The big white bear walked over the ice. After he went a few feet, he pushed his paws down on the ice as hard as he could. The sheet of ice cracked, and the big bear learned that he still had to wait. 

The big white bear was waiting to go out to the ice and hunt. He was getting thin after a long summer in the far north, and he was ready to catch a seal. In a few weeks, he could walk out on the ice, far from shore. There, he could find seals or other animals that he could catch. He would come back from the cold winter a lot fatter. 

But for now, he would have to wait. In a few more days, the ice would be thick enough for him to go out and hunt. The cold winds were starting to make some of the ice very thick. But this spot was too thin, and he would have to wait.
Where did he spend his summer?
the far north