I will read basically any picture book with penguins as long as the art is cute and this one certainly fits that. The story is decent and Prendergast has included some scientific facts about both penguins and polar bears and their environments.

Such a charming and cute book for kids! Loved the illustrations as well. If your kids love animals, definitely grab this one.

This is a fun picture book about the friendship between penguins and polar bears. The penguins write a note to the polar bears, inviting them to a party. The book details the polar bears journey to get to the penguins.

I enjoyed the book, especially liked the facts that were sprinkled throughout the book. I would recommend it for a teacher during a lesson on these animals or the Arctic.

Such a beautifully illustrated book, full of facts about penguins and polar bears and the Arctic and Antarctica. My grandson's loved it. So nice to read a book with lots to learn about without knowing you are learning!

The penguins of Antarctica invite the polar bears of several Arctic regions to a party. They explain that it will be a long journey for the the polar bears, but offer them helpful tips about what to expect on the trip. The polar bears accept their invitation and set off on the trek, seeing lots of cool things along the way!

The illustrations are absolutely lovey! They are very cute and full of fun details for kids to notice. The prose is simple and minimal and lots of the story is told through the pictures. This would probably be best read with an adult reading partner who can explain some of the nuance in the text (why do the penguins say it's a big warmer that usual, for example?) and details implied by the pictures. This is a fun way to introduce kids to the Arctic and Antarctic regions and will definitely be exciting for animal lovers.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

An imaginative book about an imaginary interaction between penguins and polar bears.

Polar bears are denizens of the Arctic. They aren’t found beyond their native regions. Penguins have multiple species, but a majority live in the Antarctic. As such, in real life, polar bears and penguins wouldn’t ever meet in their natural habitats. This creative story makes the two species interact.

The penguins from the South Pole are planning to have a grand party on December 21st, the day of their Summer Solstice, which will provide an extra-long ‘day’ day for their fun. They write to the North Pole to invite the polar bears to join them. Thus this entire picture book is in the form of an epistle written by the penguins to the polar bears. As the epistle details their plans for the party, the illustrations show how the polar bears pack and set off for their looonnngggg journey and finally reach the South Pole.

At its heart, this is a simple story of friendship between species. But it manages to include quite a few interesting tidbits related to the two creatures and the environment they live in. The words in the main story are minimal and simple to understand. There is a hint at the impact of climate change on the polar regions. At the end, there is a brief informative note about the summer solstice in the Antarctic, the polar regions, and the two animal species.

The target age for the book is 6-8 year old children. Most of the content is easy for them to understand. The book is more geared towards encouraging discussions and learning, so it will be a decent add-on to classroom libraries. At the same time, I think there could have more to the story as it aims at somewhat older children. It touches upon points but doesn’t explore them.

The illustrations left me with somewhat mixed feelings. While I liked the manner in which the bears’ journey from the North Pole to the South Pole was depicted, the animals themselves don’t come off as appealing. The polar bears appear scary on a couple of pages. I am not sure why Antarctica was portrayed in brown shades – was it to show the impact of global warming? Also, on the very last page, one of the polar bears is shown as having swallowed half a penguin (no blood depicted.) If this was supposed to be funny, I think it missed the mark.

All in all, the informative part of this book was more memorable than the story part. It was a story with great potential, but it could have worked better. In its current format, it is above average.

3.5 stars.


My thanks to Orca Book Publishers and NetGalley for the DRC of “Dear Polar Bears”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

WHAT IF the penguins invited the polar bears [who they never encounter in real life] to a Equinox party? Would they make it [it is a very long journey]? Would they all get along and have a good time? This book is all about that with some amazing facts at the end of the story.

It is fun and the illustrations are really stellar and I can see many a little wanting this story over and over again and adding to it with their own observations and ideas. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Gabrielle Prendergast, Marcus Cutter - Illustrator, and Orca Book Publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed how Dear Polar Bears told such a strong story with so little words. I also enjoyed how there are enough clues in the polar bear images to know where each bear was originally. It was a really nice touch.

