First off, I love the art in this book. The story line is questionable to me. A set of Cranes have lost their baby chick. They send a note to the postman to help find the chick. Polar Bear talks to all his friends, and all those on his route to help find the chick. A few weeks/months later Polar Bear gets another postcard from a different set of Cranes saying they found a chick and raised it, but now need to find the parents. I guess what I don't like is the spring and summer time lag. Why wouldn’t these cranes from district 3 notify him sooner that they had a chick. I can see a day or two, but not enough days that the chick is grown and about to fly. I love, love, love the art, but I do not like the message in the book.

4★
“Our baby chick has been missing for three days . . . Please help us Mr. Milk.”

Mr. Milk , a polar bear, is the local postman, and when he gets a personal letter from the Red-Crowned Cranes in District 1 asking for help, of course he starts looking right away.

Mr. Milk knows everybody. He closes the post office, hops on his bike, and goes around asking each of the animals the same questions and gets pretty much the same answers. They all promise to spread the word and look.

The fox and the eagle are sorry they have NOT seen this tasty little chick, of course!

The illustrations usually show Mr. Milk in more or less the right proportions to the other animals (deer, owl, chipmunks), but the fox and the eagle are ENORMOUS and quite scary looking, which should help little readers understand that they are a threat. They are no threat to a polar bear, of course, but Mr. Milk looks suitably worried and nervous as he looks up to them from the tiny picture of him.

After spring and summer have passed, Mr. Milk gets another personal letter, this one from the Red-Crowned Cranes in District 3 who found and raised a chick but can't find the parents. Hooray!

The Crane Family of District 1 is reunited, the Crane Family of District 3 fly home, and, presumably, all live happily ever after.

I can see how this could be a reassuring book for families where someone has gone missing, and I like the idea that there may be a District 3 where missing little ones are being cared for. If only!

But, it could be upsetting for families who have been through something like this that has not had such a happy ending.

Cute illustrations and good repetitive phrases for beginning readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Museyon Publishing for a copy for review.

Milk is a polar bear who serves a postman. When he receives a postcard from some cranes asking for help in finding their missing baby, he gets right to work trying to find the missing chick.

The illustrations are really cute; the book is colorful and the animals are adorable. The story was okay but not as interesting or as engaging as the illustrations.

So this is a translated children's illustration book. It's a very short read that I think most children would enjoy reading with their parents. Reminds me a little bit of Winnie the Pooh with the style of drawings and it does have a theme of community that young children should be able to pick up fairly quickly.

A Little Scary, But Ultimately Mellow and Comforting

This is an ambitious book that works on many complementary levels. It tells the story of a kind and honorable Polar Bear Postman who diligently searches for a missing Crane chick. In doing that he turns to the forest community; he carefully and obliquely queries some forest predators, (who might have eaten or might want to eat the chick). He alerts a variety of other friendly creatures. He comforts the distraught crane parents. He searches on his own.

I say this is a little scary because it revolves around a missing child, the search for the child, and the passage of time without word about the child. That's an interesting plot for a children's picture book, and could be a bit unnerving the first time around. Of course, once a little reader is assured of a happy ending all of the other charming aspects of this book move to the fore, especially upon rereading.

And those charms are considerable. The dangerous fox and eagle are, well, dangerous looking. The other animals, an unusual selection, include Sika Deer, Siberian Chipmunks, Blakiston's Fish Owl, and of course the featured Red-crowned Cranes. These are pretty cool animals, especially for kids who've seen enough cows and squirrels, and the like.

Polar Bear Postman is a comforting main character. He projects as competent, resourceful, confident and dependable. Kindness and diligence are fine virtues, and this book is, if anything, a muted celebration of community and care.

All of this is set off nicely by the drawings. Character outlines are done with broad, black strokes. Figures are finished with broad splotches of color, and backgrounds are colorful, though impressionistic. This makes the pages both bright and warm, and focuses attention where it should be, on the animal characters. Through it all Polar Bear Postman always commands the page, and this is, after all, mostly his story.

So, this struck me as a picture book with more than just "pictures", and it handled its subject with a consistent and balanced tone. On many levels this was an appealing find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Milk is the postmaster of the Polar Bear Post Office. He delivers mail to all his forest friends, trundling along on his bicycle with his mail bag over his shoulder. But on day her receives a postcard asking for his help. The red-crowned cranes have lost their chick and can't find him anywhere. Milk springs into action, asking all the animals to help look for the lost chick. Forest animals of all sorts, from the sika deer to the Siberian chipmunks, are upset about the missing child and promise to send word if they learn anything.

