MY LITTLE POLAR BEAR- Claudia Rueda

Sunday morning. I'm on a post church, pick up a gift, run through of a local bookstore. I know exactly what I want and have no reason to go further than twenty feet inside of the store. Even so, the siren song of the children's book area calls to me, and I head to the back of the store, just for a minute.

I'm immediately drawn to the pale blue, sprinkled with white sparkles cover of MY LITTLE POLAR BEAR. I open it and know that I have found a new favorite. This book, a dialogue between a mama polar bear and her cub, works on a lot of different levels. First, it's a really sweet RUNAWAY BUNNY kind of story about the love between a mama and her child- it would be a terrific baby present. I'm guessing that could quickly become one of those bedtime ritual books that young children would ask for again and again. The illustrations, all done in shades of blues and grays and whites, are quiet and soothing.

This seemingly simple bedtime story, however, could be used in a whole different way. On each two page spread, the cub asks for reassurance as to whether it is really a polar bear. Rueda uses specific factual information, "Your feet are large and padded. You can walk on snow and melting ice, just like a polar bear. You smell seals from far away." I could see using MY LITTLE POLAR BEAR, then, as a model for research reports for primary grade students. Even kindergarteners with a few good facts could write a really nice little research report using MY LITTLE POLAR BEAR as a mentor text. I can't wait to try it.

A beary nice find, perfect for this time of year…

OK GO! Carin Berger

At first glance, Carin Berger's OK GO appears to be a relatively simple text. The first half of the book, or maybe even a little more, consists of tiny cars, done in collage, rushing all over the page. On each page, the word GO is written anywhere from 1-15 times, and embedded within the collage. Several pages only have the word GO written over and over again. Then, about two thirds of the way through the book, the word STOP appears in enormous letters, and all the cars come to a screeching halt.

The last page, a fold out double-wide, contains a surprise (or at least it was a surprise to me!) Again, the page is a collage of a whole bunch of different figures, but this time, each figure is doing something to save the earth. Written next to each little picture, is a little rhyming saying, e.g.

• Waste less, Jess
• Catch a ride, Clyde
• Don't pollute, man-in-a-suit
• Roller-skate Kate
• Use your feet, Pete
• Share, Clare
• Save the planet, Janet . . . "

Looking back through the book, one realizes that the Save the Earth theme has run throughout the book. The collages are all made of recycled materials, e.g. ticket stubs and magazine ads. In the beginning collages, the background/sky is green, and gradually it gets brown/grayer and grayer, like it is becoming polluted. And then there is that fabulous end collage.

This is a fun book for a lot of reasons. Of course, it would be perfect for Earth Day, or a unit on recycling or pollution. I could use it in a lesson on inferring or foreshadowing, or paying close attention to the author's clues (I wasn't, and totally missed the message until the last page!) The illustrations would make it a perfect candidate for a unit on collage. And I could see emergent readers gravitating to the book's easily readable text. A great book for any elementary library!