Polar: The Titanic Bear

by Daisy Corning Stone Spedden, Laurie McGaw (Illustrator)

A story of a boy, his teddy bear, and their escape the Titanic's sinking, originally told to the boy by his mother shortly after their family's escape from that tragedy, features beautiful illustrations and a fascinating glimpse into the past.

Genres: History, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Animals, Juvenile, Realistic Fiction

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the title, this book is much more about Polar's 'life' *before* the Titanic. Perhaps it should be titled "Polar the bear of a fabulously wealthy boy in a bygone era, who happened to survive the sinking of the Titanic." It contains too much mundane and disconnected detail early on to maintain the attention of a young listener (even a 7yo with a keen interest in the Titanic). For example, do we need to know how long they stayed in each exotic locale and that they celebrated Washington's birthday? And why tell us that master is obsessed with the height and length of things (Eiffel Tower, p 31) if you're not going to follow up with stats of the Titanic? Perhaps it would have been the right length if it had started when they boarded the ill-fated ship (page 32 of 52).

The art combines historic photographs and ephemera with watercolors that are a bit too fussy for my tastes. I also don't like how it's written from the perspective of the bear. I was interested in the intro and the epilogue, with glimpses into the family who owned the bear, but not the main body of the book.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Polar" would be a great addition to any library's section on the Titanic disaster. Written by an actual survivor of the doomed ship, the story of a wealthy New York family who sailed aboard the Titanic is told from the perspective of a stuffed bear that was the favorite toy of her young son Douglas Spedden. Photographs from the family's collection as well as newspaper clippings and the like are the major component of the book's illustrations, but watercolors by Laurie McGaw fill in nicely to create a fabulous book for those in grades 3-6 as well as history fans of all ages. Published in 1994, this one may not be easy to find, but librarians looking to expand their 910.912 Dewey space would do well to search for it.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a total history nerd, and I love every single thing that I read about the Titanic. I have never before heard this story, and now I am really curious as to where that bear actually ended up. What a story! Wherever that bear ended up, which is still a mystery, I hope that whoever has it knows what a piece of history they are holding! If you love history or the Titanic as much as I do, you will LOVE this book so much!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

While poking through items stored in an old attic, Leighton Coleman found a little journal written by his relative, Daisy Spedden, to her young son, Douglas. The story is about Douglas and his bear named Polar. Polar traveled the world with the wealthy Spedden family. Polar recounts their adventures which include their ill fated voyage on and rescue from the Titanic. This charming little book includes photos from the Spedden family album as well as watercolor drawings which give the reader a glimpse of what life was like at the turn of the last century.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history book told via the adventures of a stuffed bear whose 'Master' is a young boy from a very wealthy family. These people didn't think much about the lower classes, but apparently, according to the back matter, the disaster of the Titanic woke them up when they realized that so few people from steerage had been saved, and some progress has been made since.

I found the tale charming, the pictures lovely, and the photographs and other 'snapshots' of history enlightening. Best for ages 8 up, tbh, as it is long and some of the themes are complex/sophisticated.

[Holly Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very easy way to introduce young children to a horrible disaster and let them learn a small bit about it. Told as seen through the eyes of a young boy's bear it tells the story of a family's life in the early 1900's up to and including the disastrous sinking of *The Titanic* and the rescue of passengers and crew members from the life boats afterwards...Then coming home again to New York and continuing on with life... Very well done

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love anything to do with the titanic but this was all about the relationship between a boy and his bear and the journey of the bear. It was ok but it is definately not a children's book that I would read to mine. I think it would bore them to sleep, so maybe it would be a good book to read lol.

[Ellenjsmellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I had my son, there was a local middle school that raised money to buy books. Those books were to be given to every single mother who delivered a baby at my hospital. My son and I were the first recipients of that book. What a great idea.

