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Little Polar Bear and the Pandas
A brand new story featuring Lars, the beloved little polar bear!
The Arctic is teeming with tourists. Little polar bear, Lars, wants to steer clear of humans and their big snow vehicles. But when he catches a whiff of something delicious on their ship, he decides to investigate. Before Lars knows it, he’s on an adventurous trip to China where he meets two lovely pandas. Can these new friends who are so different help him find his way home?
This new story about the beloved little polar bear will delight children and is a great reminder that friends can be found anywhere.
The Arctic is teeming with tourists. Little polar bear, Lars, wants to steer clear of humans and their big snow vehicles. But when he catches a whiff of something delicious on their ship, he decides to investigate. Before Lars knows it, he’s on an adventurous trip to China where he meets two lovely pandas. Can these new friends who are so different help him find his way home?
This new story about the beloved little polar bear will delight children and is a great reminder that friends can be found anywhere.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2021
17 people want to read
About the author
Hans de Beer
299 books31 followersHans de Beer was born in Muiden, a small town near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. He began to draw when he went to school, mostly when the lessons got too boring. In college, he studied history, but he was drawing so many pictures during the lectures that he decided to become an artist. He went on to study illustration at the Rietveld Academy of Art in Amsterdam. Hans de Beer's Little Polar Bear books enjoy great international success and have been published in eighteen languages in 27 countries.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 6, 2020
I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.
Although I was sent a copy of Little Polar bear and the Pandas, upon opening the pdf of the book, the book I actually received was Little Polar bear - where are you Lars. I read the book sent instead anyway and enjoyed it but really wanted to read the polar bear and the pandas book. Lars ends up in Africa in the book I was sent and there were definitely no pandas in this book.
These books are bilingual books in Spanish and English which is a great idea for bilingual children and families.
Although I was sent a copy of Little Polar bear and the Pandas, upon opening the pdf of the book, the book I actually received was Little Polar bear - where are you Lars. I read the book sent instead anyway and enjoyed it but really wanted to read the polar bear and the pandas book. Lars ends up in Africa in the book I was sent and there were definitely no pandas in this book.
These books are bilingual books in Spanish and English which is a great idea for bilingual children and families.
May 4, 2021
This is my first introduction to these children's books by this author. After reading this book, I know that I want to pick up more for my niece and I to read together. It was so cute and did have a good lesson that friends can be made anywhere. No matter how different everyone is.
Lars goes on a grand adventure when he accidentally leaves behind his home in the Artic. On his way to make it home, he meets Mika and other mice, Ying and Yong, pandas, and Oleg, the otter. Lars even climbs the Great Wall.
The illustrations are lovely and really help make the story come alive. The sentences are not too long in length or are comprised are large words. I did notice that the paper used for the pages of this book were thicker in material. It is nice as it helps a bit more to not worry about easily ripping a page.
Lars goes on a grand adventure when he accidentally leaves behind his home in the Artic. On his way to make it home, he meets Mika and other mice, Ying and Yong, pandas, and Oleg, the otter. Lars even climbs the Great Wall.
The illustrations are lovely and really help make the story come alive. The sentences are not too long in length or are comprised are large words. I did notice that the paper used for the pages of this book were thicker in material. It is nice as it helps a bit more to not worry about easily ripping a page.
February 9, 2021
A dual language book about a baby Polar bear Lars that floats away from home. With the friendship of others, he finds his way back home.
The illustrations are adorable and Lars is one of those characters that will bring out empathy.
A special thank you to North South Books Inc and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
The illustrations are adorable and Lars is one of those characters that will bring out empathy.
A special thank you to North South Books Inc and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
December 19, 2020
Hans de Beer has done a wonderful job of this bilingual story making learning languages more accessible for a younger audience. The illustrator has complemented the story with some fine work. A delight to read, I can see the benefit of this book goes beyond reading for relaxation. My thanks to Netgalley and publisher for a digital copy to review. 5/5.
September 2, 2020
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
First, before I jump into my review, I would like to state that while the title and cover image indicate that I would be reading "Little Polar Bear and the Pandas," the actual book I was given was "Little Polar Bear: Where Are You, Lars?" I seems like the title on the listing should be a sequel to the book I ended up reading? There are certainly no pandas in the text I read, and the Little Polar Bear Lars ends up in Africa rather than China.
