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We're Going on a Bear Hunt

4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 · rating details · 13,866 ratings · 508 reviews

We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're not scared. Ready for some fun? Come along!

Paperback, 36 pages

Published January 1st 2003 by Margaret K. McElderry Books (first published 1989)

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May 09, 2013 Kirk rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Masochists

Recommended to Kirk by: Masochists

A Scathing Review of We're Going on a Bear Hunt, aka "The Children's Guide to Passive Suicide"

Before we go any further, a little context:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWpzxz...

There are plenty of children's books about self destructive impulses. In The Cat in the Hat, the children are seduced into destroying their entire house, which they know full well will result in mother's unbridled scorn. Franklin the Turtle is always doing stupid shit and then whining about it when he gets caught. I don'...more

12 likes · like · see review

Sep 19, 2011 Anjumanara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a delightful book which can be enjoyed by children of all ages and adults who are repeated asked to read over and over again. It follow the exciting journey of a family as they pass through the grass, the river, the mud in search of the bear on the other side of the dark forest. It's repetitive text is well recieved by children of the EYFS and Key Stage 1 who enjoy being read to aloud and join in. The vivid imigery and beautiful illustration is gripping and imaginatively captured through...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 29, 2012 Makeba Nugent added it

This is a brilliantly written and beautifully illustrated book. The repetition of "we're going on a bear hunt, we're going to catch a big one, what a beautiful day, we're not scared!" enables the child reading to be able to remember each part of the story. My daughter will be 3 in June and has been reading this book since she was 18 months. She adores this book and is now able to memorise the whole story, through the beautifully conveyed repetitive writing.

Towards the end of the story, the famil...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 28, 2011 Bianca rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is another classic book that many adults would remember from childhood. Its melody element and use of repetition is catchy and engaging. The use of decriptive words and prepositions are useful in literacy lesson in developing sentences. The use of exclamations are useful in getting children to understand intonation and pitch and how to use these in speech as part of the Speaking and Listening key areas of Early years. This book could also be useul in Geography, as you follow the family's Be...more

3 likes · like · see review

Oct 11, 2011 Anita rated it 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely love this book and will enjoy reading it to children in Early Years Foundation Stage and early Key Stage 1. It is very interactive with lots of audience participation through making sounds and actions. This makes it very memorable- I could still remember many of the words! The only issue that may arise when reading this book to children is that the problem of the scary bear is not resolved as the children decide to run away. This may be frightening for some children.

‘We’re Going on...more

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Jul 26, 2010 Vivian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: picture-books

Tips on sharing this as a read-aloud with a group...

I begin my story times with this chant:
Hello everybody let’s clap our hands, clap our hands, clap our hands.
Hello everybody, let’s clap our hands, clap our hands today.
… (begin with clapping hands, slap knees, --as many actions as needed to create energy and get everyone together— end today with “fasten our seatbelts” & “start the engine” & “say, “Are we there yet?”.

• Begin by saying, “Do you know where we drove?” Open to the first d...more

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May 12, 2013 Mark Jayatilake rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a fantastic book about a father and his three children who go on a hunt for a bear. Throughout their journey, the family encounter many obstacles such as a river, blizzard, mud and a swamp. After overcoming these obstacles, they finally find the bear.

This book can be used to read for both children and adults. It can be read out allowed in the classroom to children who are in Reception and Year 1. The text can be used to encourage the children to join in the journey by making sounds and...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Shannon Moore rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: brown-bear

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen is a fun and exciting story. This book makes you feel like you are there with them. It is such an adventure to go on. This book is all about going on a Bear Hunt/we're going to catch a big one/ What a beautiful day/We're not scared."We can't go under it/ We can't go around it/ We have to go through it!"
They go through a deep river,thick oozy mud,a big dark forest,snowstorm,narrow glooming cave. They see a bear at the back of the cave and off they run b...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Christian Houseworth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-author-s-craft-books-with-repet, books-for-ece-3601

This book is one of my favorite and is also on the list of most popular children’s books. This book is about a family (a father and his children) going on a bear hunt. They must go through many obstacles in order to get to the bear. They have to go through a forest, thunderstorm, mud, and many more. This book uses repetition where a certain phrase is repeated on every other page, “We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We’re not scared.” The author also...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Cian Keegan rated it 3 of 5 stars

