ICE BEAR AND LITTLE FOX

Icy blue and white paintings dominate this handsome story of a polar bear during his first year away from his mother. Spare text appears in tan boxes superimposed on the paintings, describing the bear’s efforts to hunt seal and avoid his enemies, the bull walrus and killer whale. A tagalong white arctic fox follows wherever the polar bear goes, ready to eat the scraps that are left after a kill, and proves useful, warning the bear when killer whales are near. San Souci captures the dignity and strength of the protagonist as well as the dramatic habitat. The violence is not overt; the polar bear lunges at a seal in one scene, and in the next appears rolling on the ice after his meal, with the barest evidence that the seal has been caught and eaten. A striking volume. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)