Little Polar Bear: Where Are You, Lars? is the story of a polar bear cub named Lars who accidentally finds himself floating adrift at sea after the ice he and his father went to sleep on broke up. Eventually, he washes ashore in Africa where he's helped by a hippo, an eagle, and an orca to return home.
This book is an English & Spanish bilingual edition, with every paragraph presented in both languages, one above the other. I am not fluent in Spanish, so I can only comment on the English text. The story is cohesive and does indeed present the sort of complete plot and arc one would expect in a primary grade storybook. With that said, there's very little character development for any of the characters, and everything that happens feels very convenient, even for a children's book. It's also odd that half of the animals have names (Lars, Drago) while the rest are simply referred to by their species as if it were a name (Hippo, Orco, Father Polar Bear), but there's no meaningful distinction between which characters get unique names and which do not. Drago the eagle is barely on the page, while Father occupies several pages at the beginning and without Hippo, the rest of the book would not progress. Why don't they get names? I would also like to point out that Orca is referred to as a whale, but orcas are not whales. The reading level of this book is targeted at an age group old enough that kids who are passionate about animals would know this, and will be annoyed. (I would have been one of them.)
Since I cannot read Spanish, and I don't know which language the book was originally written in, I concede that some of my complaints may simply be difficulties in translations.
I am still interested in reading and reviewing the book this listing says I was supposed to read, and would be happy to move this review to the correct title if the publisher gets the file error sorted out.
First, before I jump into my review, I would like to state that while the title and cover image indicate that I would be reading "Little Polar Bear and the Pandas," the actual book I was given was "Little Polar Bear: Where Are You, Lars?" I seems like the title on the listing should be a sequel to the book I ended up reading? There are certainly no pandas in the text I read, and the Little Polar Bear Lars ends up in Africa rather than China.
Little Polar Bear: Where Are You, Lars? is the story of a polar bear cub named Lars who accidentally finds himself floating adrift at sea after the ice he and his father went to sleep on broke up. Eventually, he washes ashore in Africa where he's helped by a hippo, an eagle, and an orca to return home.
This book is an English & Spanish bilingual edition, with every paragraph presented in both languages, one above the other. I am not fluent in Spanish, so I can only comment on the English text. The story is cohesive and does indeed present the sort of complete plot and arc one would expect in a primary grade storybook. With that said, there's very little character development for any of the characters, and everything that happens feels very convenient, even for a children's book. It's also odd that half of the animals have names (Lars, Drago) while the rest are simply referred to by their species as if it were a name (Hippo, Orco, Father Polar Bear), but there's no meaningful distinction between which characters get unique names and which do not. Drago the eagle is barely on the page, while Father occupies several pages at the beginning and without Hippo, the rest of the book would not progress. Why don't they get names? I would also like to point out that Orca is referred to as a whale, but orcas are not whales. The reading level of this book is targeted at an age group old enough that kids who are passionate about animals would know this, and will be annoyed. (I would have been one of them.)
Since I cannot read Spanish, and I don't know which language the book was originally written in, I concede that some of my complaints may simply be difficulties in translations.
I am still interested in reading and reviewing the book this listing says I was supposed to read, and would be happy to move this review to the correct title if the publisher gets the file error sorted out.
September 9, 2020
4/5 stars!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book made me cry in the middle of the night while reading. This is about Lars, a polar bear, being separated to his father and his journey back to North Pole. As someone who doesn't want adventures and just want to stay inside my house for the rest of my life, I had anxiety about whether Lars will be able to survive by his own and go back to his family. I got sad as well for his Hippo friend in Africa. This book just made me sad and cry the whole time, and I liked it. Though, there are no pandas in here, which I'm totally confused as to why. And I don't know if this is what the author is trying to say here, but the overall lesson I got was global warming is real and it affects not just humans, but the animals as well. If maybe the author mentioned about what really happened to the ice where Lars and his father are sleeping, whether it cracked or melted, and maybe add a sentence or two as to why that happened, then I think I will be satisfied.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book made me cry in the middle of the night while reading. This is about Lars, a polar bear, being separated to his father and his journey back to North Pole. As someone who doesn't want adventures and just want to stay inside my house for the rest of my life, I had anxiety about whether Lars will be able to survive by his own and go back to his family. I got sad as well for his Hippo friend in Africa. This book just made me sad and cry the whole time, and I liked it. Though, there are no pandas in here, which I'm totally confused as to why. And I don't know if this is what the author is trying to say here, but the overall lesson I got was global warming is real and it affects not just humans, but the animals as well. If maybe the author mentioned about what really happened to the ice where Lars and his father are sleeping, whether it cracked or melted, and maybe add a sentence or two as to why that happened, then I think I will be satisfied.
