AliventiAsylum's Full Review: Pope Mary Osborne - Polar Bears Past Bedtime
There are all sorts of challenges to raising children. Having a child on the autism spectrum presents its own set as well. I am fortunate that my son is fairly high on the spectrum, and in many ways is performing at or close to grade level. Each night he has to read for 20 minutes, and finding books that both challenged him and held his interest proved challenging. We would spend Sunday afternoons in our local bookstore and read through the selection. When we found the Magic Tree House books, it seemed like we hit on something good. I read a couple in the store and they seemed really good, successfully combining an entertaining story with learning.
What I didn’t realize at first was that there was a sequence to the stories. Although the books do stand on their own to a degree, they are much better if they are read in sequence. Initially, I just let my son picked out the ones that interested him. It was about five books into reading what he had picked out so far that I figured this out and tried to fill in the books he was missing.
Polar Bears Past Bedtime is actually the twelfth book in the series. The story centers around siblings Jack, eight, and Annie, seven, who have discovered a tree house in the woods near their home in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania. There are books in the tree house and when they point to a picture and wish they could see whatever is in the picture, the tree house magically transports them there. By this point in the series, they have learned that the tree house is used by an enchantress librarian named Morgan le Fay. This is the final book in a sub-set of four that have to do with ancient riddles.
Jack is woken up by a white owl outside his window. He wakes up Annie, who can understand what animals are saying. Still in their pajamas, they follow the owl to the tree house where Morgan sends them on a journey to the arctic. Once there, they meet a seal hunter with a dog sled who gives them warm clothes made of seal fur. Near the hunter’s igloo, they find two polar bear clubs who they begin playing with. They follow them around playing in the snow until they somehow end up on thin ice which is cracking beneath their weight. All this, and Jack and Annie still haven’t found the solution to the fourth riddle!
I had a few issues with this story. Having black bears in our area that come into our yard, I wasn’t to thrilled with the depiction that it was fun to play with polar bear cubs and follow them around. I could just see a child getting the idea to follow a black bear cub into the woods. When the mother shows up, Jack and Annie are a little nervous, but there’s never any real threat, which I also felt was a bit unrealistic and minimizes the dangers posed by these creatures. I also didn’t like the way Jack and Annie end up playing with the polar bear cubs on the ice. With several ponds that freezes over nearby, my children have the dangers of ice drilled into their head. I’d hate to think that reading about balancing their weight on the ice as is described in this book could lead to a child taking risks thinking they know how to move across the ice.
I didn’t have a problem with it, but I can see where some people, particularly the anti-fur brigade, will take issue with the seal hunter. He gives clothing made of seal fur to Jack and Annie and although Annie laments a couple of times “poor seals” the clothes are otherwise cast in a good light. The point is made that the seal hunter respects the animals he kills and uses every bit of the animal, leaving nothing to waste. To me, it’s an accurate description of their culture and a way of existing with others in their environment rather than raping it.
The story is good, otherwise and flows nicely. The language is very descriptive and I could picture the frozen tundra the way Jack and Annie see it. The illustrations by Sal Murdocca augment the story nicely and still let a child use their imagination. At just 71 pages, it’s a perfect length for children just graduating into chapter books. Parents and children can read this together at bedtime by taking just a chapter or two every night.
I really like the fact that my son learns something while he is enjoying his reading time. In this book, there are facts about the arctic and how the natives lived up there. Jack writes down important facts in a notebook, further emphasizing things he learns. There is also incentive for Jack and Annie to use their brains and think, rather than magic. Although mysterious magic might get them to the arctic, Jack and Annie rely only on their brains once they are there, with just a little help from Morgan.
We really enjoy the series, and Polar Bears Past Bedtime is a good addition to it, although I have some issues with it. I reiterated bear safety after reading the story as we do frequently once they are out of hibernation. If nothing else, it’s a good prompt to go over these considerations with your child. My son read the story fine and it kept his attention for an afternoon until he finished the book. It’s a great way to keep him interested in both reading and learning.
The Magic Tree House transportss Jack and Annie to the freezing Arctic. There, they must solve the final riddle to become master librarians. But it s ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
General Juvenile / Children's Fiction - Their magic tree house takes Jack and Annie to the Arctic, where a polar bear leads them onto very thin ice. -...More at Barnes and Noble
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