The Very, Very Far North: A Story for Gentle Readers and Listeners

Volume XXVI / Issue 7 - October 18 / 2019
The Very, Very Far North
The Very, Very Far North
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The Very, Very Far North: A Story for Gentle Readers and Listeners

Author: 
Dan Bar-El
Illustrated by: 
Kelly Pousette
New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (Distributed in Canada by Simon & Schuster Canada), 2019
265 pp., hardcover & ebook, $22.99 (hc.)
ISBN: 
9781534433410 (hc.)
9781534433434 (ebook)
Grades: 
Grades 2-6
Ages: 
Ages 7-11
Review by: 
Michelle Superle
2
Excerpt: 

In the course of the tales told so far, Duane had met and befriended C.C., Handsome, Magic, Twitch, Major Puff, Sun Girl, and the Pack. But there is one other character not yet present. Her name would eventually be Boo, and this story is her introduction.

The exact date of when Boo came into the Very, Very Far North remains a mystery. There was a time when she was not around, and there was a time when she was around, but at what moment that happened is something neither Duane nor anyone else could explain.

Dan Bar-El’s animal fantasy, The Very, Very Far North: A Story for Gentle Readers and Listeners, is a fun-filled episodic romp in the snow. Animal fantasy fans aged seven through eleven will enjoy the adventures of Duane, the polar bear.

The linked stories begin when Duane, the polar bear, “lumber[s] into the Very, Very Far North from somewhere else”. When he finds plentiful berries to eat and a beach perfect for napping, he decides to stay. Once he does, he makes one friend after another, and they embark upon harmless adventures while exploring the landscape. As the subtitle indicates, these stories are perfectly suited to “gentle readers and listeners” in terms of content and characters. For those who need a break from today’s grittily realistic children’s books, The Very, Very Far North will make a lovely escape.

However, Bar-El has made the puzzling decision to use an omniscient, intrusive narrator, along with elevated, archaic diction. While these elements certainly do imbue the tales with a cutesy old-fashioned ambience that will appeal to those with a nostalgic bent (and which may elicit snide chuckles from erudite adults reading aloud), they also pull the text out of synch with today’s movement towards more child-centered children’s books. At best, the narrative voice is dated and tiresome—at worst, it is condescending and childish.

The Very, Very Far North will make a lovely gift from adults who long to preserve children’s innocence to the gentle readers and listeners they love.

Recommended
Reviewer: 

Michelle Superle is an Associate Professor at the University of the Fraser Valley where she teaches children’s literature and creative writing courses. She has served twice as a judge for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and is the author of Black Dog, Dream Dog and Contemporary, English-language Indian Children’s Literature (Routledge, 2011).

Subject Headings: 
Polar bear-Fiction
Bears-Fiction
Animals-Arctic regions-Fiction
Friendship-Fiction
Arctic regions-Fiction
Humorous stories