Hush Little Polar Bear

by Jeff Mack (Author) Jeff Mack (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

Readers follow a baby snow-white plush polar bear that has been brought to life by his owner's imagination from the back of a whale with the sea spray surrounding, to a land of tall grass where butterflies float by up into the sky itself...and happily right back through the window into the loving arms of his owner asleep in bed.

Mack's lush and lovable illustrations suit the lulling, rhyming text to make a perfect bedtime book sure to leave readers and listeners with warm and fuzzy feelings read after read.

Select format:
Board Books
$7.99

Find books about:

School Library Journal

Following the rhythm and rhyme of "Hush Little Baby," a young girl sings a lullaby to her toy bear: "Hush little polar bear./Sleep in the snow,/and dream of the places/where sleeping bears go." As the two of them drift off to sleep, they dream of sailing the high seas, chasing butterflies, bouncing through cow pastures, creeping through a cave, swinging from a vine, and so on until, soaring through the sky, they return home to cuddle in bed. The richly textured spreads are bright and imaginative, perfectly complementing the simple, lyrical text. Begging to be sung, this will be a natural choice for bedtime or teddy-bear-themed story hours.

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

In his first solo outing, Mack (illustrator of the Bunnicula series) sends an eager-looking polar bear on a series of dreamtime adventures: "Swim through a waterfall./ Splash in a stream./ Paddle past rainbows/ that glisten and gleam." Big, rounded shapes and pastel-tinted spreads encourage calm, while rhythmic verses describe action. The polar bear looks like a real cub; the ending reveals him (her) as a stuffed animal snuggled in the arms of the girl who, presumably, is the narrator. She's right behind the polar bear in every spread, watching over him; in Mack's cheerful, fuzzy acrylic paintings, they travel across the ocean, through a rain forest, a desert, and up into the sky before ending safely in bed. "Then look right beside you,/ and that's where I'll be," she promises the bear. Giving the child character the speaking rather than the listening part neatly reverses lullaby convention. Ages 2-6.

Copyright 2008 Publisher’s Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Jeff Mack

Jeff Mack is a children's book author whose books include the Hippo and Rabbit series, Frog and Fly in Six Slurpy Stories, the Clueless McGee books, and Art Is Everywhere: A Book About Andy Warhol. He lives in Western Massachusetts where he continues to write and illustrate books, paint murals, and visit schools and libraries to talk about his work.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781596439450
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Roaring Brook Press
Publication date
November 12, 2013
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV002030 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Bears
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
JUV010000 - Juvenile Fiction | Bedtime & Dreams
Library of Congress categories
Stories in rhyme
Polar bear
Dreams
Wilson's Children, 10/01/10

Subscribe to our delicious e-newsletter!