What's the title of this long lost picture book from my childhood?

November 16, 2022 9:13 AM

My grandmother had exactly 3 kid's books in her house and I've been trying to track down one of them forever. My memory is hazy, but what I recall was a picture book about a little community of polar creatures: possibly penguins and polar bears. I believe they had shops, homes and furniture made out of ice and at some point in the story, the ice started to melt...

They style I remember is fairly simple pen-and-ink line drawings, not much color, all sideview with 'x-ray' views into the shops and houses (almost like a sidescrolling video game). Near the end, I think things become pretty desperate in terms of their town melting, with lots of tiny icebergs floating in the water, but assuming it had a happy ending. But again, my memory is fairly suspect on any and all of the details...

My grandmother's brother worked for Random House in NYC, so this may have been a Random House title (or not). Best guess was it was printed in the 60s. Definitely prior to the 80s. Most certainly not a classic ;)

I've had no luck with Google. But I would love to reconnect with this odd, little piece of my past.

posted by Text TK to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

Some part of the the animal communities and jobs suggests Richard Scarry, which fits for that era, but I don't have a specific memory of a melting iceberg village. Still, there are so many Richard Scary books that doesn't really mean anything. Anyway, a quick Google will let you determine if his distinctive art style is what you remember or not. He did do cut-aways into buildings, but also his style was very colorful, so probably not what you are remembering?
posted by seasparrow at 11:22 AM on November 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: In case no one comes up with it, here's a resource list provided by the NY public library.
posted by stormyteal at 7:49 PM on November 16, 2022 [2 favorites]