Earth: Feeling the Heat

Gently urging, emotionally resonant text describes the impacts of global warming—“Because the Arctic keeps getting warmer... the [polar] bear can't gain the weight she needs to raise a cub”—followed by variations on a plaintive refrain: “Who can help the polar bear?” The sickly palette of Wallace's oil paintings emphasizes a planet in need: wildfire threatens an orangutan; a water hole dries up. In the end, three children plant a tree on a hill: “a caribou, a pika, and even a Bengal tiger cannot stop the warming. Who can? People can!” Ages 4–8. (Mar.)