Ice Walker: A Polar Bear's Journey through the Fragile Arctic

by James Raffan

From bestselling author James Raffan comes an enlightening and original story about a polar bear’s precarious existence in the changing Arctic, reminiscent of John Vaillant’s The Golden Spruce.Nanurjuk, “the bear-spirited one,” is hunting for seals on Hudson Bay, where ice never lasts more than one season. For her and her young, everything is in flux. From the top of the world, Hudson Bay looks like an enormous paw print on the torso of the continent, and through a vast network of lakes and rivers, this bay connects to oceans across the globe. Here, at the heart of everything, walks Nanurjuk, or Nanu, one polar bear among the six thousand that traverse the 1.23 million square kilometers of ice and snow covering the bay. For millennia, Nanu’s ancestors have roamed this great expanse, living, evolving, and surviving alongside human beings in one of the most challenging and unforgiving habitats on earth. But that world is changing. In the Arctic’s lands and waters, oil has been extracted—and spilled. As global temperatures have risen, the sea ice that Nanu and her young need to hunt seal and fish has melted, forcing them to wait on land where the delicate balance between them and their two-legged neighbors has now shifted. This is the icescape that author and geographer James Raffan invites us to inhabit in Ice Walker. In precise and provocative prose, he brings readers inside Nanu’s world as she treks uncertainly around the heart of Hudson Bay, searching for nourishment for the children that grow inside her. She stops at nothing to protect her cubs from the dangers she can see—other bears, wolves, whales, human beings—and those she cannot. By focusing his lens on this bear family, Raffan closes the gap between humans and bears, showing us how, like the water of the Hudson Bay, our existence—and our future—is tied to Nanu’s. He asks us to consider what might be done about this fragile world before it is gone for good. Masterful, vivid, and haunting, Ice Walker is an utterly unique piece of creative nonfiction and a deeply affecting call to action.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Nature, Science, Environment, Canada

183 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2020

Reviews

[theliterateleprechaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Raffan invites us inside a 7-year-old female polar bear’s world as she treks Hudson Bay - one of the most challenging and unforgiving habitats on Earth.

I absolutely LOVED getting a bear’s eye view of the Arctic and thought this point of view was stellar because it definitely made the world seem smaller and also made me realize that my future is tied to Nanurjuk’s (or Nanu’s).

Nanu is just one of the 6000 polar bears that roam the one million square kilometers of ice and snow surrounding the bay. However, this creative non-fiction story reveals that what one is experiencing is the experience of all … and even more than that…what happens to Nanu is caused by us. When sea ice melts, it makes it almost impossible for these creatures to hunt the seal and fish the way they used to do it. Now, they need to wait on the land and this creates a different challenge; they are now more accessible to humans.

Grab your tissues.

[... · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ice Walker follows Nanurjuk and her cubs over two years of life in the rapidly changing Arctic. Nanu is not a particular bear that was studied or observed, but rather a blend of natural and cultural history of the polar bear, woven into a story from the bear's point of view. The creativity of it - and the beauty of the writing - doesn't take away its nonfiction status.

In a lot of ways I've carried a debt to Huxley, who taught me a lot.

Huxley was a captive polar bear that James Raffan worked with in the 1970s, and that experience made him give up on a scientific career and look for a way to learn about the bears in the wild, and to write about them in a way that could reach people. Ice Walker is, I'd say, a very successful attempt.



It was Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams that sparked my initial fascination with polar bears; Ice Walker is equally enchanting.

(Photos by Paul Nicklen)

[Amie's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In Canada, the Cree, to the south, call her Wabusk. The Inuit, to the north, call her Nanuq or Pihoqahiak, the Ever Wandering One... The Sami in Scandinavia and western Russia call her God's Dog, never mentioning her name. In Greenland, she is Tornassuk, the master of helping spirits... Science calls her "Ursus maritimus," meaning 'sea bear' in Latin.

Known to most of us as simply the "polar bear," this majestic creature is losing her home. In "ICE WALKER," we are taken on a journey in the Arctic told from the perspective of a fully grown female polar bear.

