Ice is happy living in the North Pole, and is therefore worried about moving away. She has lots of good friends already, but her mother’s new job requires that they move. Many children will relate to this, whether they are relocating to a new school, or a new town or even a new country.
Ice deals with her move stoically, but she is sad. The climate is different, the food is different, and even the language is different! Ice tries to make the best of it: she decorates her room, and attempts to make friends, but everyone seems too busy to talk to her.
Just when she is feeling thoroughly fed up, Ice finds that all her new friends have been busy preparing a surprise party especially for her! A North Pole party in the jungle, to make her feel at home.
This is a lovely story about how, whilst a move like Ice’s can be very daunting, it can also be an adventure, and there are friends to be found everywhere!
Categories: Being Different & Being Yourself, Moving House, Resilience / adaptability, Starting School
Ice in the Jungle
Ice the little polar bear cub suddenly has to move from her North Pole home to a new life in the jungle when her mother gets a new job. Ice is understandably upset, and finds the new place very unfamiliar. She misses her friends. But with time, and through the kindness of others, she settles in to her new life just fine.
Author: Ariane Hofmann-Maniyar
Illustrator: Ariane Hofmann-Maniyar
Publisher: Child's Play
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The messages we found in this book:
Acknowledgement:
- Moving away from friends and all that is familiar is a daunting prospect for most children.
- A child will understandably be worried about starting a new school, and whether they will succeed in making new friends.
- Moving to a new country where you don’t speak the language can cause anxiety.
Guidance:
- Trying to get involved with others and making an effort to generate new friendships may seem hard at first, but it is a good strategy.
- By keeping certain little things familiar, like toys and frequent, reassuring hugs, a bigger change may seem less daunting.
Hope & Inspiration:
Ice the polar bear cub does find her move unsettling in the beginning, but before too long, she makes new friends and is happy in her new home. With a bit of perseverance and plenty of familiar hugs from her mother, Ice soon settles in and is happy with her new life.
Worth noting:
Poor Ice doesn’t even speak the same language as the pupils in her new school, and so this presents an even greater challenge for her, when she tries to make new friends.
Review by: Rebecca Seymour