Can anyone remember this 1980s children's book?

[AbsolutelyOuting]

Possibly the book is 1970s or early 1990s - but I'm pretty sure 80s.

It has a panda in it who dresses up as a polar bear. He has a white outfit (maybe made of a pillowcase?) and paints over the black bits or fur on his face with white paint (or flour?).

I think he's sad he can't fit in as a polar bear.
I also think the paint gets washed off in the rain, but not sure.

That's all I've got! Myself and DB vaguely remember it but can't remember any more!

It does sound vaguely familiar. There was a book called The Bears Who Stayed Indoors that I used to enjoy as a child and that also came to mind when I read your post.

Ai told me this - That detail about the pillowcase and painting his face white is super specific — you’re definitely thinking of a real book, but it’s a tricky one.

The closest match is "The Panda Who Wanted to Be a Polar Bear" by Fiona Kelly, illustrated by Jan Lewis, published in 1987.

Why it fits:
Panda dresses as a polar bear: He puts on a white sheet/pillowcase costume to look like a polar bear.
Paints his face: He covers his black patches with white paint/flour to try to fit in.
Feels sad/not fitting in: The whole story is about him feeling left out and wanting to be different.
Rain washes it off: In the end, it rains, the paint washes off, and he realizes it’s better to be himself.

It’s a UK picture book from the late 80s, so it fits your “80s/early 90s” memory. It’s pretty obscure now, which is why it doesn’t pop up easily online.

If that’s not it, the other one people confuse it with is "Panda & Polar Bear" by Matthew J. Baek, but that’s 2009 and the polar bear is the one who gets muddy, not the panda dressing up.

Does “The Panda Who Wanted to Be a Polar Bear” sound right? If you remember the art style — watercolor vs. bold cartoony — that’ll confirm it. I can dig for a cover image if you want to check.

@Unexpectedlysinglemum
The Panda Who Wanted to be a Polar Bear sounds like it's the one!

I don't think the artwork was particularly bold cartoony - maybe more drawings painted in.

I still have my childhood copy of The Bears Who Stayed Indoors. They played at going to the moon!

unexpectedlysinglemum that first book sounds like a classic AI hallucination. Just had a search and I don't think it exists.

I’ve just googled the author - everything she wrote appears to be kids “mystery” books, so although it appears to be the right era, a book about a panda wanting to be a polar bear would have been wildly different to anything else she wrote!

Worrying how convincing AI can sound yet be so completely wrong.

Google AI has found a book called The Bear who wanted to stay a bear by Jörg Steiner. Originally published in German, but was widely available in English in the 80’s apparently. This book is about a brown bear who slept through winter and woke to find an industrial complex around him. He ends up covered in white so the factory boss thinks he’s an untrained polar bear and forces him to work on the assembly line.

Not entirely sure why polar bears would be working on an assembly line…

I know you said Panda, but could you have misremembered that detail? I’ve searched up this book and it appears to be real. The cover shows a bear shaving whilst being watched by what looks like a guard?

Ah, what a shame.
"The panda who wanted to be a polar bear" is a crap title though, and doesn't ring any bells!

So weird. DB remembered the book and so do I, so it's definitely something real.

@Tillow4ever

No, it's definitely not that.
I can see in my mind's eye the picture of panda eyes being covered in white.

I used to read books about a panda called Issi Noho in the 80s. I don't remember a specific book about him wanting to be a polar bear but thought it might be worth a try?
Issi Noho – Nostalgia Central