We journey alongside her as she hunts for the fat-rich seals which make up the majority of her diet. We feel her fear when she isn't able to put on enough weight to sustain her while she is pregnant and then nursing. We feel her triumph when she sees her cubs for the first time.

Author JAMES RAFFAN has created Nanu based on years of study and research. You will NOT find any talking bears in this tale of subsistence survival in a land that is slowly disappearing.

ICE WALKER is destined to become the go-to book for those who want to understand the threat of global warming on these majestic creatures.

Without any lectures, or even not-so-subtle hints, readers will become invested in the plight of Nanu, the polar bear.

ICE WALKER is the "Gorillas In the Mist" for a new generation. What Jane Goodall did for the Gorilla, James Raffan has now done for the Polar Bear.

Sprinkled throughout the book are stunningly beautiful photographs of polar bears in their natural habitat. The author is also the photographer of these incredible images.

ICE WALKER contains the following extras:

* AFTERWORD: An Arctic World in Peril
* AUTHOR'S NOTE
* A NOTE ON THE TEXT
* FURTHER READING
* GLOSSARY and a
* READING GROUP GUIDE

I will be recommending this fabulously written tale to everyone I meet. Not only is ICE WALKER an entertaining story, it is also an important one. The plight of the polar bears and the warming of their habitat have worldwide implications.

Fabulous, Exceptional, with writing of the highest caliber, I rate ICE WALKER as 5 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***

To see photos and for more information on this book, visit my blog at
http://Amiesbookreviews.wordpress.com

Follow me on Instagram at
http://www.instagram.com/Amiesbookrev...

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend the creative nonfiction book ICE WALKER: A Polar Bear's Journey through the Fragile Arctic by James Raffan.

Nanurjuk, "The bear spirited one, is hunting for seals on Hudson Bay, where sea ice never lasts more than one season. For her and her young, everything is in flux.

From the top of the world, Hudson Bay looks like an enormous paw print on the torso of the continent. Here, traversing the 475,000 square miles of ice and snow covering the bay, walks Nanurjuk, Nanu, for short.
For millennia, Nanu's ancestors have roamed this great expanse, living, evolving, and surviving alongside human beings and one of the most challenging habitats on the earth. But her home is changing. In the Arctic's lands and waters, oil has been extracted – and spilled. As global temperatures have risen, the sea ice that Nanu and her young need to hunt seal and fish has melted, forcing them to wait on land, where the delicate balance between them and their two-legged neighbours has now shifted.

By inviting us into Nanu's world, ICE WALKER closes the gap between humans and bears, showing us how our existence – and our future - is tied to hers, and asks us to consider what might be done about this fragile place before it is gone for good. Masterful, vivid, and haunting, this book is an utterly unique piece of creative nonfiction and a deeply affecting call to action.

"To find out what you can do as an individual to combat climate change, visit the David Suzuki Foundation website and click "Take Action" to learn more. Check out the top ten things you can do about climate change here: https://davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-... .

5 stars

[❀ Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

All Canadians should read this book and ponder the importance of our personal choices and how they impact climate change. Ice Walker tells a fictional tale of a female polar bear as she struggles to survive with less food sources, changing weather and ice patterns and living amongst humans. She fights to survive, procreate and raise her cubs and the reader reflects on the mighty polar bear and empathizes with her plight.

Ice walker is an eye opening and important read!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It shows a polar bear's journey through the Arctic from their point of view, how they may view things and what goes on in a female polar bear's life. So even though this is nonfiction it has a bit of fiction to help make people care and want to save the polar bears and show climate change

[Jacob Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend anyone to read this book. It is a beautifully told story about a mother polar bear and her cubs and how anthropogenic disturbances and climate change is changing their world. I also enjoyed how the book paralleled Inuit coexistence and relationship with polar bears

[Jessica Gadd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ice Walker by is a beautifully written novel about a polar bears precarious existence in the changing Arctic. This story follows Nanu, a female polar bear, as she treks through one of the most challenging habitats on earth with her two young. They struggle to hunt, eat, and navigate the ever changing landscape now that global temperatures have risen. They also come across many dangers including whales, wolves, and human beings. This book is both heartbreaking and heartwarming and we absolutely fell in love with it. We were rooting for this little family the whole time!

