Hans de Beer, Little Polar Bear and the Reindeer, Walker Books Australia, September 2021, 32 pp., RRP $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780735844513
Little Polar Bear and the Reindeer is a book about friendship, but also a book for young readers to learn about the impact of human expansion on the Artic, and the creatures that inhabit that area of the world.
Hans de Beer introduces readers to the little polar bear first, Lars, who realises that the seasons are changing, and that winter is on its way. Soon enough he sees signs around him that the other animals in the Artic, are moving on towards warmer climates – like the geese flying overhead, and the sound and feel of herds of reindeer travelling as one.
However, when a storm hits, he discovers Oliver, a young reindeer who was separated from his mother. Lars offers to take him to find his mother. On the way, they meet Otto, a musk Ox and his friends, who take these two young animals the rest of the way to Oliver’s mother.
However, when Oliver reunites with his mother, she informs them that the reindeers’ migration can’t go any further because fencing and pipelines are blocking their path.
Lars however, will not let this stand in the way of the reindeers’ migration, and together this unusual crew of animals manage to create a path through the pipelines and the fencing for the reindeer!
Coupled with gorgeous, bright, and engaging illustrations, young readers are going to be engrossed in this lesson on working together, and the impact of humanity on the environment.
Reviewed by Verushka Byrow