I do think many subject item would go over most children's heads if not explained by someone, luckily there is information in the back of the book.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is a children's book. I found this to be an odd little book. It has a cute premise though. The graphics are cute but I don't think very realistic. I mean Antarctica is not brown. 3 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Orca for a free digital copy.

A funny book that helps children understand that polar bears and penguins generally don't share habitats. It's charming and memorable.

The concept of this story is great, however I feel that the story is missing something. I think more could of been said or done to really make this a fun story for children. However, I did appreciate the informative information on polar bears and penguins. For example, I learned that polar bears are truly artic animals and penguins depending on the species, may or may not be considered artic animals!

In this story a group of penguins write to the polar bears inviting them to have a party. Since they live in different areas of the world the never meet. There’s also mentions of climate change in this book as you see the climate is no longer filled with snow in either place.

This is a Children's book that I read to my twin boys. One of my twin boys loves Polar bears, so I know I had to read this book to them. I found this book to be a fun read, and there was a good mix of fact and just fun fictional things. The pictures were not the best, but they did not take away from the fun story. I enjoyed this book, and my boys enjoyed it. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

4.5 stars

This was a pretty interesting book. Since the penguins live so far away from the polar bears they decided to invite them to a party. The polar bears then have to travel a very far distance from their different locations around the world to get to the south pole. They have to travel by walking, asking humans for directions, swimming, floating across the ocean on ice and much more.

The illustrations are great, except for one of the last pages where the polar bears look mean and ready to eat the penguins. I was very concerned about where this book was going when I got to that page. Other than that, the pictures were beautiful and very well done.

This is a very quick and cute children's story. The illustrations are wonderful except for 2 pages towards the end where one polar bear looks mean and then on the next page one of the polar bears has a penguin in his mouth while other penguins have their flippers up looking at him upset/angry. I feel that since this is a book for smaller children that those illustrations shouldn't have been included or maybe shown the polar bear spitting him out of his mouth and unharmed. Some children might find it funny, but others may not.
I loved how they had facts about both polar bears and penguins at the very end of the book and mentioned how they are at risk of losing their homes.

Thank you to Gabrielle Prendergast, Orca Book Publishers, and Netgalley for this ARC!

This sweet book is lovely. Penguins of Antartica send off an invitation to the polar bears of the Arctic to join them at the South Pole for a celebration. The penguins want the polar bears to be their special guests as they celebrate the longest day of the year together.

It's a long journey for the polar bears to make and what if they can't make it in time? What in the world will they bring to such a joyous event and what will they find when they eventually arrive? These are all great questions to ponder and answer.

This story highlights friendship and how much the polar bears will have to endure to attend that party. The author includes fun facts about penguins and polar bears: the jaw-dropping distance that the polar bears have to travel to arrive at their destination, the summer solstice, and the frivolity and joy that occurs when the two groups of friends finally meet face-to-face.

The illustrations are wonderful and happily the reader is invited to come along and attend the party too. All-in-all it is an educational fun story that I'm sure kids will love! I highly recommend "Dear Polar Bears"!

What an adorable story with beautiful illustrations! The penguins invite the polar bears to the South Pole for a party, and the journey of the polar bears ensues with fun adventures along the way. I loved the facts at the end too! The only thing that threw me a bit was one of the pages the polar bears looked like they are ready to eat the penguins, but the rest they look very sweet and happy, so wasn’t sure if that was intentional.
Thank you NetGalley and orca book publishers for my arc in exchange for my honest feedback!

This is such a cute and entertaining way to teach children about penguins and polar bears. It hints at weather change and how it affects the species. My son who is four really liked that they were inviting the polar bears to a party. Cute book!

I have a weakness for polar bears in children’s stories (and I think we all do judging by the sheer popularity of the animal in said books). This one kicks off with a crew of penguins inviting some polar bear friends to a party they are hosting in the South Pole. The polar bears make the long journey, dodging traffic and humans, dipping and cooling off in the water, and eventually meeting their penguin friends for a rowdy time together. This one not only has precious illustrations, but also reminds us of the changing realities of animals and the climate, etc. It is a cute one that gets you thinking with a lot of fun facts, such as where the word arctic comes from, and some nonprofits that support the polar bears and the like.