When 8-year-old Juliana Hatkoff and her 11-year-old sister Isabella saw a picture of a baby polar bear who had been born at Zoo Berlin and then abandoned by its mother, they decided they wanted to write a book about it. That didn't seem very far-fetched to them—Juliana and her father, Craig, had written Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship, which had topped the New York times bestseller list just a few years before.
The resulting book, Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World is sure to captivate most little children (and many of their parents). It's the story of how zoo keeper Thomas Dorflein devoted 4 months of his life to caring for the polar bear cub, only leaving the zoo for 3 days at the end of that time. While the details about cub care are interesting, it's the pictures that really sell this book. Children love baby animals and pictures of newborn Knut sleeping on his keeper's lap, dirty Knut playing in the sand, and little Knut playing with an old boot will make for enjoyable browsing, and may even lead your little one to transform into a polar bear cub for some cuddling or polar bear play.
The book ends with a short section on polar bears, and a page on what the reader can do to help protect their habitat. The suggestions are standard: walk or bike instead of driving, turn off lights when you leave the room, and so forth. But this story of a cute baby polar bear will give children an emotional connection that can give you a starting point to talk about the steps you are taking in your own lives to reduce your impact on the environment.
This book was provided for review from the author.
