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What We're Reading

PlayFair is not all about toys - we also have a full service book section in our stores. Here's a peek at some of our favorite books. Enjoy!

I admit that I have very personal reasons for loving Jan Brett's newest book, The Three Snow Bears. I have spent much of my life in the Arctic studying the environment and the relationships among its wildlife, plants, and people. And so I understand what Jan Brett means when she says, "If I had another life to live I would consider Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. It's one of the last wild places. The Inuit culture is a window into human resourcefulness. The landscape is majestic and dangerous. The wildlife, polar bears, narwhal, and snowy owls are among the most fabled and exquisite." Exquisite, indeed, as this lovely book is exquisite.

Jan Brett traveled to the Nunavut Canadian Territorial capital of Iqaluit to research The Three Snow Bears, her stunningly beautiful retelling of the "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" story. In this arctic version, young Aloo-Ki is out fishing on the ice when her dog team floats away from her on an ice floe. While looking for them, she comes upon a lovely igloo, home of a polar bear family of 3. You know the basics of the rest of the story, I'm sure (although this version has a particularly sweet ending). Jan Brett has a unique way of capturing the heart of a situation with her art, and this is no exception. She keeps a story line extremely simple while weaving a rich tapestry with pictures. So when Aloo-Ki stands in front the bears' igloo in the centerfold, we see hints of the dogs' adventure on the left and the three snow bears on the right.

Brett's work is not only beautiful and captivating but timely. The arctic ice caps, home of the polar bears, are disappearing quickly. Letting children experience the magic of this landscape through literature is a key to helping them understand their own role in saving it.

I invite you to take a peek through a Jan-Brett's-eye view of this magical landscape in The Three Snow Bears.