Frigid arctic conditions are known to affect a person’s thinking, but in the manner of polar explorers, Ida (white) does her best to accurately recount the extraordinary events when she and neighbors Jack and Max (both white) went “to the ice.” Playing near the creek behind their houses in early spring, the threesome step onto the ice; it cracks and they find themselves on a floe headed to sea. There is a sense of practicality, play, and adventure as the three drift further and further from home (and land). When their ice floe eventually becomes part of an ice pack, the stoic and curious friends continue to explore—summiting the craggy icy terrain and traveling to a stony mountain, where they happen upon an abandoned cabin. Cold, resourceful, and mildly optimistic, the three settle in for the winter by telling stories, singing songs, and eating from the store of canned fish balls, their dialog providing both humor and the logic behind their decision-making. In time, the sun reappears and the trio fashion a boat from wood scraps, their journey home as swift and remarkable as it is inevitable. When they arrive, it was as though they had never been gone. Translated from the Swedish, this slender and highly illustrated novel blends a straightforward telling and dreamlike quality to honor the imagination of children. (Ages 7-10)

Three children go on a polar expedition in this thrilling adventure story for newly independent readers that blurs realism and imagination.

Ida, Max, and Jack go to the creek one winter's day. They play on an ice floe then find themselves floating away--all the way to the polar ice, with just a box, a branch and some sandwiches.

"You probably don't think it's true, and we didn't either, not even while it was happening..."

They find an old hut, meet penguins, see extraordinary things, and, after testing their resources in this dramatic land of ice and snow, come home safe at the end of the day.

"What shall we say about where we've been?" asked Max.

"Tell the truth," I said. "We don't know."

To the Ice is a beautifully produced chapter book that absorbs young readers in a real-life make-believe filled with problem-solving and adventure. This is a thrilling and plot-filled story for budding explorers and ice adventurers--the kind of book children will remember throughout their lives.

Thomas Tidholm is a Swedish photographer, poet, playwright, and writer. He and Anna-Clara Tidholm have together created a string of award-winning books for children since the early 1980s.

Anna-Clara Tidholm is one of Sweden's leading children's book authors and illustrators with a varied and rich bibliography. Her prizes include the Elsa Beskow plaque, German Youth Literature Prize, Astrid Lindgren prize and August prize.

Translated from the Swedish edition by Julia Marshall.

Praise for To the Ice
"[A]n enthralling blend of survivalist realism and fantasy."--Publishers Weekly
"This utter delight of a story is highly recommended!"--Readings, Australia
"A good children's book ignites curiosity in adults. To the Ice left me with research rabbit holes to go down and connections to make. On one level, this is an adventure story along the lines of Where the Wild Things Are." --New Zealand Herald