Customer Reviews

The Teddy Bear's Picnic

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"If you go down in the woods today You're sure of a big surprise If you go down in the woods today You'd better go in disguise For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain because Today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic."

This is such a fun book to read to my kids! The rhyming verse has a nice rythem to it, but its the pictures we enjoy the most. They make you feel like you are peeking through the trees at this wonderful picnic! This book is a treasure!

If you and your child (or even if you don't have a child) love the song and story of the Teddy Bear's picnic, then you will adore this book.

The text is pretty straight forward - as well all expect it to be. But the illustrations are just delightful - full colour on every page, teddies everywhere you look and getting into all manner of interesting things. This is what is so charming about this book - the sheer delight of finding a bear and seeing what it is doing - is it eating cake? Climbing a tree? Falling asleep? Avoiding the children in disguise?

It may be a difficult book to find, but it is just lovely, and well worth the effort.

My 1 year old son loves this book. I usually sing it to him. I find the illustrations to be most stimulating and rewarding. I highly recommend this book!!

I was a child of the 50's in England, and remember singing "Teddy Bear's Picnic" back then. I don't remember seeing a book but sang the song many times as a child. I was thrilled when Green Tiger Press published the book when my son was born in the 80's -- now bought out by Simon & Schuster. I have the original version that came boxed with a cassette tape. I was hoping to buy some for my nieces and nephew's children but updated with a CD. I hope someone gets the word out to the publisher to update it so they can play it in current formats. The song is so lovely, the book is only half of it! In San Diego, the Westgate Hotel periodically does "Teddy Bear's Picnic" teas for children.

If you can't decide bwtween this and the somewhat "hippie" version adapted by Jerry Garcia andDavid Grisman (with illustrations by Bruce Whatley), I hope this review might help you.

Gosh, that roundish, friendly bear looks familiar! He's wearin these Jerry Garcia glasses, with a wizzened-white Jerry Garcia beard, and strums both an electric and an acoustic guitar! Real aficionados might even see a resemblance to string player David Grisman, a leaner bear with matching black "T" and a very fine looking banjo.

Yes, it's Garcia and Grisman's foray into kiddy lit, and while they appear on only a few pages (and the board book has no accompanying CD), their presence is felt in the other bears taking the woods-road to a grand picnic. THey're free-spiried and diverse (teddies,koalas, and pandas, and black bears and brown) and wear disguises (a sailor shirt, a pig snout) and free-flowing scarves and hats and , and bright 60's vests. Tqo ainga cross to from thw word "Woodstock," and while there are no naked bears holding hands in a river... it is a frolicosme gathering:

"Beneath the trees, where nobody sees/THey'll hide and seek as long as they please."

However, the text is an adaptation of a 1947 text by John W. Bratton and Jimmy Kennedy, and if you read carefully, you;ll pick up on some subverively conservative strictures. Only GOOD bears can go this picnic, it seems, and though they're having a "lovely" time on their picnic, there's a mysterious (and somewhat cryptic ) reference to dangers lurking in the forest. Towards the end of this playful, and cutely illustrated board book (the wonderful Bruce Whatley), there's a somewhat sinister verse:

"If yo ugo down to the woods today
You better not go alone
It's lovely down in the woods today
But safer to stay at home"

Maybe this just relects the creeping fears of a tired young bear at the endof a grand picnic, but it makes little sense to me, not is it consistent with the overall tone of the book. I dount your little one is going to notice, but I can't help but wonder if the publishers could have chosen to omit this abrupt and unexplained warning...

Overall, it's a nicely illustrated boardbook, and bear lovers will especially warm to it. However, the original tune clashes a bit with the 60's ethos, and the phrases can be awkward when not sung. Although I haven't heard this "all-time favorite song" (from the back cover), a combination book/CD might be a better way to enjoy this new/old offering.

The book is great. I ordered it for a baby shower and didn't have time to return it when it arrived with a damaged corner. Very disappointing. I needed to know the condition before I ordered it.

the song and pictures were just right and the book was in perfect condition. I recomend this company very highly.

Pictures are wonderful. Just wish the book was in hard cover. Do not recommend it in soft. The pages seemed to get marked up very easily. The book is a good size so if you are reading it to a class you can see the pictures easily. It is a lovely book.

I loved this version of the book when I was a child and was excited to find it on Amazon. I have a 7 month old who is just starting to become interested in books. I ordered what was supposedly a brand new copy of the book and when it arrived, the last page was torn in half down the middle. I could have returned it but didn't feel like dealing with the hassle.

The story itself is great and whimsical. I read it to my son to the tune of the song.

This book is one of my daughter's favorites. It is our nighttime ritual for me the "sing" this book to her. It is wonderful for infants up to elementary age.