Review: Ida, Always

Ida, Always by Caron Levis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There is a lot of five- and four-stars review, but not so much is heard from those who didn't like the book. Well, I didn't like it. It says that it's based on a real story of two polar bears in a zoo and was inspired by the great sadness of zoo visitors following the death of one of them, Ida. I guess, the author tryed to turn it around and make a book for children of how to cope with a loss of a loved one. First of all, no matter how touching the story is for adults, I don't think it works that way for children, especially grieving children. Second, for a book about real bears, it's anthropocentric to the extreme. Third, I generally don't like books that try to sell readers false hopes, and Ida, Always does exactly that; instead of providing a way to settle and move on it gives some groundless, ephemeral hopes.

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