Sometimes there is a book that is so beautiful that I need to share it with adults so that they will share it with children. Ida, Always by Caron Levis and Charles Santoso (Atheneum) is just such a book. This beautiful story is one of friendship and loss. Fair warning – almost every adult with whom I have shared this picture book has found it to be touching and sad, but one that should be read.

Ida and Gus were polar bears who shared their days together. When Ida became ill and died, Gus mourned just as humans do. Usually I find my own way of describing a book, but in this case, I would like to share the “Author’s Note” at the end of the book. Those words explain this outstanding book better than I can.

Ida, Always is a fictional story inspired by the real pair of polar bears, Ida and Gus, who lived together in New York City’s Central Park Zoo. The two bears swam, played, and cuddled together for many years. They were visited by more than twenty million people from all over the world and deeply cared for by their zookeepers. By the time Ida became ill and died in 2011, she had created many wonderful memories for friends to remember her by, and when Gus died two years later, friends cherished their many memories of him, too.

While I was working on this story, I visited Gus. He sat on a large rock, surrounded by the city’s skyline, with his head tilted toward the sun. Like other loved ones who have passed away, Gus and Ida will be with me, always.              –C.L.