Contribution from Ellen Duthie, guest blogger. Story philosopher, author and creator of the fabulous visual philosophy resource Wonder Ponder.
I particularly love the key message in this book: You can’ go over it, you can’t go under it, you have to go through it!
You can follow Ellen’s work on Facebook here. Ellen works and lives in Spain with her husband and child. One of the many things she enjoys doing in her free time is sharing children’s book reviews. I am very happy that she shares this one and some others with us too, I do hope you enjoy listening and reflecting on the variety of ways that you might use this wonderful story to stimulate your work with young children.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen (writer) & Helen Oxenbury (illustrator), Walker Books, 1989. Our edition: Walker Books, 1997.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is a family adventure of playful bravery, evocative noises and giggly fear.
The Story
Based on an old campfire song, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt tells the story of a family (refreshingly, a father with four kids and a dog) that sets out one morning on an adventure to catch a bear. They are determined (“We’re going on a bear hunt”), confident (We’re going to catch a big one), optimistic (“What a beautiful day!”) and fearless (“We’re not scared”).
On the way, they encounter all sorts of obstacles they “can’t go over and can’t go under” but just have to “go through”, and, luckily, they all make interesting noises. These obstacles include a field of long wavy grass (swishy swashy), a deel cold river (splash splosh), a field of thick oozy mud (squelch squerch), a big dark forest (stumble trip!), a swirling whirling snowstorm (Hoooo woooo!) and finally a narrow gloomy cave (tiptoe! tiptoe!).
Waiting for them in the cave is the last thing they expect to find. An actual bear! They all turn around and run out, having to make their way back through all the obstacles in reverse order, making all those funny noises again, but far more quickly and with the bear running after them, back to their front door and eventually into bed and under the covers with the determination never to go on a bear hunt again.
The Illustrations
Helen Oxenbury’s pencil and watercolour illustrations, alternating colour and black and white double page spreads, bring to life this family’s day out, with a perfect rendering of that combination of excitement and contented exhaustion children tend to display on a day out.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt has wonderful movement scenes:
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Splash splosh |
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Oh no! We forgot to close the door! |
And just as great scenes of the family at rest in between obstacles:
We like the faces of them all when they enter into the cave:
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Tiptoe! Tiptoe! |
And when they get to the bedroom. Aaaah!
Our son loves the scene where they are under the blanket, particuarly the head poking out in the bottom left hand corner and the safe teddy-bear the baby is playing with:
And we all like the last scene, of course, with the bear walking back alone, looking more like he’s in need of a friend than a bite to eat:
Reading it Aloud
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is written to be recited or sung out loud.
We did not know the song it is based on and I confess we found it hard to find a comfortable rhythm to it at the very start. It somehow seemed to fall flat. However after a few readings, we made it our own and our son has loved it ever since (we bought it when he was around 15 months).
It has all the perfect elements to be read aloud to young kids: repetition (both words and rhythm), plenty of interesting sounds, and a sudden change in tempo which breaks the tension and brings on a wonderful comic effect that gets children giggling every time, before it all calms down again right at the end. And on top of all that, the chance -almost the compulsion- for the child to join in, with voice or body or both.
We sometimes read it “quietly” and concentrate on the sounds (like in the recording), or read it more actively, acting it out, moving our hands through the grass while we say swishy swashy, pretending to swim through the splash splosh, getting up and walking in the squelch squerchy mud and pretending to stumble and trip through the forest, before shivering through the snowstorm and tiptoeing into the cave and then doing it all in reverse order on the way back!
Whether we are reading it quietly or actively, we always move our arms to:
We can’t go over it.
We can’t go under it.
Oh no!
We’ve got to go through it!
Michael Rosen telling the story himself
(c) of all the illustrations in this post: Helen Oxenbury, 1989.
My Auntie Marilyn upon visiting us on our farm in the State of Washington would do this story from memory every visit with us 7 kids and her 4. We acted it out belly laughing and exhausted after this special visit. It’s one of my favorite memories of my special Auntie and childhood. I am now 59 years old and siblings and cousins much older and we all remember “Going on a Bear Hunt”!
Thank you fir sharing it with us. Makes me giggle and smile!
I really enjoyed reading about your memory and that this story makes you giggle and smile – it reminded me of the times my grandson listened to Michael Rosen reading this he used to giggle continuously