The Last Bear

Wow!! What a book!! This is a moving story about friendship, kindness, love and connection to animals - even if that animal is a wild polar bear. Again, the way Gold’s writing raises awareness about the environment and the damage humans are causing the world is fantastic! I especially loved how she made it clear that no one is too young or insignificant to make a difference - even if grown-ups don’t listen straight away. The way that April grows as a character and finds her ‘roar’ is inspiring. She understands Bear’s pain and also manages to talk to her dad about her own pain inside, all by using her newly discovered roar! I enjoyed reading about April’s beautiful connection with animals, understanding them even without talking, just by reading their body language and looking into their eyes. Her link with Bear is charming - genuinely a love connection! My favourite quotes: “Grown ups can be quite blind sometimes. I have the most wonderful, brave-hearted daughter right under my nose and from now on, we are going to be a real family.” “When you live from your heart it’s impossible to tell a lie. I should have known that you were telling the truth because, April, my dear girl, you’re just like your mother and your heart never lies.”

This beautiful story was a book our group couldn’t wait to read. We had a special visit from our youngest member who braved the cold to review it with us. They enjoyed reading the book with mum and liked all of it. For us oldies, despite the book stretching the bounds of realism ( like a good children’s book should ) overall we found it a very emotional book that left a few of us reaching for the tissues. We felt the story didn’t shy away from heavy themes. Some of us wondered if it was actually too hard hitting for the younger child but one member said that young children are already quite aware and worried about the effects of climate change so this book with its heavy handed approach on environmental aspects would be a great opening for discussion between adult and child. The book touched on the subject of loss and separation and we all agreed that the author had a wonderful way of describing grief. One member beautifully described how they emotionally felt at the authors brilliant writing “speaking of grief, the section near the end when April leaves Bear behind is like nothing I have read before. It allows the expression of the grief of loss and separation in such a powerful way”. We realized that not only was the roaring a very important way of communication between girl and Bear but the act itself was a wonderful way to release an emotion that couldn’t be put into words. It would be lovely to see this book made into an animation to further spread the important message of conservation. We have chosen the sequel of this book Finding Bear as our Xmas read for this year. Have your tissues handy guys!!