Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1287464 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Debi Gliori is an incredibly talented illustrator whose work has the startling ability to transform complex ideas into simple thoughts that are soothing in the extreme. In Polar Bolero she takes that talent, and turns her attention to bedtime, with a little polar bear struggling to snuggle down to sleep. His imagination runs wild and he heads off for adventure in the night until, exhausted, he arrives back in his bedroom just in time to be kissed goodnight by his mother.

Gliori lets her imagination run riot through bold illustrations while her gentle, rhythmic text transports the reader into a magical, dreamy place where all is well with the world. A fantastic picture book for any time of the day, Polar Bolero surpasses itself as a bedtime book and has the potential to become a true classic for parents and small children to enjoy in their quiet moments together. Age 2-5 years --Susan Harrison

Synopsis
A fantastical dream-like story about a young polar bear who can't get to sleep. He goes outside and meets his friends on the hillside. At midnight, by the light of the moon, they dance the Polar Bolero.

Customer Reviews

I liked it, but it was only a maybe with the kids.
The editor's review says you will be taken to 'a magical, dreamy place where all is well with the world'. And I probably was. It is gentle and lyrical. The pages are large and the illustrations complex, and this perhaps was the problem. I bought this for my daughter's second birthday, but it hasn't been a great hit. An avid book reader, any new book has to be read twice, sometimes three times, but not this one. I feel she didn't understand it very well, and nearly a year on doesn't seem much keener. I feel it may be better for a 6 - 8 yr old, but as my 3 yr old is my oldest, I can't be sure.

Beautiful Bedtime Book
This is my favorite book when reading bedtime stories to my two year old daughter. The illustrations are full of imagination and cover each page. The story is about a little bear who cannot get to sleep and so meets other wide awake friends to dance the Polar Bolero after which he begins to feel sleepy and flies back home to the big bear who hugs and kisses him as he falls asleep. I practically know it by heart already!

Rythym and cuddles
My two year old son loves this book, and so do we. It is wonderful to read aloud -- full of clever rhymes and changes in pace. My son loves that the "polar bolero", as he calls the hero, lives in a house that looks like a fridge. Unable to sleep, he walks "out the door, through the gate" and meets up with all sorts of beautifully drawn animals on "hill where the wide-awake meet".
After his all too brief adventures, the pace slows and the polar bear return home for a hug and a kiss -- too good an opportunity to miss with a small boy on your lap.
Definitely a book to own or give to a special friend -- not just one to borrow from the library. And yes, you can learn it off my heart and all enjoy reciting it in the car, even though this means you miss the wonderful pictures.