Oh no, we've got to go through it!!!

As a small child I remember vividly my mother telling us to stay out of neighborhood mud puddle, stay away from the overgrown bushes behind our house and basically to not do anything fun and adventurous that was likely to get us dirty or injured. Did that stop us?

What do you think??

And it doesn't stop my own kids either. They live for adventure as much as I did. That's why I bought this book.

The story
Set to words that flow in what could easily be a song, it's the story of a family and their dog that goes out in search of a bear in a Classic Board Book.

In their search they encounter tall grass, mud, a river, a forest, a snowstorm and finally a cave. Along the way they realize at each obstacle that "We can't go over it. We can't go under it. Oh no! We've got to go through it!" And isn't that every child's motto??

At the very end of their hunt they come to the cave which houses a real bear. The family backtracks as fast as possible though all the obstacles all the way home until they are safe in their bed.

Why my kids love the book
As I said before, the words are catchy. In no time they had the main parts of each page memorized. They start reading the book more and more which lets a tired mom out of reading as much.

Next is the sound effects as the family encounters each obstacle. The grass goes swishy swashy, the splash splosh of the river, the mud with it's squelch squerch, their stumble trip through the forest, the hoooo woooo of the snowstorm and finally the tiptoeing through the cave. I'm not certain why kids like sound effects in books. Maybe it breaks the monotonous words up a bit. Maybe it's because they like to see their ever-so-serious parents look silly. Maybe they are stocking up things to use as blackmail as teenagers.

Both my boys will tell you that their favorite part of the book is the end when the bear chases the family back home and yes parents, if you thought you looked silly before, this is where you get to make the sound effects double time... all the way into their house and upstairs into their bed and under the covers.

As a parent, you'll find this book is one you don't tire of easily, which for me is mandatory.

So don't be scared... go on a bear hunt.