Bear Rescue by Hannah Gold

Title: Bear Rescue

Author: Hannah Gold

Genre: Contemporary

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia

Published: 24^th February 2026

Format: Paperback

Pages: 96

Price: $12.99

Synopsis: Join April Wood on a thrilling Arctic adventure set in the world of the THE LAST BEAR, FINDING BEAR and THE LONE HUSKY.

August Wood lives in the far north of the Arctic. His best friend is a husky called Blaze, and he’s the younger brother of April Wood – the girl who once famously rescued a polar bear.

But one summer’s day, when a sudden snowstorm strikes, August goes missing. With temperatures plummeting, it’s up to April, Bear and Blaze to track him down and bring him safely home … before it’s too late.

A stunning, snow-filled adventure for animal lovers of all ages, Bear Rescue is perfect for readers who are new to Hannah Gold’s iconic stories as well as existing fans.

‘Deeply moving, quite unforgettable’ Michael Morpurgo on The Last Bear

An earlier version of this review appeared in Good Reading Magazine in April 2026

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April has a nine-month-old baby brother, and her father’s birthday is coming up. He also has a big surprise for Maria, and April is going to help him with it. But while everyone is getting things ready, August goes missing. It sends the family into a panic. So April, Bear and Blaze set off to look for him before anything bad happens to him.

Most of Hannah Gold’s April Wood novels are long, yet the latest one is short, perfect for new readers to enter April’s world, so you don’t need to have read the other books to know what is going on. I think most of them are like this, having read some of the others and they all revolve around the same characters, but I don’t think they follow on from each other in the same way another series might.

This short book takes place over a few hours on a single spring day in the Arctic, where the family comes together in celebration and panic. This is all handled gently though, and sensitively. Everyone is allowed to feel their feelings, and there is a sense of urgency that runs through this short novel that captures a moment in the life of the Woods family. It is one that sits within the series, as well as on its own, and feels like it brings the family together in one final story.

Whilst short, it still captures the magic of the rest of the series and the coldness of the Arctic that seems to seep off the page. You can feel the environment that April lives in, and all the little things that she has to do differently to people in other places. This makes things work well, and she’s very at home in the Arctic. She fits there, she’s part of the environment and has a deep connection to it, the people she knows and the animals.

Books like this that centre the environment and nature in the modern world show that we still have to care for it, and that tackling climate change is important. Whilst this one is about family, it is also about survival and coming together, about teamwork and siblings, making it a powerful story. This makes it engaging and easy to pick up and read.

Another enjoyable story.