[George Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, replete with detail and description subtly wrapped into an engaging story, James Raffan pulls us along, following Nanu and her offspring as they march into an uncertain future, disproportionately influenced by one species, us. Ice Walker is as fine a piece of writing as I have ever read, made all the more powerful by the stark realities of the changes we are inflicting on the world around us.

[Erica Ferencik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, beautiful, vivid story told with such restraint - as in, let the bear tell the story:) - with just the right amount of detail. Let yourself be the bear for a few hours, you'll be so happy you did.

[Lindsey Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I enjoyed most about this book was that it was not just about polar bears but rather the interactions between different circumstances in the arctic and how these factors affected others. This book is similar to a nature documentary but at the same time told an engaging and thought provoking story meant to open the eyes of the reader to what is happening in the arctic. The bears that the author writes about are not real, but the characteristics he gives them as well as the situations and challenges they face are all things real bears endure in the wild. This book helps educate the reader not only on polar bears but also how climate change and industry affect arctic populations of animals and indigenous people. Further, I thought it was interesting how much emphasis was put on native people and found it engaging to learn more about native peoples' relationships with the environment. The only reason this book gets four out of five stars is due to how short the book was. I think making the book longer would have only added to the story and experience and perhaps would have given more perspectives not touched upon.

[Ceylan (CeyGo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Canada for an opportunity to read Ice Walker.

I’ve never heard of this genre - creative non-fiction - before, and I found this book fascinating. We follow Nanu, a young “fictional” female polar bear through an approx two year period of time during which she mates, gives birth to two cubs and teaches them the way of life in the article. Through her experiences, we see the impacts of climate change and also are given a lot of insights into the cultural significance of polar bears and their relationship with Indigenous people of the Arctic.

I’m a little bit obsessed with polar bears, and have seen the, in the wild, and could definitely visualize some of the scenes 🐻‍❄️

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent animal "bio" very much in the style of Robert Bakker's 1995 classic Raptor Red. A solid recommendation for anyone interested in animals, the arctic or (sadly) climate change. Let's hope Raffan's polar bears don't go the way of Bakker's dinosaurs!

PERSONAL NOTE: My OCD side also appreciated the nice two-word symmetry of their titles (3/6 letter words, compared to 6/3 letter words). And just typing the names now, I'm enjoying the similarities in the names "Bakker" and "Raffan" as well - an obsessive-compulsive twofer!

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

From the blurb, I thought the story would be told with the bear "inner voice" but it was more like we follow Nanu the mama bear and her two cubs on their journey to birth from independence in a way. Not saying it doesn't give many insights to how polar bears live and learn to survive but it felt more to me like someone reading a documentary. The author wants to raise awareness on climate changes and its consequences so anyone who's aware and sensitive about the subject knows that this story can't have a happy ending😔.

[Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a fan of polar bears, or are concerned about climate change or read The Right to be Cold. You will love this book. It is not a big read but it is so well written and so full of life. James Raffan has written a book about the life of a polar bear named Nanu and her two cubs. He has not anthropomorphized her but he has managed to make me care for this bear. This story also shows us how climate change is impacting the polar bear and its habitat, much like the Right to be Cold gave us information on climate change on humans. James Raffan explains polar bear life in such a way that you feel you are living with that bear. If you want to read a well written book that deals with climate change then read this one. Simple yet evocative. (not my description yet so true to how I felt.)
I liked that he says if the polar bears are suffering so are the people of the north as climate change impacts both of their lives and if it is impacting their lives it is having the same negative impact on those of us who live in the south.
I would love to go to Churchill Manitoba to see the polar bears.
I also saw a wonderful play called The Breathing Hole at Stratford. This was a play about a polar bear and what we as humans are doing to its natural habitat. I hope you get the chance to see this play. However, the book Ice Walker is available and worth your time in reading. This book engaged me, was interesting, well written and increased any knowledge I had or did not have about polar bears.