[Sina & Ilona Glimmerfee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dies ist die wahre Geschichte eines kleinen Eisbären aus dem Hause Steiff, der mit seinem jungen Herrn auf Reisen geht. Der Höhepunkt der Reise war die Rückfahrt auf der luxuriösen Titanic, die so ganz anders endete als sich irgendjemand vorstellen konnte.

Das Buch ist wunderschön illustriert und die zugefügten Fotos aus dem Fotoalbum der Familie Spedden, deren Geschichte hier erzählt wird. Das Buch ist auch ein schönes Porträt einer Zeit des absoluten Luxus und Müßiggangs und bitterer Armut auf der anderen Seite, die den meisten Passagieren der Dritten Klasse auf der Titanic das Leben kostete. Keine Angst, die Familie Spedden überlebte das Unglück. Ich fand das Buch sehr schön zum Ansehen, aber doch auch sehr traurig.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Einfach ein liebes Buch über einen Teddybären auf der Titanic :-)

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

My library had a presentation on the Titanic back in 2018, and a woman came and talked about the ship and how she went on its 100th anniversary cruise. She also had a life vest from then, and everyone got to touch a little piece of coal brought up from the wreck. It was a cool experience.
This was one of the books she mentioned, and I've been meaning to read it since.

It was cute how Douglas called his nurse Margaret Burns Muddie Boons cause he couldn't pronounce her name.

His family traveled all over the world. One of the places they went to was the Panama Canal. It would be cool to say you saw the Panama Canal being built.

I liked the image of them and Polar waving to the aeroplane. It was a novelty to see them flying then apparently.

Boys sailed their sailboats in a fountain in Paris. 
It was funny how Douglas was always saying the height and length of things.

I just read A Night to Remember, with a boy saying "Look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it" to his mom. I was shocked it turned out to be Douglas!! How cute. But in here it was told to his nurse, 'Muddie Boons.'

The little bear was almost left in the boats. A sailor aboard the Titanic recognized him and brought him to the passengers and Douglas recognized him. However, nothing was mentioned of the bear in A Night to Remember. I guess it wasn't important enough. I wondered if he was also the kid who asked for cocoa instead of coffee on board the Carpathia.

It shows the telegram his dad sent to their family on board the Carpathia, letting them know they're all all right, which was really cool, even though it was hard to read.  

It was nice his mother and nurse helped cut up blankets for hours so other passengers without clothes could use them as clothing.

The Nomadic, which took the Speddens to the Titanic is used as a restaurant on the Seine in Paris, and some of the original interiors of the only White Star ship still exist today. I can't believe that's the only White Star ship left.

His mom kept meticulous diaries from her travels. I liked hearing her account of the shipwreck. She said it was torn in two, which A Night to Remember didn't mention. 

Her and her husband became friends of the captain of the Carpathian, Arthur Rostron, after all their help to the survivors. People complained that the steerage were rescued, as if they weren't people.

I was so saddened to hear Douglas died a few years later, when he was nine, in a car accident at their home in Maine. He was one of the first car accidents in the state. No one knows what happened to Polar, the bear. Daisy stopped writing in her diary after her son passed. But her and her husband both lived long lives and died a few years apart.

I'm glad I finally read this. It skips over the grisly details and brushes over the sinking in a few sentences. Definitely for the best in a kid's book. The images were good, especially of the Titanic sinking at night, and of the family in the boat. And the painting of the Titanic with the lights reflecting on the night sea towards the end of the book.
The author is a relative of Daisy, Douglas' mother. Although it's more of a book on the family, it would be nice introductory book for kids who want to learn about the Titanic.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a first-hand account of survivor from Titanic. A story wrote by a mother to her son who fell asleep on the live boat when Titanic went down. It's sad to learn in the epilogue that the son was dead a year later the book was written in a car accident, which was one of the first automobile accidents in the States. The mother and father lived a long life for three more decades.

