We're Going on a Bear Hunt

( 27 )

Overview

We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared.

Ready for some fun? Come along!

Brave bear hunters go through grass, a river, mud, and other obstacles before the inevitable encounter with the bear forces a headlong retreat.

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More About This Book

Overview

We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared.

Ready for some fun? Come along!

Brave bear hunters go through grass, a river, mud, and other obstacles before the inevitable encounter with the bear forces a headlong retreat.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
A father and his four children--a toddler, a preschool boy and two older girls--go on the traditional bear hunt based on the old camp chant: ``We're going to catch a big one. / What a beautiful day! / We're not scared. / Oh-oh! Grass! / Long, wavy grass. / We can't go over it. / We can't go under it. / Oh, no! / We've got to go through it!'' The family skids down a grassy slope, swishes across a river, sludges through mud and, of course, finally sees the bear, who chases them all back to their home. It's a fantastic journey--was it real or imagined?--with the family's actions and interaction adding to the trip a goodnatured, jolly mood. The design of the oversized volume alternates black-and-white drawings with gorgeous full-color watercolor paintings, which Oxenbury uses to wonderful effect. Readers accustomed to her board books will find a different style here, of puddled colors and sweeps of light and shadow. The scale of the pictures and the ease with which the text can be shouted aloud make this ideal for families or groups to share. Ages 4-9. Sept.
Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot
This delightful picture book makes a new appearance as a board book, and it is wonderful. The same mix of black and white illustrations accompanied by a rhythmic text, which alternate with full-color spreads full of onomatopoeia, are still there as the family ventures through fields across streams and through icy landscapes until they meet up with a bear in its cave. It's a fantasy adventure that ends with the whole family snuggled under the comforter in the parents' big bed, and now the board book crowd will get to enjoy the fun. 1997 (orig.
Children's Literature
There are some books that instantly become favorites with the preschool crowd and the parents and teachers who work with them. We're Going on a Bear Hunt is definitely one of them. Publishers sometimes try to find other avenues where they can market the book and often turn to audio books. A wonderful alternative, an audio book allows children to listen to the story independently again and again which helps them to make the speech to print match as reading begins. This particular audio book format is something of a disappointment, however. Rather than providing the means for children to revisit the story independently, the producers of this CD focused on providing the background noises that one might encounter when going on a bear hunt. For example, there is the splooch sound of a boot emerging from wet mud, the swish of grass as the characters walk through the knee-high field, etc. While this is all well and good, the end product is a CD that is usable only in concert with parent and child and even then is ineffective. The CD asks the child to "repeat after me" but never provides any modeling. There were many such good ideas but they were not fully developed. A better format would have been a package containing the book and a CD that offered extensions for learning. That way, parents or preschool teachers would have a resource to truly go beyond the book. A simple audio book with accompanying tape would have been sufficient. 2002, Candlewick Audio, Ages 3 to 5.
—Joan Kindig, Ph.D.
School Library Journal
PreS-K-- From England comes this refreshing interpretation of an old camp hand-rhyme presented in large picture-book format. The setting is the beach and its environs. The cast: five hunters (a man and four children) and a dog, all of whom stalk the furry beast through coastal landscapes, oozy mud, an unlikely snowstorm, and finally, into the cave where they meet the object of their search. And, just as in the old tale, they reverse their steps and, in this version, end up in bed under the covers, vowing never to go on a bear hunt again. The beautiful pastel watercolor paintings that fill the huge pages alternate with soft-textured charcoal sketches. The most impressive of the black, white, and gray drawings is the full-spread storm as it approaches. The final ``reverse'' scenes are small blocks, three to a page in rapid succession, in sync with the rushed pace of the text. Even the endpapers lend themselves to the mood of the tale. In contrast to the sunny beach featured at the front, a lonely bear walks the beach in the moonlight at the back of the book. The characters' faces are round and filled with expression. The rhyme is printed in a large, almost calligraphic typeface that leaps off the page, alive in onomatopoeic expression (``squelch squerch!'' and ``Hoooo woooo!'') and reassurance for young listeners (``We're not scared''). This version adds vitality to Sivulich's more traditional I'm Going on a Bear Hunt (Dutton, 1973; o.p.). Readers and listeners will delight in this imaginative pursuit over and over again. --Marianne Pilla, Upper Dublin Pub . Lib . , Dresher, PA
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780689853494
  • Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
  • Publication date: 1/1/2003
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 36
  • Age range: 2 - 5 Years
  • Product dimensions: 10.60 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 0.20 (d)

Meet the Author

Michael Rosen, an English poet, scriptwriter, broadcaster, and performer, has been writing for children since 1970. He lives in London with his wife and five children.

Helen Oxenbury is the renowned illustrator of many classic picture books, including We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas. Ms. Oxenbury lives with her husband, illustrator John Burningham, in North London.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 27 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(22)

4 Star

(3)

3 Star

(2)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 27 Customer Reviews

  • Posted July 4, 2009

    We're Going on a Bear Hunt

    This book will bring back fond memories for former Girl Scouts like me! It has lots of repetition which is great for beginning readers. It can also be used as a basis for a fun P.E. activity. I teach kindergarten, and my students LOVE going on a bear hunt (or modified as going on a leprechaun hunt in March). We act the whole thing out with lots of movement. You definitely need to make up hand motions to go with this story. These are a few of the movements we do: Put your hands on your hips for "Going on a bear hunt!" Hands out indicating something large when singing "Gonna catch a big one." For "What a beautiful day!" we circle our hands out crossing them in front and making a big circle like a sun. For "We're not scared" we make a fist and pound our chests once and look fierce on the "We're" part. Otherwise, you make up stuff for the other sounds. For the grass we slide our palms together to make a "swishy swashy" sound. Have fun!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 20, 2010

    Great story ... with lots of funny sounds

    I have read this to my son since he was born. There are lots of great sounds to say as the family moves along in the adventures. He is five now and we still enjoy it. I buy it for a gift over and over.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 17, 2009

    You can't sit still to read this book!

