In Arctic Waters

Habitats

by Laura Crawford

This arctic adaptation of “This is the House that Jack Built” follows polar bears, walruses, seals, narwhals and beluga whales as they chase each other around “the ice that floats in the Arctic waters.” Not only is the rhythmic, cumulative prose good for early readers; it is a pure delight to read aloud. The “For Creative Minds” section helps children learn how these animals live in the cold, icy arctic region.

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2007

About the author

Laura Crawford was an accomplished teacher and reading specialist at Sleepy Hollow School in the Chicago area. While teaching a science unit on the Arctic region, she became fascinated with the unique animals of the Arctic. The cumulative tale, In Arctic Waters, is the result of her curiosity and was written with her students in mind. Laura also authored The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving From A to Z, The American Revolution from A to Z, Postcards from Washington, Postcards from Chicago, and Postcards from New York City. She was an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and credits the critique groups with much of her success.

Reviews

[Jonnathan Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Arctic waters helps children learn how animals live in cold, icy arctic regions. The last few pages of the book have scientific information which you could use to study some of the animals mentioned.
I could use this book in my class when going over the arctic region of the world and talk about animals that live in that climate. Also, I could do an interactive activity with the students to make an ecosystem of the arctic region and have them label different animals as well as different types of regions in the ecosystem.

[Allyson Goose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun combination of fiction and non-fiction, with extra factual information at the end. I appreciated the culturally sensitive (appropriate by today's standards) information about Inuit people.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

An arctic version of the House that Jack Built. Cute illustrations although most of the animals look "grouchy, cranky and mean" according to my 3-yr-old. The rhyming text flows well. And then it ends. Rather abruptly.

The last few pages of the book have scientific information which you could use to study some of the animals mentioned (like the polar bear and narwhal, etc).

A nice little book. If you can find it, check it out.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book. I like that exposes kids to some of the lesser known arctic animals (Beluga, Narwhal) and the rhyming is quite nice. However, it ends quite abruptly like the author grew bored of it or ran out of space.

[Mary Chamberlin]

Although we're biased (we're in her writers group) - we love this atory.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little repetitive for me as an adult, and though the art is interesting, it wasn't my favorite. At the end it did have animal facts, which I think is great for educating kids.