Way Up in the Arctic

by Jennifer Ward, Kenneth J. Spengler (Illustrator)

Jennifer Ward and Kenneth Spengler have teamed up to create another wonderful, joyful, counting romp. This time they prance and dance readers through the Arctic and introduce kids to the fascinating animal mamas and babies that call the Arctic home. Set to the beloved tune of Over in the Meadow, read again and again this book will have kids singing along from one to ten with polar bears, beluga whales, Arctic foxes and more! Hey, kids! Look for the number hidden on each page!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Counting, Childrens, Storytime

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 14, 2007

About the author

Jennifer Ward is the author of more than 25 award-winning nonfiction and fiction books for children and adults.

Her books have been translated into many languages and featured in Martha Stewart's Living, Ranger Rick, on NPR, television's Animal Planet network, and on many popular blogs such as Soule Mama.

Most of Jennifer's books are inspired by science and nature and artfully combine elements of STEM & literacy.

She writes full-time from her home in Illinois where she lives with her husband and two dogs and is easily distracted by everything outside of her windows - particularly if it has feathers!

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it from the first page. It's written to the tune of "Over in the Meadow" and counts to ten with arctic animal babies. There's also a number hidden on each page and 'Cool Facts!' at the end. It's one of four in a series (Ocean, Desert and Garden) and I can't get over how great the illustrations are.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Polar Pals" is what this delightful adaptation of the familiar "Over in the Meadow" song-in-a-picture-book is all about! A pre-school age audience eagerly acts out the motions suggested in the verses -- "prance", "nap", "swim", "wobble", "jump", "dive", "prowl", "hoot", "dig", and "cuddle"! The book includes lots of description, cool animal facts, and the tune of the song.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impulse grab at the library. Utterly charming. I love everything the other reviewers do, and also the vocabulary words, and also the sheet music in the back. (Does anyone remember when kindergarten teachers knew either piano or guitar and taught music in their rooms? That's one thing I miss about the old days.)

Thanks to the reviewer who mentions that this book has companions, is part of a set. What a great way for the rug rats to get some STEM in.

[Emily Storytime · Rating 3 out of 5]

1/26/23 - Arctic/Polar Animals - I was surprised at how attentive the whole storytime group was at the beginning of the book. I usually avoid singing a book as opposed to reading it directly, but they seemed to like it. The younger ones (2-y-o) got restless about halfway through.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very repetitive but beautiful art

[Eliot Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our favorite part in this delightful book about baby arctic animals is finding the hidden number on each page.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool book! Every time I read it, the kids got really into finding the numbers on each page.

[R. L. Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so cute! It uses the "Over in the Meadow," song and is so fun to sing, though the music they included wasn't correctly written XD

[Brenda Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way up in the artic by Jennifer Ward illustrated by Kenneth Spengler, is a book teaching young ones how to count. Will have children counting from one to ten with polar bears, beluga whales, artic foxes and more! Children will also sing along the way.

I will most likely use Way up in the Artic in my first grade classroom as a reminder to my students how to count to ten. I love this book and how organized the author and the illustrator made it look. This book is informational and will have young readers learning new numbers and different types of animals that may live in the artic. In the back of the book it contains facts of each of the animals previously listed, this feature will help readers learn more about them and perhaps start a mini project. As soon as you open the book there is a map showing readers where the artic is located. This feature will help them understand where the artic is located and they would be able to see the other countries surrounding the artic. Bolded numbers represent the number of baby animals each animal had and children will enjoy counting each animal on the page. The author makes the reader interact with the text by asking them to look for the hidden number in each page. It’s a book young reader will read over and over again. It would highly recommend this book to new mothers who might want to teach their children number and get them ready for school. The books plot is easy to follow and will have children entertained.

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was asked to read a book at a Family Literacy Night with the theme “Chill Out and Read,” one of the first books I thought of was Way Up in the Arctic. This book has several things going for it as a read-aloud that you can sort of “turn on or off” based on the size of your group and your own comfort level, as well as things that are evergreen. The evergreen is the dynamic and bright illustrations, as well as the rhythmic rhyming text. The things you can “turn on or off” are just taking those two things to another level... Read the full review here

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining book about arctic animals that incorporates new lyrics to the tune of Over in the Meadow. We listened to Raffi sing that song so many times when our girls were little that I knew the melody and words by heart. It was easy for me to adapt to this version and we really enjoyed singing the song together. The illustrations are terrific and we loved looking for the numbers hidden on each page.

[Kristen Dota · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way Up in the Arctic is a fabulous book for young children learning how to count. This cute poem not only teaches counting, but also teaches about the animals that live in the Arctic. This book contains fun facts about each different kind of animal, followed by a cute short tune that the readers can sing along to!

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book where animals are counted with a parent from 1 to ten. Makes a great extension with both animals and numbers. Each animal family increases by one on each page and the children repeat some activity the mother has done like cuddle or wobble

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can be sung to the song, "Over in the Meadow."

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful picture children's book with a song:)

[Deatrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story flows well and the illustrations are magnificent. The hidden numbers faction is an added bonus!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorites - music, counting, animals, rhyme - so many things make it a wonderful read, over and over again.