Lost and Found

Korean creator Beck imagines a wordless encounter between a polar bear and a young indigenous girl. An aerial view shows the fur-clad, rosy-cheeked child leaving her house, a tiny figure against a vast expanse of white. Using a fishhook tied to a short, stout stick, she has good luck while ice fishing, but when a storm overtakes her and she takes refuge in an igloo, she finds herself face-to-face with a polar bear who has the same idea. It raises its snout gently in greeting, she gives it fish and spreads her blanket over it, and it offers her warmth and affection inside and outside the structure. By the time they part, they are close friends. On the pages, the white bear is nearly invisible, its black eyes, snout, and claws marking its place. There’s striking visual contrast between great swaths of snow-covered tundra and the small, concentrated areas in which the two figures play and cuddle before heading back to their respective families. And though it’s a titch formulaic, the encounter of the huge beast with the tiny, vulnerable child delights. Ages 3–8. [em](Nov.) [/em]