Take the Whole Family or Classroom On a Bear Hunt

Before I became a parent, one of my favorite jobs was working with toddlers in a day care. Working there was such fun and how I was introduced to this book. Of course once I had my own daughter, I went to the bookstore looking specifically for We're Going on a Bear Hunt since I remembered it so fondly from before. I was in awe the first time that I heard this story being told and acted out by the toddlers in the room. This was one of their favorite stories and the one requested time and again. Each little one knew it word for word! My daughter has never seemed to like it as much, she is afraid of the bear in it. I do wonder if she had experienced the story in a room full of kids acting out the motions while the story was being read, if it would have changed her opinion of it. The energy and excitement of all the children overtook any feelings of fear and all that was left was genuine love for We're Going on a Bear Hunt.

This is one story that is interactive and the reader needs to get excited and put inflections on different words like Oh, no! We've got to go through it! I love how the author put in so many action words that children can act out like walking in snow, children can shake and shiver. Also the repetetive verses are just absolutely perfect, you almost sing as you are reading it! Coming to the end, you speed up and read very fast as the family is running back home!
A sample of the text:

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.
Oh-oh! A river! A deep, cold river.
We can't go over it. We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!
Splash splosh!
Splash splosh!
Splash splosh!

With each of those words getting darker and bigger as it goes along.

This board book starts out with a family of five what else...searching for a bear. There is Mom, Dad, baby, little girl, and little boy. Mom looks really young and almost like a teenager? As they go along, they come to different obstacles along the way. They decide how to address these obstacles and then plow ahead through them. Finally they find a cave! And then what do they see? IT'S A BEAR!!!! This starts them running back through all of the obstacles with the bear hot on their trail. The family rushes in to their home, we can see the bear running up to the front door! They lock him out of the house and run upstairs to jump in bed. The book ends with the whole family snugly in bed and the lonely bear walking home alone.

First of all let me say, do not think this is a good bedtime story because even though the family ends up in bed, the excitement in the book makes it NOT a good bedtime story. Children will be jumping up and down and screaming at the top of their lungs....read this book when you want your child to be active! What ages would I recommend it for? I have never seen any child not like this book except for my daughter who is afraid of the bear. So recommended for ages 0-99 years old. In the daycare, the children I worked with were 1 to 2 year old toddlers and this was their favorite!

One to six lines of text per page in this 34 page book. It goes much faster than you would think as everyone has such a good time with it....the reader and the listeners! The illustrations are in color and black and white. The ones in black and white look like pencil drawings with areas shaded in. The color paintings look like watercolors but with so many details like the shimmering lake. Children love to look at the pictures and each time will see something else, touches like mud on the family's feet or the baby pulling back and refusing to go into the bear cave. If you have never heard of this book, you have to get it for your children! You won't regret this book purchase! A book so fun to read and so fun to hear!

What is so good about THIS book?

Interactive, children can act out going through obstacles, FUN, sing song text, it's a bear hunt!

What is unique about this book?

Family goes in search of a bear and finds one.

Is it worth the price?

Yes! If you buy no other children's book, this is the one to get! Fun for the whole family.

There has to be some bad to this book, right?

The bear could scare sensitive children like my daughter.

Any warnings people should be aware of?

None, the bear is not overly scary in the book so really there is no warning for this book.

Final verdict:

If you have never heard of this book, you have to get it for your children! You won't regret this book purchase! A book so fun to read and so fun to hear!

pablo the story teller