For homework, Sophie must list three facts about polar bears that she would like to share with her class. We see her sitting at the kitchen table trying to think of three things she knows about the bears that her class has been studying in the unit about the Arctic. She finally writes
1. They are big.
2. They eat things.
3. They are mean.
Having successfully, in her opinion, fulfilled the assignment, she rushes into the living room to watch television. Quietly suddenly, a huge polar bear appears telling Sophie that “We are not ALL mean.” After introducing himself, he is called Olafur, he asks Sophie if she would like to see where he lives. No thanks she says, “I’ve seen pictures.” Olafur says, “It’s better in person.”
Suddenly, Sophie and Olafur are in the Arctic where he shows her what it is really like to live, hunt, and exist in the cold region. He introduces her to so much from glaciers, to whales, to the Northern Lights.
Author-illustrator Thyra Heder has created a simple story with a powerful message. Heder’s watercolors are subtle and add so much to the story.