Synopses & Reviews
Irving and Muktuk are polar bears in the Bayonne, New Jersey, zoo. They wish they had privileges like their polar bear friend Roy, who goes home every night at six oand#8217;clock. But they are known as bad bears. The Zoo Director thinks Irving and Muktuk are not to be trusted.
One morning a small white bunny shows up, eating grass at the edge of the polar bear enclosure. Irving and Muktuk arenand#8217;t sure what to make of it. They donand#8217;t know how to behave. They make the bunny mad. Trouble is brewing at the zoo.
When their friend Roy invites them to a party at a fancy hotel, Irving and Muktuk are asked to behave themselves. They assure Roy that they can be trusted. But trust doesnand#8217;t come easily, and when the bears arrive at the party, they are soon put to the test.
Review
"The author's droll sense of humor makes this book a winner. The marker-and-ink illustrations work well with the story, with the stark white, humanlike bears taking center stage on most spreads."
Review
"A foreshortened, one-joke story doesn't always a book make, but this has the advantage of Daniel Pinkwater's droll, understated text and Jill Pinkwater's giggleworthy artwork in felt-tip marker and ink."
Review
"The author's droll sense of humor makes this book a winner. The marker-and-ink illustrations work well with the story, with the stark white, humanlike bears taking center stage on most spreads." School Library Journal
"A foreshortened, one-joke story doesn't always a book make, but this has the advantage of Daniel Pinkwater's droll, understated text and Jill Pinkwater's giggleworthy artwork in felt-tip marker and ink." Booklist, ALA
About the Author
Daniel Pinkwater is crazy about writing, and has been trying to learn how to do it for fifty years. He has written about a hundred books, all but two or three of them good. People who own radios may know Daniel Pinkwater as a popular commentator and children's book reviewer on National Public Radio. At one time, he lived in Los Angeles, went to a fancy private school with the children of movie stars, and ate in The Hat numerous times. He lives with his wife, the illustrator and novelist Jill Pinkwater, and their dogs and cats in a two-hundred-year-old farmhouse in New York's Hudson River Valley.Jill and Daniel Pinkwater have collaborated on many well-loved children's books, including Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears and the Larry series. The Lifeline Theater in Chicago recently launched a new stage play based on these popular books. Daniel Pinkwater is known to NPR-listening, book-buying people around the country for his children'
Kids Q&A
Read the Kids' Q&A with Daniel Pinkwater