We're going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen is another of those classic children's books that has been around for years (first published in 1989) that continues to be wildly popular.
The story involves a family "going on a bear hunt" across various types of landscape and encountering various obstacles on their way. The book starts with the family leaving their house and running into numerous problems, the first of which being long grass. The family then consider their actions in a method which is...more We're going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen is another of those classic children's books that has been around for years (first published in 1989) that continues to be wildly popular.
The story involves a family "going on a bear hunt" across various types of landscape and encountering various obstacles on their way. The book starts with the family leaving their house and running into numerous problems, the first of which being long grass. The family then consider their actions in a method which is repeated frequently throughout the book "Can't go under it, can't go over it, have to go through it...". The family then goes through whatever the obstacle is with a pleasant alliterative sentence to describe their movements - "Splish, splosh, splish, splosh". The text is set into some nice pastel illustrations of a large family trodding across the countryside.

It is at this point that I run out of nice things to say about the book. I do appreciate that it is for younger children and that this type of storytelling is what people that age group like, but I find it to be incredibly repetitive. So they come across an obstacle in their path, a field of long grass. They consider what they can do, decide to do it and boom, it's done. Why, oh why do they have to repeat the same options for every problem? By then end of the book I was sick of the words "under", "over" and "through". I would've liked if in each problem they thought of another solution even if they didn't do it. eg. We can't jump over it, we can't burrow under it..

Another issue I have, is with the message being put given to very young children. Who thought it was a good idea to tell children the crossing a deep cold river is a good thing to do? Or go into a cold dark cave? Or that when there's a bear attacking your house hide in your bed. I know it's not telling kids to do these things but surely it's not wise.

Finally, we hear the entire way through that "they're going on a bear hunt, going on a bear hunt" and after everything they find bear..... and run away? I know it's a children's book and they weren't exactly going to tackle it to the ground and beat it mercilessly but they just ran away.... I wanted some ACTION!!!

Anyway, I might have gone a bit mad during this review. Never mind. A good book for kids but I shan't be reading it ever again. I have trust issues now. I'd say suitable ages would be 5 to 7. Male readers might be a little let down by the lack of a more ...eh... action filled ending. 3 stars out of 5 from me.
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Jan 09, 2013 Kate Hamblett rated it 4 of 5 stars

This story does exactly what it says on the tin. A family, depicted in the book go on a bear hunt, debating how to get through the various obstacles they come across, such as long grass and a snow storm. But what happens when they find a bear? Well I'm not going to ruin it for you!

We're going on a bear hunt has become a classic as it is easily translatable into song, it is very interactive as you get to 'join' the family on their journey and go through all of the obstacles (as you can't go aroun...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 09, 2013 Edward Knapp rated it 5 of 5 stars

The fifth book in my reviews is the wonderful: We’re going on a bear hunt by Michael Rosen. It is a very popular book and certainly one of my favorites. Perfect for Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One children the story is about a family, a dad and his four children and their pet dog that go in search of a bear. The story is wonderfully illustrated and exciting holding the reader on tenterhooks as we wait to see what are they have discovered next and whether they have found a bear. An...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Jade Estall rated it 5 of 5 stars

We’re going on a bear hunt is a classic, another book great for EYFS. It is the story of a family that are going on an exciting trip through the woods in search of a bear but come across several obstacles.
I am in a reception class at the moment and they all love this book. The illustrations are lovely and really give a great feel for family and happiness. It is very repetitive but this is what makes it engaging and interactive. Children and predict what is coming next and it is the type of book...more

1 like · like · see review

Dec 01, 2012 Fariha rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is about a family who go on a bear hunt and face many obstacles along the way. As they set of on what they think is a beautiful day to hunt they come across mud, rivers, a forest and more! Everytime it's a new dilemma and the family always have to overcome it by doing the same thing: "We can't go over it... We can't go under it... Oh no!... We've got to go through it!" This is repeated throughout the story which makes reading it a joyful experience. There is also constant use of onomat...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Darren Shoneye rated it 5 of 5 stars

I hesitated to write a review on this book, because it has been overtly read in the Early Years Foundation Stage, so I didn’t want to write a review on something that people had read many times before, and reviewed many times before.