[Lauren Loutzenhiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

My greatest "accidental" find.... I would give this more than 5 stars if I could! This is a childrens' book, but adults will probably appreciate it more. Not only is this an incredible story (don't forget to find out what happens to "Master" - this is divulged only in the bigger hardcover edition) but the accompanying watercolor illustrations are fabulous! Run to your library and find this book!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My girls & I really liked this book. It was interesting how it was told from the bears perspective. I liked how they included some history, before & after, about the family that the bear belonged to. The illustrations were very nice & the pictures of actual photos of the family add a nice touch to the book. This would make an excellent basis for a study of history. There is so many things/places - foreign & US - that you could study, just from the places & events that take place in this book.

[Smurf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I had limited time to read this in my Children's Literature class, so I mostly had to skim through the story. But I would love to take the time to sit down and read it all the way through because I am fascinated by the Titanic. I was interested to discover that this story was not written by an author from our generation; it was actually written by the nanny who knew the Titanic story personally. The characters in the book are actual people. There are some actual photos of the family and the Titanic throughout the book. It is a long picture book, with lots of words on a page and lots of pages. But it was very interesting and not in the least bit boring. It provides a good perspective of what happens to the Titanic survivors before, during, and after the event as opposed to so many other stories that simply describe the tragedy itself. I will definitely be reading this book again.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is non-fiction, I would say, but it's also told from the bear's point of view, just fyi.

I loved the mix of illustrations and photographs in this book. I don't think I'd ever seen an account from aboard the Carpathia after it picked up passengers, so that was really cool. I'm struggling to decide where to put this in my library. It's currently housed at the 6-12 building, but I'm thinking that the 3-5 crowd might like it a bit more. But I think that's the age group that I am presently the most clueless about.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mother of the bear's owner penned this autobiography of the bear, mainly about their travels together which includes surviving the sinking of the Titanic.

This works better as something historically interesting than as a children's book, being very wordy and with a lot of unnecessary details.

For the history, the photos and the tiny bit of information about the time on the Carpathia - including knowing that there were some steerage passengers and crew on there - is pretty interesting.

[Bridget Bandach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this amongst some children's books I was going through. It is supposed to be a true story based on the viewpoint of the little boy's stuffed polar bear's journey on the Titanic. It does give some factual information with pictures about the Titanic as well as ships and places he was prior to the Titanic. Cute story, but the most intersting part was seeing some of the pictures in regards to the Titanic.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the true story of a stuffed polar bear — told from the bear's point of view — who accompanied his young Master on his travels, including the ill-fated voyage of The Titanic. Lavishly illustrated with drawings, period postcards, and family photographs it presents a picture of a long-lost time period. Highly recommended.

[Haley Muench · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was obsessed with the Titanic when I was younger, and I feel as if this is a good book to introduce the topic of the boat to small children. It’s a book about a small boy and the stuffed bear that he named Polar. In the end they survived the sinking of the Titanic and Polar was then cherished more by the little boy because he was almost lost at sea.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked the realistic illustrations and mix of photographs. The story wasn’t so much about the Titanic as the title suggests and I’m not sure this would be a good introduction for those who don’t know about the Titanic. I liked how this was based on the family history of the author.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a story that my stuffed animal loving kid would have LOVED back when she was young. But --
if you are considering reading to a sensitive child - check out the not-so-happy real life ending in the epilogue first (and spoiler alert - it isn't about the Titanic.)

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some new-to-me information about the titanic. My children enjoyed this book as well but only gave it 4 stars because it made them sad. They appreciated the story or polar intermixed with history.

[Valencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book! I loved the illustrations mixed with the actual photographs. This was a very interesting story.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read for children and adults alike. Beautiful illustrations and paintings, authentic, historical photographs. A must-have for book lovers & historians as well.

[Miss P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check my review here: https://darlingilovebooks.blogspot.co...

[Maeve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A true story about a stuffed polar bear who traveled the world with its master...a young boy named Douglas. The family was on the Titanic, but survived.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

⁷

[Kira Asay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to the history of the Titanic, as well as pre WW1 life.