Polar Animals

I know what you're going to say.  Polar bears and penguins aren't at the same pole.  I know that.  Even though it may be implied, I think I do try to make that distinction when we read these books.

Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joose. While not immediately obvious, yes, this does at least mention polar bears. A little girl mentions all these things that could happen and asks her mother if she'd still love her, and of course, the answer is still yes.  Sometimes I feel the need to translate these pages when I'm reading them to preschoolers because I don't think they quite get what it means for the characters when she asks "Would you love me if I poured water on our lamp?" So I ask them "Do you think your mother would love you if you broke every lightbulb in your house?"

Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson. It's about a little bear who wakes up in the middle of the night, feeling something special is about to happen.  The bear walks past all the other animals sleeping, and under the Northern Lights, and then she sees it - a meteor shower. I really like the simplistic, graphic style of the illustrations and that it at least shows the aurora borealis.  It gives me a chance to work a little science into the story time.  I LOVE the Northern Lights and it's one of my lifetime goals to see them.

Penguins by Liz Pichon. This book is too cute.  It's about a little girl who visits the penguin exhibit at the zoo and accidentally leaves her camera behind.  The penguins find it, figure out how to work it, and go to town taking pictures.  The next day, the zookeeper returns it to the little girl, and at the end of the book, you get to see all the pictures the penguins took.

Baby Polar by Yannick Murphy. Baby cub loves cuddling up to mama and hearing her heartbeat.  When it starts snowing, the cub wants to go play, and is soon so busy he gets lost in the blizzard.  He quickly finds a cave, burrows in, and when he hears a familiar heartbeat, it turns out the cave is mama's legs.

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. This is one of THE BEST books to read aloud.  Seriously - so much fun! Tacky, as his name implies, is an odd bird.  He does NOTHING like the other penguins, which of course turns out to be his saving grace when hunters come.  He drives them away with his un-penguinlike behavior and saves the day.  I love to sing his songs as loudly and as off-key as I can, and even though the kids cover their ears, they love it.

Other books that are good for this theme:

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson.

Pierre the Penguin by Jean Marzollo.

Over in the Arctic: Where the Cold Winds Blow by Mariane Berkes.