How a Dream About a Polar Bear Became a Children’s Book on Climate and the Food Chain

Artist Jane Dugan and author Esther Meerschaut created Hope For The Future after a vivid dream led Dugan to First Nations polar bear legends — and a mission to teach young readers about ecological responsibility.

Jane Dugan was woken in the night by a dream so vivid it changed the direction of her art. An angry polar bear, growling and smashing on ice, filled with a bright flash of light she would later recognise as the Northern Lights. Rather than dismiss it, she followed it — into the polar bear legends of Canada’s First Nations peoples, where the bear is known as “Ice Man,” the protector of the magnetic field and the ice itself.

That research became a painting: the polar bear leaving Earth, a question mark over whether there would be any ice left to protect. And the painting became a book.

Hope For The Future

Inspiring Young Readers to Care for a Changing Planet by Jane Dugan & Esther Meerschaut

A children’s book following Polaris the polar bear through a changing Arctic. Written by Jane Dugan and Esther Meerschaut, it teaches grades 2-3 students about the food chain, ecological interconnectedness, and personal environmental responsibility. Inspired by First Nations polar bear legends from Canada, where the polar bear is known as Ice Man — protector of the magnetic field and the ice.