Polar Bear Math: Learning About Fractions from Klondike and Snow

That night Cindy took the tiny cubs home with her. She didn't sleep at all-she was too busy feeding milk to the twins, cleaning them, and checking on every little cry.
When dawn came, the small bears were still clinging to life.

Children learn about fractions while following the Denver Zoo's baby polar bears, Klondike and Snow

Early one morning at the Denver Zoo, a polar bear gives birth to two tiny babies, then abandons them.

The zoo staff must raise the babies, but there are many things they don't know. What foods are best? How much should the cubs eat? Once they figure out the answers, the cubs quickly become healthy, happy young bears.

Young readers follow Klondike and Snow as they grow from fragile newborns to large, lively bears, and along the way they'll learn about fractions.

Ann Whitehead Nagda is the author of two other math picture books about baby zoo animals, as well as several other books about wildlife. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Cindy Bickel has worked at the Denver Zoo for more than thirty years, where she has helped raise many baby animals, including the polar bears Klondike and Snow. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.