Review Detail

This is Not a Polar Bear

Kids Fiction 360

Frosty Frolics with a Friend

May 14, 2025 (Updated: June 30, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

A little girl is playing in the snow and introduces us to her friend. He looks suspiciously like a polar bear, but she insists that he is not, and proceeds to inform us of all the things that he is. He roller skates, skis, drives, discos, and makes her laugh again and again. The two have many adventures, proving the bear is a save-the-world-together bear and a tunnel-deep-down-under bear, NOT a polar bear. She feels that the bear needs a special name, and decides to give him one based on his best quality-- a never-let-you-go-lar bear whose hugs are the best.

Good Points

This is the third book in Timms’ series, which includes This is NOT a Dinosaur! and This is NOT a Unicorn! Young readers will be drawn to the repetitive nature of the story, and the fast paced rhymes that propel it. There are some clever liberties taken with language that make this an interesting look at identity. The little girl doesn't care that her friend is a polar bear; she loves him for who he is, and for the fun times together that they share.

The color palette is one of the most unusual and eye popping that I have seen. The use of fluorescent orange (which is evident on the bear's scarf on the cover of the book) for the little girl's hair is especially striking, and there are bright purple skies, neon pink sweaters, and bright yellow bumper cars. These are set against white backgrounds, which really make the colors pop, and almost vibrate. The winter wonderland with the fluorescent orange sled with snow covered Christmas trees with very bright ornaments alongside a pale purple castle is particularly vibrant.

It's good to have a funny, go-to picture book when little ones have a hard day, and I can see this being a big hit for fans of silly stories like Hale and Pham's Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn, Border's Peanut Butter and Cupcake, and Shea and Jarvis' Oh, Are You Awake?