We're Going on a Bear Hunt

by Michael Rosen, Helen Oxenbury (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Take a trip to catch a bear in Michael Rose’s iconic Were Going on a Bear Hunt! Filled with fun sounds and a catchy song, this book will have you heading to the forest to catch a bear of your own.

Beloved for more than 30 years, this award-winning classic from Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury celebrates the joys of an afternoon outdoors with family.

We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one.

Will you come too? Join a father and his four young children as they cross a field of tall, wavy grass, wade through a deep, cold river, struggle through swampy mud, find their way through a big, dark forest, fight through a whirling snowstorm, and enter finally enter a narrow, gloomy cave. What will they find there? You’ll have to read on to find out!

For more than thirty years readers have been swishy swashing and splash sploshing through this award-winning favorite. Now fans of this timeless story from Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury can share this entertaining paperback picture book!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689853494
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	01/01/2003
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	36
Sales rank:	7,682
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	BR (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About 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.

Editorial Reviews

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.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

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

School Library Journal