[Rich Gee · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think about visiting the Arctic and safely meeting up with a polar bear, this book is for you. Great insight into the survival and natural instincts of the 200,000 year old polar bear. Not an easy life and the way we treat our environment is making it more difficult for animals like this.

[Dlmrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+

[Mary Jane Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written but depressing look at two years in the life of a female polar bear. The trials of nature are cruel enough but oil spills and hunters are very difficult to overcome.

[Marianne Villanueva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book absolutely deserves five stars.

Each peril to the bear's existence is heart-stopping and terrifying.

There's a death towards the end and though it is rendered with a minimum of drama, it is heartrending -- that is how closely James Raffan gets us to identify with Nanu and her two cubs, Kingu and Sivu.

The writing doesn't call attention to itself, yet there are many beautiful sentences. For example, p. 109: "The first meal of his own making that second winter on the ice was feathers and fishy-tasting bird meat." I love the vivid, precise writing and how it captures the taste of gull.

Be forewarned: p. 108 will gut you.

Kudos also to Raffan for making it clear how vital ice is to the polar bears' survival. Without hard ice, the bears cannot do their best hunting (their prey: seals). As the polar ice caps shrink (global warming, hello), the miles of open water between bears and their prey increases. If bears cannot hunt, they cannot eat. The species will dwindle and eventually become extinct.

And that would be a crying shame, for a creature as cunning and as perfectly adapted to its environment as the polar bear.

[Fiona.Commeleran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro muy bonito que te cuenta de una forma detallada la vida de una osa polar, mezclando la ficción de estar en la mente de la osa y los hechos y curiosidades reales de una vida en el artico, desde el inicio de la vida hasta la muerte.

[Terry Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

fabulous, gorgeous, mind blowing book

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely short book on a mother polar bears journey through the arctic and anthropogenic realm. Telling a story from an animals perspective is never easy, but the author avoids anthropomorphism for the most part and focuses on the struggle to find food in an increasingly ice-free world. A couple of positives:

- Great storytelling from the bears perspective, drawing out science into an easy to read polar bears perspective on the changing Arctic.
- Some nice detail & science included, particularly about the fertility issue related to pollutants and the bears winter, air-conditioned burrow
- the stress for the bears when they were tagged for research was told with great perspective on what is a scientifically valuable pursuit for man (& ultimately for bear) but for the bear in question, very much a frightening and potentially dangerous one.

And a couple of areas which did not quite hit the spot:
- the orca anecdote didn't work for me. A pod of orca would make mincemeat of a bear or bears in minutes if not seconds.
- Perhaps because the story was told from the perspective of the bears, it did not resonate with my own senses too much. How cold it feels, how vast the Arctic etc.
- Due to its briefness there was not enough time to sense the monumental struggle and succeeding against the odds. The story began after a failed litter and thus we did not get the full character arc of disappointment to success.

Overall an enjoyable read and the type of book which could and should inspire many others of its kind. I hope there are more from this author and others.

[Heather Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very unusual book. It shows the life of a polar bear without anthropologisting the bear. She was herself and looked after her cubs as best as she could - and as the author has said the bear didn’t talk because she’s a bear and not a human. She is however a very interesting and brave character without talking in any way but a resourceful character without saying a word aloud or in her mind. After all she’s a bear and we don’t know what she would say if she could talk - but we do see her doing what she could do to very well - follow her instincts and experiences to survive through the summer and hunting for herself and her cubs even though the ice she needs isn’t like it was before the increased global warming that she’s not aware of in the way we would - but in spite of that she still does her best for her cubs and also for herself. It could be called stoical - but the author continues to avoid the possible concerns and memories she has. We can’t know them - we want to but we can’t. I loved this book.

