Polar Bear Puzzle (Adventures of Riley Series) Book

While polar bears and climate change are making front page news in the real world, it is up to Riley and family to visit the Arctic Circle to reveal the plight of the polar bear from a child's perspective. Part of the multiple award-winning Adventures of Riley children's picture book series, Polar Bear Puzzle features a tense plot, amazing mixed-media visuals and cutting-edge science provided by leading scientists!

Children's Literature

Riley heads to northern Canada to visit his aunt, uncle and cousin in this latest adventure. There, he learns about polar bears in their native environment. They seem quite different from the bears he has seen at the zoo. After all, zoo bears get regular food at scheduled times every day. The wild bears are hungry and, as a result, restless. By this time of year, they have usually crossed Hudson Bay and set about hunting for seals. Riley's Aunt Martha and Uncle Max are scientists, working to find out what problems are causing the bear population to shrink. Readers can travel along with Riley as he rides in a mind-boggling tundra buggy, helps his family members tag the bears, stays at a special stationary train, sees the awe-inspiring northern lights, and even helps with a polar bear drop. Lumry and Hurwitz have illustrated this work through a combination of detailed drawings and actual photographs. Informational boxes throughout the text provide an abundance of details about a remote part of the world. Readers should be encouraged to read through the book for its story first, and then return to it to partake of the nonfictional elements. Part of the "Adventures of Riley" series. Reviewer: Heidi Hauser Green