A nonfiction companion to polar bears past bedtime

A book that explores the contributions of a non-western culture is called Polar Bears in the Arctic. It is a Magic Tree House Research Guide that discusses life in the Arctic and how Polar Bears as well as people have survived there for thousands of years. The book is written by sisters named Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce. Through their research when writing this book, they have become more aware of the effect of global warming on the animals in the Arctic. The book is illustrated by Sal Murdocca. This book is appropriate for second grade through fifth grade readers.
The book starts out explaining where the Arctic Circle is and why it is so cold there. The book touches on geographical facts about the location of the equator, North Pole, South Pole, and types of landforms found in the Arctic. The tilt of the earth and its relationship to the sun play a large factor in the temperature at the Arctic Circle.
The book goes on to tell about the animals and Arctic people that have lived there for thousands of years. These first people of the Arctic are often referred to as Eskimos, but today they would prefer to be called the Inuit of Canada or Greenland and the Yup’ik of Alaska. They survived by hunting and eating animals, fishing, and by making their own boats, sleds, houses and clothes. For example, these native people of the Arctic have used animal skins to make clothes and boats. They sewed with needles carved from animal bones and thread made of animal tendons. They did not travel by car because they did not have roads. They made dogsleds out of wood and animal bones to transport people around the arctic. Despite many changes and the availability of gas, oil, fish and minerals, many Arctic natives prefer to live like their ancestors did and follow the same customs and are proud to be related to the first people to live in the Arctic.
The book describes the animal life in the Arctic. The polar bear, whale, hare, fox, weasel, lemming, wolverine, wolf, seal, narwhal, walrus, all live in the Arctic and each has their own way of surviving the freezing cold weather. The book talks about the animals that hibernate, and the ones that migrate to warmer weather when the temperatures drop too low. It also talks about the effects of global warming on the animal life in the Arctic.
I would use this book with a science lesson on animal life around the world. I would also use it as part of a study on how native people of the Arctic lived. They did not use modern conveniences to survive. They made all of their own things out of animal skins, bone, or items from nature. I would also use it to illustrate the effects of global warming. ( )

GR: Q
GL: 4.3
DRA: 40
Lexile: 730L