Fiction: Picture Book Dabcovich, Lydia The Polar Bear Son: An Inuit Tale. Illust. by Lydia Dabcovich. Houghton Mifflin, 1997. 37p.Primary/Intermediate In this gentle story, an old Inuit village woman finds an orphaned polar bear cub and raises him. When he grows up he provides for her even after he has been sent away to escape jealous hunters. Soft, watercolor illustrations accompany narrative, flowing text with theme of sharing. AK: Inuit village, polar bear Activity: Ask children if they have ever seen a polar bear. If so, where was it and what was it like?

In this retelling of a traditional Inuit tale, a lonely old woman adopts, cares for, and raises a polar bear as if he were her own son. She feeds him with a bottle, and overall cares for him like a human baby. When he is older, he is able to provide for the old lady by using his natural hunting skills. The old lady always shares the fish that her polar catches, but jealous villagers still threaten the bear's life, and force him to leave his home and his "mother,"