I wonder if Thomas Dorflein, the zookeeper at the Berlin Zoo, ever thought he would spend half a year as a foster parent to a polar bear? When Tosca, a female polar bear at the zoo, gave birth to two healthy cubs, she showed little interest in her offspring. The veterinarians and zookeepers had to step in quickly to save them. After one of the cubs died of a fever, Dorflein became the around-the-clock caregiver for Knut.

Any parent can empathize with Dorflein's long nights and the constant feeding, grooming and cleaning that Knut required. The zookeeper's own family had to move to the back burner as the baby polar bear's needs demanded almost every minute of his foster father's time and energy. And when one animal rights activist declared that zookeepers should never have intervened to save the cub, little Knut became a worldwide celebrity.

In Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World, it's the details that make the story memorable?the nine-part photograph of Knut eating his first meal of kitten food and milk, his struggles with teething pain and his rollicking fun in the sandbox will remind young readers of the similarities between humans and their furry mammal relatives.

Juliana, Isabella and Craig Hatkoff, authors of the popular Owen & Mzee, join forces here with Gerald Ulrich, CEO of the Berlin Zoo, to turn this story of one adorable and irresistible polar bear into much more. They highlight the effect of human civilization and global warming on the habitat of all polar bears and pose a painful question: Is it possible that polar bears could become extinct during our lifetime?

Detailed back matter will send interested readers deeper into the lives of polar bears and to scientific information about ecological activism. One very cute, very vulnerable polar bear cub might just do what the politicians seem unable to do: mobilize humans to pay attention to the effect they have on the Earth. Copyright 2007 BookPage Reviews.

In Owen & Mzee , Craig Hatkoff and his daughter Isabella told of the close rapport between an orphaned baby hippo and an elderly tortoise; here they team up with Isabella's sister Juliana and Uhlich, a board member of Zoo Berlin, to focus on another stirring, if less startling, interspecies friendship. A polar bear at that German zoo, Knut became an international media darling shortly after his birth in 2006, when his mother showed no interest raising him and zoo employees stepped in to take her place. Assuming the role of Knut's "around-the-clock foster father," the zoo's chief bear keeper remained at the cub's side for four months without interruption, day and night, feeding and grooming him, even playing him Elvis songs on the guitar and eventually teaching him how to swim. The informative narrative flows easily, yet the show-stoppers are the color photos, culled from numerous sources. Many put the fluffy, wide-eyed Knut face-to-face with readers; others capture the celebrated bear at play (wrestling with an old boot, mouthing a deflated soccer ball) or at rest (nestled between two stuffed animals in his sleeping box). Remarkably photogenic, Knut brings home for young readers the importance of saving polar bears' natural Arctic habitat, a message stated in the conclusion and reinforced with tips on how children can help combat global warming. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)

K-Gr 3— Knut is a German polar bear born in captivity. His story is told in simple language and accompanied by adorable, engaging close-ups of him and his primary handler, a zookeeper named Thomas Drflein. Originally one of two cubs born to a befuddled mother, Knut alone survived, and he began to thrive under his human surrogates' loving care. Predictably, it's the color pictures of the cuddly cub that really sell this sterling title; Knut is, naturally, very photogenic. Readers who are too young to appreciate the light nonfiction narrative can approach this book purely as a photo-essay and still take a great deal away from it. The authors make quick work of the sensational, incendiary statement that launched Knut into the spotlight-that he should have been left to die. Instead they use his words to open an important dialogue and share information about Knut's natural habitat and how to preserve it. Consider this well-written, well-documented title an essential addition to every collection.—Catherine Threadgill, Charleston County Public Library, SC