POE AND LARS

Poe is a little girl who lives in the frozen Arctic, all by herself.

Although she loves her home and can entertain herself with her big imagination, she still gets lonely. One day, the roof of her home—an A-frame made of ice blocks—collapses in on itself. The culprit is a polar bear named Lars who suffers from constant hunger. Lars loves to eat, but, unfortunately, he is a terrible hunter. Thinking that she’s easy prey, Lars tries to eat Poe. Feisty Poe escapes Lars’ jaws and makes a deal. She says that she’ll find Lars food if he repairs her house. Lars—who at this point is starving—quickly agrees. Although Lars is not great at repairing roofs, it turns out that Poe is a talented angler. But when Poe is in danger, Lars must decide what is more important to him: a net full of juicy fish or Poe’s potentially life-changing friendship. The author expertly balances humor, suspense, and whimsy, fleshing out complex characters in just a few pages. The illustrations employ a gorgeous color palette that perfectly reflects the pastel hues of the Arctic, backgrounding the slapstick. Lars is comically unibrowed; Poe has brown skin and wears a yellow knit cap with red pompom. The author’s note mentions climate change, which plays a clear if minor role in the story, and Indigenous people, which are absent.

A lighthearted friendship tale.