Jennifer Bove - I Wish I Was a Polar Bear

What if you wished you were
a polar bear?
Then you became a polar bear cub.
Could you eat like a polar bear?
Play like a polar bear?
Grow up with a polar bear mom?
And would you want to? Find out!

Where would you live?
Polar bears live near the North Pole
in a region called the Arctic.
The Arctic is a cold, dry place.

Arctic land has very few trees.
It is called tundra.
The sea is frozen most of the year.

Would you like to live in
a land with lots of ice?

What would your family be like?
Polar bear families are small.
Most families have one mother bear
and two cubs.

Fathers and other polar bears
do not live with a family.
Adult polar bears spend
most of their time alone.

A mother polar bear
digs a den in the snow.
She crawls inside to give birth.
Falling snow covers the den opening.

Newborn cubs cuddle with their mom.
They drink her milk and grow bigger.
In the spring, the mother bear digs
a hole out of the deep snow.

The cubs see the snowy Arctic
for the first time.
Its time to explore
and learn to be a polar bear.

Do you ever explore
your neighborhood?

How would you learn to be a cub?
Like other young animals,
polar bear cubs learn by playing.
Wrestling helps them learn
to protect themselves
and their food from other bears.

Polar bears have no enemies
except other polar bears.
Cubs must learn to fight in case
they need to defend themselves.

What have you
learned from
watching a grown- up?

Polar bear cubs also learn
by watching their mother.
They copy everything she does.

Cubs follow their mother
when she hunts.
The cubs learn to swim
by hopping in and out
of the icy sea like their mom.

What would you eat?
Polar bears are carnivores.
That means they eat only meat.
Their favorite food is seal meat.
Polar bears hunt for seals
on the sea ice.

How would you talk?
Polar bears are usually quiet.
They touch noses to say Hi.
Cubs wag their heads from side to side
to say Lets play!

When a polar bear is upset,
it may growl, roar, or chuff.
A chuff is a loud puff of breath
to say Stay away!

Where would you sleep?
Polar bears nap often,
but they dont have beds.
Sleepy polar bears lie down
on the cold snow to snooze.

Would you want to
nap on the snow?

How would growing up change you?
Polar bears stay with their mother
for about three years.
By then, theyve become big bears.
They are ready to leave their mom
and live on their own.

Adult bears live by themselves.
They travel, hunt, and sleep alone.
They arent lonely, though.
A quiet life in the Arctic
is perfect for a polar bear.

Being a polar bear could be cool.
In fact, it would be cold!
Do you want to live in the Arctic?
Eat seal meat?
Dive into icy water?