Ice Walker: A Polar Bear's Journey through the Fragile Arctic

Well written. Easy to read. Captivating, a real page turner. So many characters and complex relationships: polar bears, arctic foxes, arctic birds, orcas, beluga whales, ice floes, climate change, seals, tundra buggies, airborne and sea borne pollutants, native peoples, land bears (black and brown),. I've been to Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay and witnessed polar bears on the outskirts of town, on the tundra, in late October and November awaiting the ice in the bay freezing over so the bears can go after the seals. Yet I learned so much about the polar bears and their world from this book.

James Raffan has written a wonderful book! Reading it for me feels like poetry or beautiful music. I feel an emotional connection with the Ice Walker and her environment. But in addition I learned a lot about polar bears, the environment of the Arctic north and the challenging & changing conditions. All in all, a great read.

Everyone interested in preserving our Alaskin wild life will love this.

This is a Nature series which would be of interest to a huge audience and kids...wonderful! entertaining! must see

Well written. It was interesting story about climate change shrinks the amount of ice for polar bears. Quick read.

I found this book to be a moving story about a majestic bear and her family surviving in the Arctic. The circumpolar range of the Polar Bear. I learned things of their physiology, I was not remotely aware of. I love David Attenborough and this was very simular to his programs and narratives.... . It is however a sad struggle made worse by Climate Change. Very good though.

If this book was written 50 years ago it would have been about temperature cooling, 10 years ago about global warming but, after several bitter winters in the early 2000's, it's now about man made climate change.

This book is amazing!

A riveting short novel about polar bears but also the North, its people and the effect of climate change and pollution has on all aspects of their lives. This fictional story traces the journey of a mother polar bear as she seeks to give birth and life to her two cubs. Jim Raffan is a consummate storyteller. He embeds such interesting facts about polar bears and their habitat from his 40 plus years of exploring and studying the Polar regions.

I went to highschool with the author of this book and have been very impressed with the Arctic Adventures James Raffin has been on. This book is no exception and you are getting a first hand view of what is really happening in the far north.

I gave three stars because I'm only part way through the book. Raffan, like others, is trying to get our attention to do something, however small, to save our environment and all of us who rely on it for our survival. This book could make you think outside the box.

In the end it's depressing, but a very interesting take on the life of a polar bear. It shows how the life of 1 animal is intertwined with all of us. An important book.

James Raffin is an exceptional writer and explorer. He has been involved with Polar Bears since his graduate days back at the University of Guelph. It all started with a bear named Huxley and things took off from there, all be it, in a totally new direction.