[Jimmy Videle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to pick up this book, to learn about the polar bear, as I know very little about them. But in this fantasy tale, James Raffan portrays a sad truth, not only that climate change is affecting their livelihoods but that hunting continues to be a primary menace to their populations. In the real world the IUCN-Red List has listed Polar Bear as Vulnerable one step away from endangered. Why continue to hunt them? Mr. Raffan said that we should not vilify the hunter for it is only for their livelihood and economy and that people have ben living with polar bears since "the beginning of time". Polar bears have been around for over 150,000 years, people in that region for 10,000, There was 140,00 years where bears lived among nature only, without this top predator stalking them. And today there are big game hunts for polar bears https://www.canadianhigharcticadventu... This is horrid... Vilify the hunter, absolutely. Do everything that we can to stop the assault on polar bear habitat, absolutely. Stop hunting all polar bears, necessary for their survival.

[Diana Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I was reading a non fiction story of Nanu, the polsr bear and her struggle to survive in a world of climate change and oil spills. It wasn't until the end I read it was fiction. Either way, absolutely enthralling..I was on the edge of my seat wondering if Nanu would catch a seal. Sivu. Her daughter. I was crying. If I could hug Nanu and live to tell about it I would.
So much science in such an easy way told. 11 hours of swimming? What a remarkable animal.
I appreciated the respect given to the indigenous people. Certainly killing a polar bear isnt, or shouldn't be, high on anyone's wish list, but why/how indigenous people killing polar bears is thoughtfully told and respected. Yet another scene where I cried.
Excellent Excellent read. Highly recommended

[Suzanne Lacroix · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this as an ebook from my library and I was so affected by this story I bought a hardcover version so I could read it as often as I wanted. The story of Nanu and her cubs touched my heart and at times I had to stop reading as I was too emotional. Perhaps in my senior years I am getting too emotionnaly affected by a book's story, especially if animals are involved but this story is so good I felt I was on the ice with them. The ending was especially hard for me to accept but this is how life and nature are entertwined. This story should make you think about polar bears, their habitat and how climate change is a definite problem.

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm awestruck!

Creative non-fiction, I think the author's choice of the genre was perfect. Amazing to follow Nanu's foot steps to get a glimpse of 'bearness'.

It's amazing to know wonders of evolutionary design of sea bear (polar bear). It feels close to miracle that female bears can bring up cubs in such harsh world- nursing their cubs while fasting for 6 months.
My mind heavy with quilt; all the changes that human activities imposed in sea bear's already harsh world. I'm afraid 'we', human-being would be responsible for disappearance of these amazing creatures; even for these reliant, intelligent ones, human-imposed changes may be too much and too fast.

[Kenneth Kan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good reading and eye widening from the life of a Polar Bear Nanu and later her daughter and son. It is sad how Nanu and Sivu died. With more thoughts and understanding how this ecosystem should works, it may be more normal than the effect of human development to the global climate and the chain effect to the Artic and its habitats.

Although it is a nonfiction, the share of the author's 40 years + experience in the Artic and the local has given me an invaluable experience of the Polar Bears lives.

Climate change cannot be revert in just a day or a year. I hope everyone can take part in preserving our nature. I wish I can further my career with nature.

[Carla (Carla's Book Bits) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ice Walker is a really well-written account of a fictional polar bear, Nanu, as she moves through life. While Nanu is fictional, the elements of the story are very much like a documentary. The milestones Nanu hits, and the issues she contends with, are all real-life.

My rating is 3 stars because I didn't quite get emotionally invested in this book. That might have been because it's really short, or the documentary style didn't lend itself that well to giving an emotional reaction. But I think a lot of people would still enjoy this, especially if you like bears! Still recommended.

[Megan Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness THIS BOOK!! My favorite animal in the whole world is bears, although Grizzlies are my all time favorite. But, I went walking into Barnes & Noble and literally passed 2 rows of books and I happened to see the photo of the Polar Bear on the front. It stopped me in my tracks. People can say “don’t judge a book by the cover”, but let’s be honest we all do that. *wink* As soon as I saw this sweet bears face, I picked it up and bought it. I had no idea what it was about, but I wanted it. I wasn’t disappointed, either. I absolutely loved the story of the mama bear and her cubs! I don’t like to give spoilers, but this was a good one, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.