Gold star partnership
What happens when you put together an outstanding children’s writer, Hannah Gold, and one of our very finest contemporary illustrators, Levi Pinfold? Well, unsurprisingly, the answer has so far been two breathtakingly beautiful books, The Last Bear and The Lost Whale. Both these titles have been popular and critical triumphs and if the first has proved even more successful than the second then I think it is probably down to polar bears being rather more endearing than whales (as long as you’re not actually faced with one in the wild).
Now, working with the same illustrator, Hannah Gold has produced a sequel to The Last Bear, Finding Bear. This has to beg the question: can the two of them pull it off again, or will a second book turn out to be second best?
Having now had the pleasure of enjoying the new book enormously, I can affirm that there is no question of this sequel being a letdown. If anything it is a stronger, more emotionally compelling story even than the first.
Arctic beauty
In both her books so far Hannah Gold has established a sure-fire formula: a passionate concern for the conservation of our wonderful planet (thankfully, already shared shared by many children) with a story centred on an intense bond between a child and a particular animal (a theme with an enduring appeal to almost all children). These twin themes are very much to the fore in her new sequel, where both aspects are again beautifully worked into a most compelling and often moving tale.
Having immersed us quickly in her protagonist, April’s desperate need to find her beloved ‘Bear’ of the previous book, Hannah Gold quickly moves her, and us, into the creature’s Artic home. Her conjuring of of this landscape is strongly evocative, both of the ice wilderness itself, and of the rather dismal, run-down remoteness of the small settlement where April and her father land up. It becomes very clear, however, that April’s passion for this landscape almost equals that of her adoration of Bear, and her close connection to its wild beauty fully communicates itself to us. Soon we are to share with her the glorious spectacle of the Northern Lights, as well as the thrill of riding a Husky dog sled across the icy wastes.
. . . and a Bear
Yet is is April’s relationship with Bear that is at the heart of this story and responsible for its irresistible emotional enthralment. The scene of April’s reunion with Bear is a true gem of children’s literature, as memorable as it is moving. April feels that once she is back with Bear broken pieces of the world have been sewn back together and the whole universe restored to where it should be. By this stage of the story, I think many readers will not be feeling very differently. April desperately wants change for herself and the planet, and her determination to play a part in achieving it is infectious.
Subsequently, there is a desperate journey fraught with excitement and jeopardy; this would not be such a good story without. However, April finds that certain others in the Arctic are warmer and more supportive human beings than she previously judged them to be. I don’t think it is too much of a spoiler to say all is well in the end, wonderfully, warmly well. With this author I would have expected nothing less.
Real not real
Befriending a wild polar bear, riding on its back, saving him and his cub, all of this is a fantasy. Despite the stark realism of much of the story’s background , the way April’s emotional connection to Bear extends into a physical one is, of course, essentially fictitious. Some children do form very strong bonds with domestic animals, even, very rarely, with wild ones, but one between a young child and a polar bear is simply not credible, and most certainly not safe. Yet in the context of the book this is not important. The story is so compellingly told that the effect of the fictitious relationship in involving the reader is total. This is a fiction as wonderful, wild and beautiful as they come. It is a book that will give every reader a hug as huge and soft, as white and furry as that of a (very friendly) polar bear.
Although they sometimes like to luxuriate in fantasy, children are far more capable of distinguishing real life from fiction than some adults give them credit. Yet, April’s attitudes are infectious, not only her attitude towards Bear and his cub, but towards the world and it’s problems. We want to share the role she believes she can play in it. So. despite its fantasies, this story will, I think, do a great deal to nourish children’s real love of creatures and the wild. It will galvanise their antagonism to the pollution and consequent global warming that threatens such danger for creatures like the polar bear.
Just picture it
Levi Pinfold’s cover and, indeed, the copious artwork throughout are again breathtakingly wonderful. His images are not just beautiful and so skilfully drawn (both of which they are) but somehow heighten the intense reality of characters, animals and landscape. Sometimes the emotional impact of the images is almost unbearable (no pun intended) as in the depiction of the reunion between April and her father on page 314 where the intensity of feeling is so powerfully caught in the physical energy of her charge into embrace.
Here we have something very special, totally absorbing entertainment that is also educative in the very best and fullest sense. It is a book that really will win both hearts and minds. With Levi Pinfold’s illustrations and Harper Collin’s high production values, it is a spectacularly beautiful volume too, and that is a huge bonus - to put it mildly.