Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Polar Bear and the Ballerina

The Polar Bear and the Ballerina

Velasquez, Eric

Hardcover

AnimalsGeneral Juvenile FictionPerforming Arts

Publisher Price: $18.99

ISBN10: 0823449181
ISBN13: 9780823449187
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: Oct 14 2025
Pages: 48
Weight: 0.92
Height: 0.39 Width: 8.84 Depth: 11.17
Language: English
How does a bear go to the ballet? A polar bear escapes into New York City in this heartfelt picture book from award-winning Afro-Latino artist Eric Velasquez.

A wordless story of unlikely friendship that celebrates art and its ability to connect us. However, this picture book also opens a conversation about alienation and empathy. Who is kept out of the theater? How can we welcome them in? A deeply personal story, author Eric Valqueuez sees himself in this tale.

When dancers have a photoshoot at the Central Park Zoo, a young, African American ballerina and a polar bear form a special friendship. When his new friend leaves her scarf behind, the polar bear must venture through Central Park and out into Manhattan to return it before her performance at the Lincoln Center.

However, the theater goers eye the strange bear with suspicion. When the ushers won't let him inside, the ballerina comes to his rescue and welcomes him in. The polar bear has dreamed of seeing the ballet, and now he gets to be a part of it in the most surprising way.

The wordless narrative is told through expressive and detailed oil paintings. On the endpapers, readers learn more about these loveable characters with illustrations of zoo signage about polar bears and a magazine article about the young ballerina.

Eric Velasquez, author-illustrator of Bank Street Best Book of the Year Octopus Stew, brings a dream-like magic to this tale of empathy and kindred spirits.

A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the Year

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