiful, wordless pages of illustration that capture the adorable protagonist and gentle drama of his explorations...Lars’ adventure abroad focuses on China’s natural world and the famous Great Wall, avoiding the pitfall of cultural voyeurism.

Booklist

Readers never worry that Little Polar bear won’t find his way home and the lovely illustrations bring the trip to life. A nice addition to the series.

Youth Services Book Review - Catherine Coyne

01/22/2021

PreS-Gr 2—In de Beer's signature joyful illustrations, is a sweet story of friendship and adventure. Lars is a curious little polar bear who often wanders away from home, but not too far, except for this one fine spring day. Lars is intrigued by the humans who have come to tour his Arctic home. His parents complain that since the weather is so much warmer and there is less ice, more and more humans are showing up. Lars follows his curiosity to the large boat docked in the bay and realizes much too late that he has traveled too far from home. Along the way he will encounter mice, pandas, and an otter, and he will even scale the Great Wall of China. This story touches on numerous themes includes global warming, friendship, and home, without thoroughly exploring any one theme too deeply. The story is long and is best for children who have an attention span greater than the average of the intended audience VERDICT There is warmth in the illustrations and readers will root for Lars; this is not a necessary purchase but still worth a spot on some shelves.—Betsy Davison, formerly at Homer Central H.S., NY

School Library Journal

2020-11-18
The little polar bear’s newest adventure in this Swiss series takes him on a journey to China.

When Lars the polar bear curiously follows a group of tourists to the Arctic he becomes an accidental cruise-ship stowaway. Even though his new mouse friends on the ship are fun, the cub can’t wait to get home. Smuggled off the ship at the first port, Lars finds himself in a vast bamboo forest. There, he encounters Ying and Yong, twin pandas, who help him scale the Great Wall of China, the first step on his trip north. On the other side, a friendly otter named Oleg smuggles him onto an Arctic-bound mail plane. A joyful reunion with his relieved parents draws the adventure to a close. Following the formula established by previous Little Polar Bear titles, there’s minimal new ground covered in Lars’ newest adventure. While the journey is one of many miles, the story lacks urgency. Even Lars, a smile almost always upon his face, seems to know that nothing bad could ever come his way. Supporting characters are merely cardboard figures meant to convey Lars from one plot point to the next. Unfortunately, the depiction of the panda cubs begins with their cringeworthy names and continues with a description of them as nearly identical, a common Asian stereotype. Most alarmingly, Lars shows his parents what a panda looks like by smearing dirt on his father while his mother simpers, “Now black and white will be all the rage in the Arctic!” The parallels to blackface and the idea of race as fashionable are surpassingly distressing. Readers itching for an animal travelogue should opt instead for Longy Han and Elinor Hägg’s more authentic treatment, Gusto & Gecko Travel to China (2018). (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.15-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 63% of actual size.)

This little bear should have stayed at home. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews