Irving and Muktuk, two muffin-eating polar bears from the frozen north, have some trouble fitting into life at the zoo in Bayonne, New Jersey, so they decide to explore life outside the walls of the zoo. PreSchool-Grade 3-In this zany sequel to the Pinkwaters' Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears (Houghton, 2001), the incorrigible, muffin-loving polar bears are sent to a zoo in Bayonne, NJ, along with a letter stating that they are not to be trusted. Craving their favorite food, they make plans to break into the muffin factory next door. Using their pillows and blankets to make an ingenious disguise, they sneak into the building with a school tour group. When they are discovered, they run and hide in the freezer section of a local supermarket. Roy, a better-behaved polar bear, finds them and returns them to the zoo. This book mentions but does not explain the pair's muffin-stealing past and will make the most sense to readers who are familiar with its predecessor. The lighthearted cartoons reflect the mood of the humorous text. The pure white bears drawn with thin, free black outlines contrast with the backgrounds, which are often illustrated with bright complementary colors. Pinkwater's many fans will enjoy the further adventures of these mischievous creatures. -Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. K-Gr. 3. Irving and Muktuk, the nefarious polar bears last seen in Two Bad Bears (2001), have been sent to a zoo in Bayonne, New Jersey, as punishment for transgressions in their Alaskan town. At the zoo, they meet the resident polar bear, Roy, who has his own apartment and clocks out of the zoo every night after it closes. Since they aren't to be trusted, Irving and Muktuk have to stay in their apartment in the zoo, but they soon grow bored and escape, disguised as rakishly capped figures. Their objective is the nearby muffin factory (muffins are a passion), but they are discovered and forced back to the zoo. It is unlikely, however, given the looks on their faces on the final page, that they are on the way to muffin rehabilitation. The droll, understated text and Jill Pinkwater's simple, expressive, marker-and-ink illustrations perfectly capture the cheekiness of this story of bears gone bad and proud of it. Todd Morning Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Daniel Pinkwater is crazy about writing, and has been trying to learn how to do it for fifty years. He has written about a hundred books, all but two or three of them good. People who own radios may know Daniel Pinkwater as a popular commentator and children’s book reviewer on National Public Radio. At one time, he lived in Los Angeles, went to a fancy private school with the children of movie stars, and ate in The Hat numerous times. He lives with his wife, the illustrator and novelist Jill Pinkwater, and several dogs and cats in a very old farmhouse in New York’s Hudson River Valley.