Why Are We Going On a Bear Hunt?

When I first picked up the book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt and saw the cover of the book with a picture of a father and his children in a meadow, I thought, "Oh Well, they're going to look for pretend bears".

I continued to think this as they went through different places such as through long wavy grass, a deep cold river, thick oozy mud, a big dark forest, a swirling whirling snowstorm, and a narrow gloomy cave. I sure didn't think that after going in the cave that they would meet up with a real bear who then chases them through everything they had gone through before until they get home and hide under the sheets! Boy, if I had read this when I was little and seen this bear coming at me, I would have been scared to death!

However, since children are of different ages and personalities, I know that many children thrive on thrills. So, this adventure book will appeal to them, but I will point out that even though this is a "pretend" book, the illustrations are really rather real and graphic and they may scare younger children.

One of the things that I really enjoy about the book is the repetition of type of verse which comprises the text. Every part of this adventure is formatted the same with the same types of sentences, questions and so forth. Because the text is written this way, it is very easy for children to read and follow.

Example: Every section has a part that says,
We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Then there's another section encountering the adventure:
Oh-oh! A snowstorm! (or whatever the problem is)
A swirling, whirling snowstorm.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.

Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Because the text of the book is so easy to read, I see this book being taken out and read over and over again by my son as well as many other children.

The illustrations are mostly in black in white, except for the parts where they are actually going through the snowstorm, the mud, or other parts of their search. Then those illustrations are in full color for emphasis.

Overall, I've found this book rather fascinating and very well suited for younger readers who like adventure. The book that I have is small and easy for a pre-schooler to hold in their hands.

If you have an adventurous young child, this adventure would be really perfect to add to their library collection. I'm sure that in the years to come, we'll continue to read this book and dream of capturing a bear.