Sea Bear: A Journey for Survival
by Lindsay Moore

With lush illustrations and spare, evocative language, Sea Bear takes us on an epic journey through the Arctic in search of something to stand on. Written in the first person, we experience the wonder of the Arctic and the rhythm of the sea as a young polar bear swims across the ocean. Gorgeous and lyrical, this timely book shows us the impact of climate change, while never mentioning it, as it lets us feel the challenges facing a polar bear as the sea ice disappears.

---

Listen to the story

Recorded reading with permission from HarperCollins

---

Do a craft!

Create an arctic home for a clay-sculpted polar bear!
Take-and-Make Arctic Diorama kits can be picked up curbside starting on December 22nd.
Call or email the library at 426-3581 or jaquithpubliclibrary@gmail.com to schedule a pickup.

If you joined the program late and missed the craft pick-up, you can still do the craft at home using the instructions found here.

---

Big Ideas & enduring Understanding

• All animal species face challenges, and humans can make changes to help.
  
• The beauty and diversity of the Arctic is being threatened by climate change.
  
• Everything is interconnected; for every action there is a reaction.
  

---

Dig a little Deeper

Beyond the Book: Ideas, Questions, Projects and Connections:

• Watch Lindsay Moore speak about the book in a video specially created for Vermont students.

   

• The polar bear in this story shows incredible endurance. Imagine you are a group of polar bears. Challenge yourselves to build your own endurance by balancing on one foot for increasing periods of time (5 sec, 10 sec, etc.). Also try sitting silently, doing a plank, touching your toes, or other ideas that you have. 
  
  
• If you went on a trip to study polar bears in the Arctic, what would you need to pack? How would you get there? Learn about polar exploration here: https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/polar-exploration/276484
  
  
• Polar Bears International has excellent resource information for polar bears and the Arctic. (https://polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bears)
  
  
• Explore.org provides polar bear webcams for observation https://explore.org/search/polar%20bear

• Why do you think polar bears living on sea ice might need humans to speak up for them?
  
• How is patience a strength?
  
• What are the ripple effects of melting glaciers?
  
• What does a typical year look like for a polar bear? How has its usual routines been disrupted by climate change?
  
• Why does Lindsay Moore call a polar bear a “sea bear?”
  
• What other animals live in a polar bear’s territory? Who is a predator and who is prey?
  
• When the sea bear is “tossed by a tempest and nearly lost at sea,” what do you notice about the bear’s expression and the illustrations?