For the number of people that have read this book, and I believe it is many, I steered away from writing a review, just for the sake of writing a review, (because that isn’t the point of this exercise, and that would be rather idle, and not very thought provoking!)....more I hesitated to write a review on this book, because it has been overtly read in the Early Years Foundation Stage, so I didn’t want to write a review on something that people had read many times before, and reviewed many times before.

For the number of people that have read this book, and I believe it is many, I steered away from writing a review, just for the sake of writing a review, (because that isn’t the point of this exercise, and that would be rather idle, and not very thought provoking!). I want to share and lend powerful ideas that I get from books I have read with pupils in the early years that can inspire people - they can in return inspire other young individuals. I was therefore very adamant that I would not review this book, until last week when I changed my mind. Keep reading to find out why...

I am writing a review, but with a twist. I am reviewing, ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’, but in French. ‘We're going on a Bear Hunt’, translates to ‘La chasse à l’ours’. We read this book with a year one class in English first, and then we read it in French.
Reading in another language has never been so much fun. Learning languages in the EYFS is about creating a notion of familiarity. Even though the pupils cannot understand the words, they know what is going on in the story. After reading the entire story in French, I really thought the fact that you can utilise this book to teach a French lesson shows the versatility of it. As the majority of us know, the book is about the whole experience of the bear hunt, and the actions/sounds that you can make with the children. Being silly and funny is what makes this so engaging. Learning another language is all about the context; Setting the context so that there is something about it that is familiar to the pupils reading it. Wavy grass (SWISHY SWISHY!); swampy mud (SQUELCH SQUELCH!); are absolutely brilliant in French.

I think this would be a great book for teaching a French lesson. It is a quick and fun read in both languages. It is important to read it in English first to re-familiarise them with it, then get everyone to stand up and read it in French whilst doing the actions. For anyone teaching a French lesson, and many newly qualified teachers will be, keep this one in your tool book.
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Oct 26, 2012 Rebecca Lees rated it 5 of 5 stars

We're going on a bear hunt is a book about a man and his children going off to find a bear in the woods. The man and his children face a series of obstacles on the way of getting to the bear hunt and wonder if they should turn back at each point however they do not do this until they get to the bear. Then the whole sequence of obstacles getting out of the woods is then again repeated.

The books is very good for children perhaps those in reception because of its repetitiveness which encourages pr...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Nwakaego Dee rated it 5 of 5 stars

This books is about a family that leave their home in search on a bear hunt, along there route they come across some obstacles such as grass, forest, mud, snowstorm, but they have to go through it. “We cant go over it, We cant go under it , Uh oh, we have to go through it”. The family continue on there search till they enter a cave and come across the bear, not such a surprise they become scared and run back through all the obstacles they passed along there way with the bear following behind, de...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Shimma Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars

We're going on a bear hunt is a jolly caper that is fun and accessible for very young children 1year + right up to 8 years old.
This is my daughter's favourite bedtime story, she never tires of the poetic rhyming structure and endearing alliteration. This book is very useful during carpet time when the teacher reads and the children can all join in. The children articulate and practice through repetition difficult words like 'swishy, swashy'. The constant use of the tricky word 'we're', used in c...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Sonia rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury is amazing and very memorable; it is one of my old time favourites; which still lives to entertain the young children of today. From the moment you open it, children learn of the journey that is about to begin. It is about a family that go out on a “Bear Hunt” they come across many potential obstruction that we normally wouldn’t go “through” on an ordinary day. They go through each; Rosen expresses the sounds in the book, which engages children. Once...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Iram Yousaf rated it 5 of 5 stars

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

This is a timeless story that has a place on many people's bookshelves. The story follows a family as they embark upon an adventurous journey in search of a bear. Along the way they are met with many plights including a cold river and a fierce snowstorm.

The charming illustrations and repetitive techniques are perfect for reading to early years as it encourages prediction, which makes it all the more engaging for young children. Even if they cannot read they will be abl...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Charlene rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a classic book about a father that takes his three children out to hunt for a bear. The family encounters many obstacles such as a river, blizzard, mud and a swamp. They overcome all the obstacles before they find the bear.

