Polarity Bear Tours the Zoo

by Sue De Cuevas, pictures by Wendy Rasmussen

Take a tour of the zoo with a polar bear guide. This charming story tells about a bear who doesn't want to live in a cage and her adventures in the park. You can see real polar bears at the Central Park Zoo. 

Here is a real polar bear.

Did you know polar bears like to swim? You can see the bear pool from underwater at the zoo so you can see what a bear looks like when it is swimming.

If you go to New York City, you should be sure to visit Central Park. Any time of year, there are things to see and do. You can even skate in the winter. Here is one nice walk through the park. And here is a link to a map of the park. It helps to have a map, but wandering around the park is fun too. It's really not that big a park, and there are lovely things to see everywhere.

• Start at Central Park South and Fifth Avenue. See the duck pond.
• Walk north and a little west to see Victoria Gardens Amusement Park–or the Wollman Rink in the winter.
• Go back east and a bit north and you will come to the Central Park zoo with the dancing clock. The clock "dances" on the half hours.The zoo is definitely worth a visit, and there is a cafe there as well.

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• You might want to go west from the zoo and past the Dairy Visitor's Center to ride the Carousel.

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• Be sure to walk north again on East Drive to see the Balto Statue. Balto was a sled dog who saved a town.

• Keep going on East Drive and you will come to the Conservatory Water, where you can watch people sail toy boats. You can rent and sail them yourself too. There are places to get snacks around the pond.

• On the west side of the pond you'll see the Hans Christian Andersen statue. And at the north end is the Alice in Wonderland statue. Children climb on it.

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• There are many other things to see and do in the park as well. And if you keep going north, you will come to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is information on that part of the park in the Young Readers and the Teen sections of Lit GPS.