Winter is a great time to learn about animals that live in a snowy place year round. Animals from the poles are different from the animals we see in our much warmer climates. Kids can learn a lot about the polar regions and the adaptations animals must make to survive in such extreme temperatures. Check out the list of fiction and nonfiction polar animal books below that are all about animals that live at the North and South Poles. I’ve also included a free printable list of the books for you to use as a quick reference guide. The free printable even includes a writing response sheet for kids to draw and write about some of the facts they learn about polar animals as you read together. You might want to grab a blanket and hot chocolate before you begin!
Books About Animals Found at the North & South Poles
FIND A FULL WEEK OF ARCTIC THEME ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS
FOR HOME PRESCHOOL AND PRESCHOOL CLASSROOMS.
Nonfiction Polar Animal Books
Arctic Tale by Rebecca Baines
Arctic Tale is the companion book to the movie Arctic Tale. This book follows a young polar bear cub, Nanu, and a walrus calf, Seela, as they grow up in the wild Arctic. Photographs throughout the book tell the story of Nanu and Seela.
Amazing Arctic Animals by Jackie Glassman
In Amazing Arctic Animals, readers will enjoy reading facts about many different animals from the arctic area. Each page includes illustrations and facts that are written on a first and second grade level.
Sea Lions by Kate Riggs
Sea Lions is a informational book that give readers a close up look at sea lions. The book includes photographs of sea lions and their home. Readers will also enjoy learning about the life cycle, behavior, and homes of sea lions.
Ice Bear by Nicola Davis
In the book Ice Bear, the author teaches readers about polar bears through beautiful illustrations and well written text. The facts and information are told in a way that makes you feel like you are reading a story. If you are reading to little readers look through the book first; there is one illustration that shows blood on the polar bears snoot and mentions he ate a seal.
Polar Animals by Wade Cooper
Polar Animals is a great nonfiction book for little ones. The book features several different animals. Photographs are included of each animal along with simple facts. At the end of the book there is a simple quiz for readers and a key word section.
Steller Sea Lions by Precious McKenzie
Steller Sea Lions includes great photographs throughout that readers will love. The book includes facts about many different aspects of a sea lion’s life; what they eat, their families, and much more.
Animal Planet Polar Animals by Laaren Brown
This encyclopedia type book is perfect for kids who are curious to know facts about many different polar animals. There are also many nonfiction text features like simple infographices and illustrated maps that you can introduce to young readers.
Who’s That? Arctic Animals by Tad Carpenter
Get kids thinking with this fun lift-the-flap board book. Each page includes clues about a specific arctic animal for kids to guess and check their predictions by lifting the flap.
Polar Animal Adaptations by Lisa J. Amstutz
Learn about the specific behaviors and adaptations that allow polar animals to survive in extreme temperatures.
National Geographic Readers: Polar Bears by Laura Marsh
I love the leveled National Geographic Readers. They work very well as nonfiction read alouds to preschoolers, and they are excellent nonfiction books for beginning readers to read independently.
A Day in the Life: Polar Animals Series by Katie Marsico
If kids are interested in learning more about a specific animal, check out the A Day in the Life: Polar Animals series. The series includes these specific books: Reindeer, Narwhal, Arctic Fox, Polar Bear, Leopard Seal, and Emperor Penguin. In each book kids get an in depth look at a day in the life of the focus animal. They’ll learn about how they eat, sleep, care for their young and much more.
Fiction Polar Animal Books
Polar Bear Morning by Lauren Thompson
Polar Bear Morning is a sweet story about a baby cub that finds a new friend. The illustrations are simple and very well done. This is a great book for little readers.
The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett
Jan Brett’s The Three Snow Bears is a polar version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The story is retold in the original style of Jan Brett that so many readers love.
In Arctic Waters by Laura Crawford
In Arctic Waters is a story about polar bears, walruses, seals, narwhals and beluga whales as they chase each other. The story is set to the rhythm of “This is the House that Jack Built”. The end of the book includes resource pages that can be used as you study the arctic.
Sophie Scott Goes South by Alison Lester
Sophie Scott Goes South is a fun story about a little girl that goes with her dad to Antarctica while he delivers people and supplies to a researcher. The book is a series of diary entries written by Sophie, including drawings and photographs of Antarctica. This is a fun read that will help readers look at the people and animals in Antarctica in a different way.
Way Up in the Arctic by Jennifer Ward
Way Up in the Arctic is a sweet book set to the melody of the song, “Over in the Meadow”. This version features artic animals and their babies. At the end of the book there are fun facts about each animal and each page also has a hidden number readers can search for.
Polar Opposites by Erik Brooks
Alex is a Polar Bear and Zina is a penguin, they are Polar Opposites. The two are friends so different but friends come in many different shapes and sizes. Each page features fun illustrations of Alex and Zina preparing for their vacation together.
Over in the Arctic: Where the Cold Winds Blow by Marianne Berkes
Reading familiar texts has so many benefits in early childhood. Marianne Berkes does an amazing job of adapting the populer Over in the Meadow rhyme to teach about different animals and actions in the Arctic. Along the way kids are exposed to singing, rhyme, counting, and wonderful illustrations. They also love finding the hidden animals on each page.
Hush Little Polar Bear: A Picture Book by Jeff Mack
Hush Little Polar Bear is a gentle rhyming text that inspires a bit of creativity and imagination. It makes a wonderful bedtimes story before naptime or bedtime.
Also check out our Penguin Book List.
We hope you enjoyed reading our polar animals books list. In the comments let us know what your favorite polar animal book is.
GET YOUR COPY OF THE POLAR ANIMAL BOOKS LIST AND ACTIVITY SHEET
Complete the form below to get a free printable copy of the titles referenced in this book list and the Polar Animals Writing Sheet. Use the polar animals books list as you gather your books, and use the writing activity with preschoolers and kindergarteners after you’ve read some of the book suggestions.
Preschoolers can draw pictures about details they learned about the polar animal of their choice.
Kindergarterners can draw their pictures and then phonetically spell facts they learned about their polar animal.
Send the pages home or post them in the science center for kids to read about over and over again.
MORE ARCTIC FUN WITH PRINTABLE ARCTIC THEME LESSON PLANS
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
GET YOUR LESSON PLANS
Home Preschool Arctic Theme Lesson Plans
Preschool Classroom Arctic Theme Lesson Plans
Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
MORE RESOURCES FOR LITTLE BOOK LOVERS
The best way to encourage a love of reading is to provide kids with many opportunities to engage with a wide variety of books that are of interest to them. That’s why we share so many books lists on Fantastic Fun and Learning. We want to make it easy for you to find great books your kids will love. Over the years we’ve also discovered some helpful tools for connecting kids and books.
Digital libraries are one very handy way to do this. Epic! is one of our favorite online libraries. It’s full of over 25,000 books, learning videos, quizzes and more for kids 12 and under…and it’s free for educators. Click here to learn more and sign up.
Book Boxes are another fun way to get kids excited about reading. What kid doesn’t love to get a special delivery in the mail?! The crew over at Bookroo finds the best little known books that you won’t already have in your library, and they send them to you each month. Take a peak inside a Bookroo Box here.
Book-Based Activities are also a lot of fun for kids. Jodie over at Growing Book by Book has saved us all a ton of time and created a full year of Book-Based Activity Calendars so that you can extend the fun with a special book each week.
Originally Published February 9, 2015
Last Updated January 8, 2019
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