September 4, 2020
***Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC for honest review***
So this is confusing, but although I'm supposed to be reviewing Little Polar Bear and the Pandas
by Hans de Beer, the download I was sent was for Little Polar Bear "Where Are you Going, Lars?"
by Hans de Beer, another book in that same series, so I will tell you what I thought of that one.
I'd read a Lars polar bear story before, with a husky in it, and this one was with a hippo and an eagle. It was very cute (thought I am partial to huskys) and followed pretty much the same formula as the first one I read. Very sweet art as well. If you're a fan of this character/series, I see no reason why you wouldn't want to pick this one up as well.
So this is confusing, but although I'm supposed to be reviewing Little Polar Bear and the Pandas
by Hans de Beer, the download I was sent was for Little Polar Bear "Where Are you Going, Lars?"
by Hans de Beer, another book in that same series, so I will tell you what I thought of that one.
I'd read a Lars polar bear story before, with a husky in it, and this one was with a hippo and an eagle. It was very cute (thought I am partial to huskys) and followed pretty much the same formula as the first one I read. Very sweet art as well. If you're a fan of this character/series, I see no reason why you wouldn't want to pick this one up as well.
April 17, 2021
I love the illustrations in this book. They are so cute!
I liked the idea of friendship and helping others.
However, I didn't love the anthropomorphic depiction of the animals. I get that it's a picture book so I was trying to let it slide but it just felt weird because the animals acted like animals for the most part but then they knew which plane flew to the Arctic or how to make a ladder from bamboo and that just made it hard for me to enjoy.
Side note: after reading other reviews where people were expected Little Polar Bear and the Pandas but actually got Little Polar Bear- Where Are You?, I just want to mention that the book I read was in fact about Little Polar Bear and the Pandas haha ( I got the book from the local library, not an ARC).
I liked the idea of friendship and helping others.
However, I didn't love the anthropomorphic depiction of the animals. I get that it's a picture book so I was trying to let it slide but it just felt weird because the animals acted like animals for the most part but then they knew which plane flew to the Arctic or how to make a ladder from bamboo and that just made it hard for me to enjoy.
Side note: after reading other reviews where people were expected Little Polar Bear and the Pandas but actually got Little Polar Bear- Where Are You?, I just want to mention that the book I read was in fact about Little Polar Bear and the Pandas haha ( I got the book from the local library, not an ARC).
September 2, 2020
Review to be added to Amazon US and UK on 2nd February 2021 – publication day!
I read this book yesterday and I have to say that the illustrations are lovely.
I liked the story and it was easy to follow and understand but it was a little sad too and I liked how the author was able to add in to the story the aspects of global warming without laying it on too thick so it mean that I was able to explain what this is to my daughter and what we can do to try and help.
The little characters were great and I really enjoyed this one as a mum too. It is just the type of book that I want to be reading and enjoying with my daughter.
It is 4 stars from me for this one, highly recommended!
I read this book yesterday and I have to say that the illustrations are lovely.
I liked the story and it was easy to follow and understand but it was a little sad too and I liked how the author was able to add in to the story the aspects of global warming without laying it on too thick so it mean that I was able to explain what this is to my daughter and what we can do to try and help.
The little characters were great and I really enjoyed this one as a mum too. It is just the type of book that I want to be reading and enjoying with my daughter.
It is 4 stars from me for this one, highly recommended!
December 24, 2020
When I opened the book, it was The Little Polar Bear - Where are you going, Lars? So this is not a review of the polar bear in China. I thought I downloaded the wrong book, but actually every member of Netgalley received the same thing.
