Emma, depicted at the outset of the story as a polar bear cub, wakes one morning in her ice-cavern bedroom, her mother calling her to breakfast. Anticipating a feast of berries, seaweed, and fish, Emma sets out, following her nose up icy cliffs, down slippery slopes, across shimmering plains, and over jagged crevasses. Along the way, she encounters a bristly, tusked walrus intent on stealing her meal. They roll and tumble, but Emma wins out. She claims her delectable prize, which turns out to be… pancakes. Though skeptical of the human breakfast staple in polar-bear form, Emma as a blonde human girl finds them delicious. She and her brother polish off their meal and go to play some more. (“LEFT PAW, RIGHT PAW, LEFT PAW AGAIN, repeating her steps till she reached the end.”) Blough narrates Emma’s story via a straightforward, loosely rhymed text placed strategically amid the unfolding action and rendered bold and EXTRA-LARGE where emphasis demands. Mongodi, making sublime use of subdued, arctic colors, provides a two-page spread of digital illustrations that sparkle with a sense of place and personality. Capturing the essence of traditional acrylic and oil paintings, these images render bear-cub Emma a most delightful and expressive protagonist, transforming her imaginings into wondrous works of art. Young readers will thrill and tumble along to the denouement.
