"I am not sure how I got here ... everything looks so different."
A huge polar bear finds himself in the city. Everything is so confusing. There are long queues, coffee shops - in fact our bear is given a soy latte! He does not like the taste at all. Then he heads to the help desk at the station and that is where he is given the tube map. On the train no one notices the huge while polar bear except for one young girl. She takes him home but this home is nothing like his real home. The clothes are strange, the food is strange, and the sea (bath) is very small. Luckily this girl has a terrific book collection and one of books is entitled North Pole. She quickly works out the problem and makes a plan. She organises to lift him in a huge blanket attached to a wire under the helicopter. Arriving home the other polar bears are so happy to see their friend.
"I felt lost at first. But then someone found me."
Now turn to the final end paper - the little girl has given her new friend a truly special gift.
There are some interesting design features to notice with this book. The title in Fluro orange is embossed. The front-end paper has the polar bear on one side striding into the story and a map on the other side which appears to have been tossed down or dropped. Over the page the huge polar bear has now picked up his map. It looks a little like a London underground train map. On the imprint page I read that the font for this book is called Marajo so I am guessing it is an invention of the author/illustrator. This hardcover book is not too expensive here in Australia so it is one you could add to your school library wish list.
See pages from Lost here. I am not entirely sure but the polar bear in Lost might be the same polar bear from Flooded?
Companion books:
Mariajo Ilustrajo is a Spanish illustrator based in the UK. Her real name is Mariajose Gajate Molina. Flooded was her first book and it went on to win the Klaus Flugge Prize for Illustration 2023.
Her new books due in 2024 areHelp we Need a story and I love books:
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