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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
93 of 97 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't go over it,
By
This review is from: We're Going On A Bear Hunt (Hardcover)
Glancing at the cover of Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury's, "We're Going On a Bear Hunt", I thought something along the lines of, "Hrmph. I bet they watered it down and made it syrupy. There's no way this kind of kid's book (in which a father and his four children of different hair colors go hunting for a bear) is going to actually end with the family finding the bear and getting chased back to their house". Well, you can just color me wrong all over. Not only is the book faithful to the original song, but it's a hoot to boot. The words are those old familiar ones we all love so well, and the pictures are a high-stepping romp complete with adventure, daring, and danger. Everything, in fact, that a good picture book could hope to be.If you've ever heard the song "We're Going On a Bear Hunt" then you know the way the story goes. A father and his rambunctious youngsters are setting out to locate one bear. They're not actually on a hunt in terms of carrying guns or anything of that sort. In fact, these people haven't anything with them but one another and the clothes on their backs. With their border collie along with they successfully cross the tall wavy grass (swishy swashy), ford the deep cold river (splash splosh), tromp through the ooey-gooey mud (squelch squerch), wander through the deep dark forest (stumble trip!), run through a whirling snowstorm (Hoooo woooo), and at last enter a deep dark cave (tiptoe). It's the dog that sees the malicious bear first and the brave troop run back over every place they'd been before to escape. In a moment of frenzied activity they enter their house only to discover that they've forgotten to shut the door. At the last minute they get it closed (angry bear safely outside now) and everyone crawls into bed and under the covers. The final shot in the book is one of the bear as he tromps solemly homeward again. This is quite an exciting book. Author Michael Rosen has captured the enjoyable sounds of the story quite well, and the high tension towards the end is just delightfully scary enough for the youngsters. But it is illustrator Helen Oxenbury that really lets this puppy shine. She has the ability to create scenes in which characters are interacting with one another against huge evocative backgrounds. I'm very partial to a scene in which the family is joyfully running through the tall grasses, dotted occasionally with deep red poppies. The sky is a blue one, filled with light puffy clouds and in the distance a flock of birds travels up and away. Admittedly, I love a good pastoral illustration, but this kind of care for illustrations is visible in all Oxenbury's color pictures (each appearing on every other page). If you're at all familiar with Helen Oxenbury then you'll find numerous scenes in this story that remind you of her other books. The baby found here looks like nothing so much as a clothed version of the infant in, "Big Mama Makes the World". The muddy squelchy vista in another picture is reminiscent of the barnyard takeover attempt in, "Farmer Duck". She knows how to pick `em, Helen Oxenbury does. Will kids be scared by a family chased by a bear? Pleasantly so, I believe. The shot of the bear walking home is enough to convince even the worry-wartiest of children that the family is not going to be eaten in the near future. All in all, this is just another one of those great picture books that fill the world. It reads aloud very well, so if you need a book to present to a large group, I've found the perfect match for you. If you like high adventure and a good tale, "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" delivers both in spades. A wonderful addition to any storytime collection.
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best choices out there,
By
This review is from: We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Classic Board Books) (Board book)
This is one of the first books my son responded to. I could read it to him and get him to say Uh Oh at the proper point. Months later he was able to add Oh No at the proper point. A book like this, with fun noises, great prepositional phrases, interesting drawings, a funny storyline, an exciting ending, and a repetitive reading sequence, really help children to remember what's going on. A kid who can remember a story can eventually learn to tell you that story, and sometimes even do so long before they're truly reading and decoding the words.
The board book format will always be lauded in our household. We like the durability and compactness of the books. The babies can easily turn the pages, the books withstand being thrown (hey, it happens) and stepped on, and the pages can be gnawed on without too much harm. This is one of our favorites.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great first book.,
By A Customer
This review is from: We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Classic Board Books) (Board book)
We've been reading this book to our 17 month old daughter since she was given it at 6 weeks and yet it's still a favourite! She now joins in on the Uh-Oh's, and lots of the sound pages too. She's been 'reading' the Hoo Woo snowstorm page by herself since about 6 months and loves bouncing along to the rhythm of the story and waving goodbye to the bear on the last page. It wouldn't surprise me if this is the first book she 'reads' independently in a few years time. Highly recommended as a present for new babies. It's never too early to start encouraging a love of books!
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