The story introduces ideas of mail, community, cooperation, and concern for others. Milk is shown as a post man and as a vital part of the lives of everyone he knows. When he is asked for help, he does not hesitate to respond, nor does he hold back from asking others for their assistance. The characters also introduce animals that may be unknown to children in the U.S. since red-crowned cranes, sika deer, and Siberian chipmunks are all native to Asia.

The illustrations are cleverly done on a colored background so that the white polar bear stands out in contrast. Many of the animals are shown in family groups such as the crane parents, the chipmunk with young ones, the doe (in reading glasses) with a fawn, etc. The process of sorting and stamping the mail in a small post office is also included, with Milk hand-stamping each letter "Shirokuma Post." Young readers who have rarely received letters in the mail may have their interest sparked and want to send postcards of their own. (If only the book could be marketed with a Shirokuma Post rubber stamp!)

A warm story with a happy ending, Polar Bear Postman offers a glimpse into a community where everyone is willing to help out a neighbor.

I was a little confused by Mr Milk the postman, as it's about a little bird that goes missing, but after quite some time he gets returned to his parents after having been looked after by someone else. To me it seemed like a child-friendly version of a story to tell to those that have been placed in foster care for a time, but there was no reference to any such parallel meaning in the blurb or the book. It does however demonstrate the power of communication and working as a team, which is a great message to give. The illustrations are bold and simple, but the text in places is a little hard to read.


Milk the polar bear is the postmaster of the forest. One day he receives a postcard addressed to him.
“PLEASE HELP!” it says.

It is from a red-crowned crane couple whose chick has gone missing.
Milk tells all his forest friends about the missing crane chick and asks for their help in finding the baby. . . . And then one day he receives another postcard addressed to him.
“Please help!” it says.

It is from a red-crowned crane couple who have found a chick.
Polar Bear Postman was inspired by a real polar bear that lives in a zoo in the Hokkaido area of Japan. With other characters based on animals native to Hokkaido, the book is a hopeful story about community, caring, and the power of the mail.

This is a cute book about a scary thing for kids, being separated from your parents.

Through the help of Milk, the polar bear postman, the red-crested crane if finally found, after asking predators, and other Japanese local animals, if they had seen, or eaten the baby crane.

Although it takes almost a year to find the baby, Milk does not give up, and finally hears word from another crane family that they've been protecting a baby crane, and would Milk know what to do about that.

Because it is a happy ending, and it is a gentle search, I think that kids will enjoy the search, and reveal.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Cute story of a missing chick and the efforts undertaken to find him and reunite him with his worried parents.

--I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are purely my own and not influenced in any way.--
I really liked the art style mimicking that of a traditional Japanese scroll, but the story was a bit weird for me. I might not have been in the right frame of mind though, so definitely give this a try if you like really good art in picture books! 3.5 stars.

Polar Bear Postman by Seigo Kijima. Museyon Inc. Children’s Fiction. 5 Stars. Written by art director and recipient of the Japan Picture Book Awards Readers' Prize. This is a fine book with cozy, colorful and heartwarming illustrations about an honorable postman’s involvement in finding and returning a lost chick to its family. Sweet as a little candy, this is a book that children will love reading more than once. Thanks to NetGalley and Museyon Inc. for providing this ebook for review.

Polar Bear Postman is about a Polar Bear Postman, as the title suggests, who helps a red-crowned crane couple find their lost chick. The artwork is simple and beautiful, bold outlines and pleasant colours. I was amazed by the number of animals introduced in the book, many of which I did not know the names of. For example, there are Siberian Chipmunks, Sika Deer, Blakiston's Fish Owl. I loved this. I have noticed that kids pay a lot of attention (and remember) to animals and their names which adults just don't care about.
The book also introduces postcards and post office to the kids. Being an active member of the Postcrossing community, I loved it. I hope lots of children will be amazed by the idea of sending/receiving postcards.
Lastly, the moral of kindness and helping was woven beautifully into the plot. The willingness and genuine concern for the parents and lost chick and the communal joy of all the animals when the chick is reunited with its parents was very beautifully written/drawn.

All in all, I loved the book. It was a fun and educational read.

Polar Bear Postman is a very cute picture book with a bit of a serious story, and <spoiler> yay! a happy ending </spoiler>. The illustrations capture the animal's emotions wonderfully. The progressive repetition is great for reading to young children or babies, and is helpful for those learning how to read on their own. The story is a great one to read together with a child.

Oh! This was a cute story! I liked the way the animals helped each other. Milk, the polar bear post man was pretty sweet! smart, too. He knew some critters would eat a chick. Illustrations were pleasant and not too busy. It would make a nice story for toddlers and preschoolers.

This heartwarming children's story delivers such themes as cooperation, problem solving, and dedication, in a wonderful package with vibrant colourful animal images to boot!