DON'T LET GO!

This picture book assumes a direct-cinema approach to a tale about facing fears.

A watercolor landscape rooted in blues invites readers to an iceberg beach of sorts. The anthropomorphic polar bears sport colorful swimsuits and tote balls, noodles, and goggles. A dad polar bear suggests “Let’s jump in!” to his child polar bear. The entire narrative is conveyed in pictures and through what looks like hand-lettered text in speech bubbles, with the child’s refrain of “don’t let go!” punctuating nearly every spread. The child clings to dad even though the little one seems to be of a size and age to go solo in the water. While the child bear desires and accepts a number of beach toys from siblings swimming by, the dad’s repeated suggestion to “float on your own” is refused. Crowded one-page illustrations confusingly juxtaposed across double-page spreads show other family members relaxing, bickering, and playing in the water and along shore ice while boats pass on the horizon. As the child bear continues to cling to dad, the repetitive tale will either grow endearing in its familiarity or slightly stale—until readers notice that a couple of the bears complain about the warm water and melting ice, and a final scene of the child all alone crying for mommy suggests a dire, very short future. Both the visually difficult presentation and the apocalyptic storyline make this one suited for older readers.

A climate-change subtext makes this polar picnic no day at the beach.