Book Review: The Very, Very Far North

The Very, Very Far North by Dan Bar-el

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very cute chapter book for kids. There are lots of good, challenging vocabulary words, a few science moments and lots of morals about family and friendship. I enjoyed the Polar setting and our lead character, a Polar Bear, is easy to connect with. He moves to a new place and has to find a home, friends and discover what is all around him on his own. Luckily he doesn't stay alone for long and finds many adventures to go on.
A very smart thing done in The Very, Very Far North is that each chapter begins with a line saying what the last thing was that happened. This is clearly written to be read one chapter each night with a child. To me this is brilliant. Especially if you don't read the same book every night (ie: kids that live at different homes or time restrictions).
There are lots of good quotable lines like:
"You can have hopes and you can have goals, but a day will take you where a day wants to go."

Overall this is a cute book about finding your way in the big scary world and that sometimes just leaving your front door is an adventure. Each animal is unique and has its own characteristics (the anxious musk ox is a favourite of mine). Comparisons to Winnie-the-Pooh aren't wrong necessarily; but with the lack of a human character in the story there is more of a connection (I think) to our lead bear.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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