Polar Animals

Picture Books 

• Board Books: Durable titles on sturdy pages designed for little hands that introduce polar animals and simple concepts. 
• Picture Books: A selection of picture books for all ages with different polar animals. 
• World Language Materials: A selection of picture books for all ages in various languages. 
• Children’s Nonfiction: A selection of titles exploring the polar regions and animals designed for younger readers
• DVDs and Blu-rays: A selection of DVDs related to learning your numbers. Many titles are based on picture books.
• eContent: Electronic books, audiobooks, free streaming videos, and similar resources related to numbers and counting. 

Scroll to the bottom of the page to print this list or head back to our #MoreThanBooks Recommendations List

Pup and Bear by Kate Banks 

A stranded wolf cub is rescued and raised by a loving polar bear, and years later when he is grown into a wolf and on his own, he comes upon a lost polar bear cub, and the cycle begins again. 

A Polar Bear in the Snow by Mac Barnett 

Follow a magnificent polar bear through a fantastic world of snow and shockingly blue sea. Over the ice, through the water, past Arctic animals and even a human…where is he going? 

Little Polar Bear by Hans de Beer 

While hunting with his father, a young polar bear drifts out to sea and ends up in a jungle where a friendly hippopotamus helps him return home. 

Over in the Arctic: Where the Cold Winds Blow by Marianne Berkes 

A counting book in rhyme presents various Arctic animals and their offspring, from a mother polar bear and her “little cub one” to an old father wolf and his “little pups ten.” Includes related facts and activities. 

Max and Marla are Flying Together by Alexandra Boiger 

Max discovers that his best friend Marla, a snowy owl, is afraid to fly, and patiently encourages her to try. 

Daddy Honk Honk by Rosalind Bonnet 

With a little help from his friends on the tundra, an arctic fox learns how to be a good daddy to a noisy gosling. 

Here is the Arctic Winter by Madeleine Dunphy 

Cumulative text introduces the animals of the cold white world that is the arctic winter. 

Elusive Moose by Joan Gannij 

The narrator is so busy looking at the other Arctic animals that he or she never sees the elusive moose, which readers can try to find in the illustrations. 

Dream Flights on Arctic Nights by Brooke Hartman 

Illustrations and rhyming text reveal a child’s dreams of flying over the Arctic and seeing the animals that live there. 

What’s That Noise? by Naomi Howarth 

Magnus the Arctic seal wakes up one early morning, puzzled by a strange, rumbling sound. What’s that noise? Hare, Owl, and Polar Bear don’t have any idea, but Walrus has a good suggestion: it’s Magnus’ rumbling tummy! After a yummy feast the friends all settle down to sleep–but suddenly there’s another rumbling sound. What’s that noise? 

Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk 

This beautiful bedtime poem, written by acclaimed Inuit throat singer Celina Kalluk, describes the gifts given to a newborn baby by all the animals of the Arctic. Lyrically and tenderly told by a mother speaking to her own little “Kulu, ” an Inuktitut term of endearment often bestowed upon babies and young children, this visually stunning book is infused with the traditional Inuit values of love and respect for the land and its animal inhabitants. 

Ice Bear and Little Fox by Jonathan London 

Describes how a polar bear and the little fox that follows it survive over the course of a year in the Arctic. Includes afterword with facts about Arctic animals and Inuit peoples. 

She’ll Be Coming Up the Mountain by Kim Norman 

When she gets here, she’ll discover just how much we really love her…Welcome back the ten spirited pals from Ten on the Sled and If It’s Snowy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws! Author Kim Norman and illustrator Liza Woodruff have whipped up more frosty fun in a THIRD rollicking, jolly, snow-filled story, set to the tune of She’ll Be Comin ‘Round the Mountain When She Comes. In the land of the midnight sun, Polar Bear has bid farewell to her buddies but with a promise to return. While the nine friends plan festive surprises for her arrival, Bear is planning a surprise of her own! An ideal picture book for reading and singing along with over and over. 

Hello, Arctic! by Theodore Taylor 

The Arctic is more than ice and snow. As the seasons change and winter turns to spring, birds return, seals leap and splash, and polar bears are born. Childlike, rhythmic text invites us to greet the animals that come with the turn of seasons – Hello, birds! Hello, seals! Hello, cubs! – while gorgeous illustrations reveal the wondrous creatures and colors of this stirring northern land. 

Polar Bear Morning by Lauren Thompson 

A little polar bear cub ventures out of her den for the first time and meets a new friend. 

Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson 

After wandering out at night to watch a magical star shower, a polar bear cub returns home to snuggle with her mother in their warm den. 

Good Morning, Little Polar Bear by Carol J. Votaw 

Meet thirteen adorable baby animals and their families, and find out what it’s like to wake up in the Arctic. 

Arctic Spring by Sue Vyner 

Spring in the Arctic brings new activity among the fox, seal, and other animals, but the polar bear has a very good reason for remaining firm by her den.