This is an enjoyable book to read for both children and adults. It can be read out allowed in the classroom to children who are in Reception and Year 1. The repetitive text in the book allows the children to join in with the journey by making sounds and actions to the...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 06, 2012 Mahima Elango rated it 4 of 5 stars

'We're going on a Bear Hunt' is about a family who decide to go and search for a bear. On the way they have to cross many different obstacles such as grass, mud, a swamp and a snow storm. In the end they find a bear in its cave and the bear chases them back through all the obstacles and to their house where the family run into bed and hide under the covers and decide not to go on a bear hunt again.
This book was read to me throughout my childhood and brings back many fond memories. IT has a vast...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Louise Arnott rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is about a family (mum, dad, brother and sister) going on a walk. They "pretend" to be going on a bear hunt. The book uses repetitive language to help young children in ordering and sequencing a story. "We're going on a bear hunt, we're going to catch a big one, what a beautiful day. We're not scared" When i have read this book in the presence of a nursery class they have, towards the end of the story, started to join in with this repeated phrase. The book then continues, so the family...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Noreen Butt rated it 3 of 5 stars

This adventure book is about when a brave family sets off on the hunt for a bear. They come across long wavy grass, river, thick oozy mud, dark forest, snow storm and a narrow gloomy cave that obstruct their pathway. They “can’t go over it” and “can’t go under it” but they have no choice but to go through it. Eventually they find the bear and they are frightened. So they go back through the same journey quickly away from the bear and into their beds.

This book is suitable for young children betwe...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Lydia rated it 5 of 5 stars

We’re Going on a Bear hunt by Michael Rosen, is about a family that goes off in search of a bear. They have to overcome different obstacles that get in their way, such as, “long wavy grass” and a “deep cold river”. As they “can’t go over it” and “can’t go under it” they decide the only way is to go through it. When they discover the bear in a “narrow gloomy cave”, they finish their journey and run all the way back home through all of the obstacles and hide underneath their bed covers at home.
...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book begins when a young family of five set off, dog in tow, on the hunt for a bear. Perhaps not the best example of responsible parenting, it becomes clear they are in for more than they expected. A variety of obstacles such as forests, storms and mud obstruct their path and since they “can’t go over it” and “can’t go under it” they have no choice but to go through it. What they discover at the end of their journey necessitates a quick exit and a comic ending.

I enjoyed the wonderful illus...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Hayley Spinks rated it 4 of 5 stars

This fun story is suitable for young children due to its repetitive language. The words used encourage the reader to use actions such as arm movements to demonstrate the ‘long wavy grass’. After a couple pages, the children will be reading along with you because they know what’s coming. Going on a bear hunt and not being scared is a thrilling idea for a young child. So when you actually reach the narrow gloomy cave and meet the bear with the shiny wet nose and big goggly eyes, it exciting. Then...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Ece rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the story of a family who set off to find a bear. Their journey has many obstacles that they have to overcome. This fun read is like a sing-a-long. With the rhyming and the rhythm created the repetative structure can be enjoyed by all ages (early years and primary).
Rosen explores and demonstrates courage and fear in this fantastic story. The journey, obstacles and the purpose of their trip are the couragous actions and the bear and the quick journey back home represents the fear.

'We're...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Sarfraz rated it 5 of 5 stars

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is a fun and memorable children's book.
The animated book shows the journey of a family on a bear hunt. They go through a deep cold river, thick oozy mud, a big dark forest, a swirling whirling snowstorm, and finally through a narrow gloomy cave where they encounter a bear before they run back.

The story is written in a clear and concise manner which makes it easy for children in EYFS and KS1 to follow. The rhythm of the adventure not only makes it simple to memorise b...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars

“We're going on bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one.” was one of the most memorable phrases from a children's book. I couldn't remember all of the words to it but I do remember repeating that phrase over and over again. This was one of those reads I don't think I could ever forget. This book is timeless. What I loved about this book is how the illustrator switched from black and white pencil drawings to colorful watercolors for the action parts. You enjoyed every moment of their journey th...more

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About Michael Rosen

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

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