Polar Bear Bowler: A Story Without Words

by Karl Beckstrand, Ashley Sanborn (Illustrator)

Overview

"Charming.... Sanborn's cartooning is full of...polish and physical comedy" - Publisher's Weekly.

The rollicking adventures of a polar bear who hitches a ride to Antarctica. He's never seen penguins before; to him they look like something fun to play with.

Children cement their vocabulary as they find and name animals and describe/write the story. Get this wordless picture book on differences, cooperation, and getting along (for beginning readers ages 2 - 6, preschool - 1st grade, Emergent Reader/Fountas & Pinnell: A, DRA: 1). Find the sea lion/seal inside!

"Kids will delight" - Natasha Yim. A friendly snowball fight set in the poles and brought to life by illustrator Ashley Sanborn (The Dancing Flamingos of Lake Chimichanga and If Cancer Was a Fish). 8"x10" snow story by best-selling, award-winning author and media professor Karl Beckstrand (Why Juan Can't Sleep--see 60+ multicultural books--click Karl Beckstrand above).

#1, Stories Without Words (bedtime) series. See others in this no-words series: Butterfly Blink and Gopher Golf. This children's book on friendship, cooperation, and sportsmanship is available in hard cover, soft cover, or e-book in 20+ languages: Bulgarian, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukranian, and Vietnamese.

The perfect length book for kids (not too long for adults): 30 full-color illustrations. Premio Publishing & Gozo Books (worldwide rights © Nov. 2014) PremioBooks, libraries, and all major distributors. LCCN: 2014947746, JUV002030, JUV030120, JUV019000, HUM001000, JUV010000, SPO007000, English Hard ISBN: 978-0985398835, Soft ISBN: 978-0692220962 (ebook: 978-1311262097)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781503249141
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	11/15/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.08(d)
Language:	Vietnamese

About the Author

Karl Beckstrand is the freckle-faced author of 16 books and more than 40 ebooks. Raised in San Jose, CA, USA, he received a B.A. in journalism from BYU and an M.A. in international relations from APU. A publisher with traditional and digital publishing experience, Beckstrand speaks about both kinds of publishing. He has presented to Taiwan's Global Leadership for Youth, city and state governments, library and humanities organizations, festivals and schools. He has lived abroad and enjoys volleyball and kayaking (usually not at the same time). Beckstrand's nationally-lauded activity books, Spanish & bilingual books (with pronunciation guide), ebook mysteries, and nonfiction stories feature characters of color and usually end with a twist. His work has appeared in: Barnes & Noble, Border's Books, Deseret Book, Costco, Kindle/Nook/iBooks, Amazon, The Children's Miracle Network, LDS Film Festival, U.S. Congressional Record, and Papercrafts Magazine. http://GozoBooks.com, https://www.facebook.com/KarlBeckstrand.AuthorSpeaker, http://KarlBeckstrand.com

Editorial Reviews

02/05/2018
In a charming wordless story, a polar bear climbs aboard a boat and hitches a ride down to Antarctica. After clambering up onto an ice sheet, the bear spies three distant shapes that resemble bowling pins and begins to roll a snowball. Readers may guess (correctly) that the bowling pins are actually penguins, and after one of them gets hit by the polar bear’s first throw, the birds pummel the bear with snowballs that pile up to create an igloo to trap him. Sanborn’s cartooning is full of these kinds of rapid-fire gags, which give the animals’ back-and-forth games the feel of classic cartoon battles between the likes of Tom and Jerry or Sylvester and Tweety. It’s all in good fun, though, and eventually the bear uses his bulk to create a bowling lane that they can all play on—one that uses pins made of snow, not birds. The story ends abruptly (a seal pops up in the bowling lane, suggesting a new player may be joining the party), but the polish and physical comedy of Sanborn’s images more than compensate. Ages 4–8. (BookLife)

Publishers Weekly

“Charming wordless story. … Sanborn’s cartooning is full of … polish and physical comedy.” – Publisher’s Weekly.

“The soft, muted colors are simple, yet alluring, and bear’s expressions aptly portray a range of emotions from puzzlement to mirth to mischief. … kids will delight in polar bear’s and penguins’ antics and be charmed by this appealing story.” - Author Natasha Yim “I love wordless stories. I enjoyed reading this book and the way the illustrations not only tell the story, but they help the reader predict what is going to happen. Wordless picture books are great for working with ESL or reluctant readers because they can figure out their own narration and practice the components of telling a story. I also love the humor and goofiness. ... I can't wait to share this with the kids in my library.” - Allison Madsen, bookgirlut “Polar Bear Bowler: A Story Without Words is a fun book for parents to share with their children. The pictures show action, emotions, and relationships. I think children will love making up their own stories to go with the illustrations.” - Author Connie Walker “Such a fun book! I laughed out loud just reading it by myself. My kids love it too! I love that the story is told through the pictures. Wonderful and beautiful!” - Rachel Billingson “This is a fun, easy to follow, picture story--and the illustrations are darling. My grandkids will love telling the story about the bear and the penguins in their own words, Japanese or English.” – H. Lowry “This is an excellent picture book with no words - the kids I got this for loved it and were telling each other stories about it. The 8 year old loved the illustrations and how well done they are! A definite must for everyone!” – Mae “I love the dialogue created with my child about conflict resolution and treating others kindly. The seal popping up at the end opens the door for new friends and new games. My two year old loves the pictures and telling the story in her own words. The teacher in me loves the fact that I can teach geography in such a simple way as well.” - Miquel Hamilton “POLAR BEAR BOWLER is a wordless picture book about a polar bear that stows away on a ship from near Greenland and travels to Antarctica. There he runs into some penguins that he mistakes for bowling pins. The penguins don't take kindly to this and soon the creatures are in a snowball fight. Later, the penguins play a trick on the polar bear. The feud continues until the polar bear thinks of a great idea to bring them together. There are a few panels in the story that are confusing but other than that, POLAR BEAR BOWLER is a cute little story.” tvtv3 TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE VOICE

From the Publisher