    This is so fun to read and move with kids of all ages!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 11, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    But Not the Hippopotamus
    Goodnight Moon (Board Book)
    My Many Colored Days

    A MUST for a preschooler's library

    This was my favorite book to read to my grandsons and their favorite book to listen to and interact with me. I would read the story on the black & white illustrated pages softly and singsongy then would read the colorful action pages louder with lots of emotion. They would listen and their eyes would get big and sparkle with excitement. Soon they were voicing the action pages themselves. When the storybook family discovered the bear I quickened the reading pace as they ran back home. This book provides so much stimulation and joy. The story is told in an almost poetry verse. The water-color illustrations are art. It's a child's first thriller. It prompts interaction with your child. The board book is perfect for little hands to become accustomed to the feel of holding a book. Such a small price for so much value. I include this book with every new baby gift I buy.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 1, 2013

    Highly recommended!

    Love the size of them book and illustrations! Can't wait to give it to my grandson.

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  • Posted February 9, 2012

    Great Children's Book

    This is one of the cutest childrens books I have read. My 2 and 4 year old grandsons love it. It has a sing songie rhythm that keeps their attention.

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  • Posted September 23, 2011

    A Great Language Development Book!

    Another addition to the home library for families interested in early childhood language development. A fun, repetitive story with beautiful illustrations that will hold everyone's attention.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 18, 2011

    My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter has this book memorized....

    Love, love, love this book for my granddaughter. She never tires of it and likes to finish the sentences. She studies the interesting illustrations carefully and enjoys the many details. Her only question is, "where's the mommy?" I highly recommend this book for children of all ages.

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  • Posted September 24, 2010

    A Classic. One of the best.

    I have a son and daughter who have Autism, and this book, is an absolute fave between them. It takes a lot to grab a small child who has Autism's attention, and they bring this book to me over and over to read. They become animated, enlightened, and captivated by the rhythmic rhymes, and sentences. They are all smiles and move along and act out the story. Seeing them this animated, makes me very very happy. We enjoy many books, but none have the effect of this. Leading up to the part abt the "Oh, oh a snow storm, a swirling, whirling snow storm"- my 4 year old daughter begins bouncing in anticipation, and clapping her hands, My 9 year old son makes a Shhhhh shhhhhh woosh snow storm sound and the story is alive right from our living room, dr office, relatives house, anywhere we go, this book goes. I wish the author knew how happy and alive her book makes my three little kids, and captivates and animates my 2 that have autism. This boy has enriched our lives, and as cheesy as it sounds, has brought a lot of smiles and sunshine into our lives. This book is truly a joy.

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  • Posted February 20, 2010

    Going on a Bear Hunt

    Cute story with lots of repetition for younger children that enables them to get involved in the story line. It's easy for them to learn and recite the whole story. The story provides entertainment and is a great book for preschoolers.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 6, 2009

    Gets your child involved even more so if you act out the movements mentioned.

    My child loves it. We act it out as we read. She really enjoys getting into the story.

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  • Posted February 23, 2009

    Fun, Clever Book

    This is a great book for adding interactive motions to. My kids loved this book when they were young. So much so, my 11 yr old actually remembered it as a "great" book and insisted on buying it for her 18 month old cousin for Christmas!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 16, 2009

    Great Interaction

    We're Going On a Bearhunt is a classic preschool and early primary school interactive game. The illustrations make it fun to read to small children who like repetition and sequencing stories. But it's really fun after children know the story, and can do the actions themselves!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 20, 2007

    My son was entranced

    My three year old was entranced when I read it to him 5 time within a half hour. He is a late talker and was repeating a lot of the words after me.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 9, 2007

    One of my favorites

    I've done this! Tracked a bear and then been chased back to my grandpa's home. My son likes the pop-up version of this book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 28, 2002

    This Book is Great!

    This book I have been wanting to purchase for myself, I am a 23 yr old and I was working at a daycare for a couple of years and I used to love reading this book to the children. Just seeing the expressions on there face and the children being able to read it back to you, is a reason you can't help but love children, and the book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 3, 2002

    This is a great book for young kids!

    I am 14 years old i have read this book since i was little and i still love it. I I feel this is a must have book for young kids. i remember my mom reading it to me at night. I wish we still did that.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 12, 2001

    A Fun Book To Read!

    We love this book and have a lot of fun reading it to our 2 1/2 yr old and 1 year old. Our oldest knows most of the words - can't go over it, can't go under it - oh no, you've gotta go through it!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 10, 2001

    WE love this book !!

    After only reading this book a few times in a row from my older kids school libray .. my 3 1/2 yr old can 'read' it to you and tells you if your worng ! she loves this story !!! Its become a bit hit in our home !!!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 31, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

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