So here is my opinion of the book. I do love the illustrations. Those are the very first thing attracted me to this book. A cute polar bear!
In this book, Lars the polar cub was lost in the sea, and went to an unknown land. There he met animals he never met before, but though he is small, he showed the courage to go back home by himself.
I enjoyed the book, and believe that the book meant for older kids or to be read aloud by parents.
So here is my opinion of the book. I do love the illustrations. Those are the very first thing attracted me to this book. A cute polar bear!
In this book, Lars the polar cub was lost in the sea, and went to an unknown land. There he met animals he never met before, but though he is small, he showed the courage to go back home by himself.
I enjoyed the book, and believe that the book meant for older kids or to be read aloud by parents.
August 30, 2020
A big thank you to NetGalley and North South Books, Inc. for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. The incorrect file was uploaded in all formats. The old that We were given Little Polar Bear, Where are you going? This is the English/Spanish While this is not the book I was expecting, the graphics are beautiful and the story cute. I have read it before. I am of sure how to rate, it as it is the incorrect file. Since it is the incorrect file 2 stars but I will gladly change if I get the correct book.
August 26, 2020
I didn't like this one. The illustrations were pretty and I like the dual language story. My problem with it is more from the editing department. The story is way too long for the readers age. The text is way too small. The balance and canvas of text vs illustrations doesn't seem to fit and even if that might look like details for some, those details, for me, made the difference between really diving deep into a book or just loose attention and want to drop it. Sorry, but nope!
September 29, 2020
This one wasn't really a favorite of mine. It seemed like it had a lot of information which isn't necessarily a bad thing but when it comes to reading to littles their attention spans may not be the best for such long books. The things I did like were the illustrations & that it was also translated into spanish. It wasn't a bad childrens book by any means it was very good but it just seemed a but longer than most books we pick.
August 31, 2020
I know this was just the edition on NteGalley, but I thought I should just mention that there were many mistakes in the English (missing letters and such).
Overall though I enjoyed the story and think it would be a very good story to learn a second language with. As someone who speaks Japanese and English I can attest to that. Short stories are a great way to learn about a language.
Overall though I enjoyed the story and think it would be a very good story to learn a second language with. As someone who speaks Japanese and English I can attest to that. Short stories are a great way to learn about a language.
September 6, 2020
Little Polar Bear and the Pandas by Hans de Beer is a very cute polar bear that tries to find his way home after drifting away on an iceberg. I think children would enjoy reading about the animals he meets on his journey.
August 15, 2023
This one doesn't seem to have the same environmental message the other books do. Super cute though, when he shows his parents how to be a panda!
March 22, 2025
Mooi voorleesboek. Wel in twee keer gelezen omdat het anders iets te lang was voor de kleine. Mooie tekeningen.
August 17, 2025
grappig en mooi om te lezen
September 13, 2020
Tells the story of a little polar bear named Lars whose father is teaching him how to swim for the first time. Lars lives in the North Pole surrounding snow and ice.
The following day Lars wakes up to find his dad gone. He finds himself alone on a little island of ice. Suddenly his ice floe starts getting smaller, and he sees a barrel floating towards him and he quickly hangs onto it.
Lars finds himself drifting towards dry land where he meets some animal friends who promise to take him back to the North Pole.
A charming story. Perfect for kids.
Thank you to Hans de Beer, NetGalley, and NorthSouth Books for an ARC of this book
The following day Lars wakes up to find his dad gone. He finds himself alone on a little island of ice. Suddenly his ice floe starts getting smaller, and he sees a barrel floating towards him and he quickly hangs onto it.
Lars finds himself drifting towards dry land where he meets some animal friends who promise to take him back to the North Pole.
A charming story. Perfect for kids.
Thank you to Hans de Beer, NetGalley, and NorthSouth Books for an ARC of this book
September 10, 2020
"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
I like the English and Spanish together, it's a great learning tool. The story was sweet and the pictures enhanced it.
I like the English and Spanish together, it's a great learning tool. The story was sweet and the pictures enhanced it.
March 29, 2021
Prachtig boek! Minpuntje dat de panda’s er weinig in voorkomen en het een enigszins abrupt einde heeft.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews