We're Going on a Lion Hunt

by David Axtell

We're going on a lion hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
We're not scared.

In David Axtell's beautifully illustrated rendition of a well-known children's poem, two sisters are out looking for a lion - a lion that lives on the African savanna. The girls go through swishy swashy long grass, a splishy splashy lake, and a Big Dark Cave. When they finally meet their lion, they have to run, run, run through it all again to get back home. With illustrations bursting with magnificent animals, little adventurers with love journeying through this African savanna.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Africa, Childrens, Music, Storytime, Folklore

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A retelling of the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt, this adaptation is set in Africa. Two young girls walk through tall grass, splash through a lake and squish through a swamp to find the lion. When they find him, they have to run through the swamp, lake and tall grass to get back home.

The text's repetitive language keeps young readers grounded and anticipating the next situation. The illustrations remind me of oil paintings, bright and colorful. During their hunt, the girls walk by safari animals. They enter a dark cave to find the lion. I feel this book would lend itself to a language arts lesson on Africa, especially in geography. The story would appeal to readers pre-kindergarten to first grade.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘An exciting retelling of a traditional tale’ the blurb on the back of this book promises prospective readers – and exciting it certainly is!
As a re-imagining of Michael Rosen’s classic We’re Going on a Bear Hunt , We’re Going on a Lion Hunt transports the reader to Africa and follows two young girls on their mission to find a lion.

The repetition of phrases including ‘we’re going on a...’ are kept and the challenges the girls face on their journey are adapted to suit this book’s setting. Like the 'Bear Hunt', the main characters must wade through long grass to get closer to the animal’s cave, but gone are the river and mud, replaced instead with their African equivalents of a lake and a swamp.

This would be a great resource to use with Key Stage 1 alongside the original Bear Hunt book to introduce comparing and contrasting different places/lives/environments/cultures to young children. In this sense, it would be a useful Geography aid but it could easily be used cross-curricularly too. For example, with regards to English, children could examine: the style of writing, features such as repetition and which parts of the stories are different. Similarly, with the beautiful illustrations bringing to life the African plains and their wild animal inhabitants; the book also lends itself well to art and/or technology lessons where children could explore creating different environments.

Having used the 'Bear Hunt' with Severe and Complex Needs students in the past, I can also see the multi-sensory opportunities which 'Lion hunt' has to offer. Whether creating actions for words, acting out events, playing instruments to imitate the animals or recreating the rough, wet and sticky textures the characters encounter; the book could prove a wonderful stimulus for an inclusive and engaging multi-sensory session.

[Rebecca Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’re Going On A Lion Hunt is a lovely adaptation of the well-known story We’re Going On A Bear Hunt. The story is a repetitive chant about sisters in Africa who are going on a hunt to search for a lion.

Although this book is very similar in text to the original We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, the imagery is very different and I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book – they are soft and colourful with lots of texture.

This book would be suitable for children in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 (3-7 years). The text in the book is simple and very accessible for early readers, and it has enough going on in the story to keep young children extremely engaged. The story plays on sounds, feeling and sight, making it an ideal book to get children acting out, using their senses. This book would be an ideal read in the Early Years as a Literacy weekly topic which can be linked to creative arts, expression and role play, also introducing children to lots of descriptive language and sequencing a storyline. This is a perfect book for cross-curricular topics; it can also be used in Maths to introduce the use of positional language, getting the children to act out sections of the book to demonstrate their understanding (“We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, we can’t go around it”).

This is a lovely adaptation of the original book and it would make an exciting class/year production for the Early Years Foundation Stage!

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Were going on a Lion hunt is a re-told story of were going on a bear hunt by David Axtell. I do prefer the original, just because its more effective, David Axtell’s version has less opportunities for building anticipation. However I do think that it is useful in Geography lessons as it provides context of African Savanna, which can be educational for children. It can teach children about different countries as well various terrains.

I think this book would be useful to read just for comparative purposes. As it is set in Africa, it could be a starter story for black history month possibly-showing that stories or things in general can be applied to varied contexts. Therefore children can adapt their learning to make it more relevant to them-you can transform a story based on your own cultural background using cultural references of African Safari animals.

I think this can be applied to children from all walks of life, EAL or disabled children-that they could use a simple book/story like this and use their own experiences to transform the story, making it more relevant to them.

[Capn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awful. All the stars are for the paintings (LOVELY!!), but the text...!!!

For anyone who knows the highly repetitive "We're Going on a Besr Hunt" (Rosen and Oxenbury, for example), you'd probably, like me, assume that "copy and paste" would be a large part of the writing here. And yet that didn't happen, because we got a verse that had: "..going to catch a big one, we're not scared, beeng there before.", and a subsequent page had a spacing typo. Worst of all, the small audience was enchanted by the story being a near-exact parallel to the Rosen/Oxenbury Bear Hunt one, and was wondering what would take place on the savannah in lieu of a snowstorm (sandstorm?! Rainstorm? Rampaging stampede of Wildebeest?!), and, pfft, no - we get Grass, River, Swamp.. and then cave. That's it. Brief.

The paintings are very lovely, though; expressive, bright, full of vivacity. If he didn't want to do that many more (looked labour intensive to me, anyway), fair enough - but then could have interspersed more text (more verses) with simple, small line-drawings or margin decorations on text-only pages...

Was disappointing. If we had just been looking at the quality of the paintings, though, this is a 4 or 5 star book. Editor was AWOL, methinks.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I think I like this better than "Going on a Bear Hunt" which it is based on. I'll go over a few things I like first and then a few things I didn't like as much. I liked the illustrations and the bright colors. It has a texture to it, as if it was painted on canvas. I liked that animals were shown throughout like giraffes, rhinos, zebras, elephants and of course a lion. I loved that the movements rhymed, "Swish, swash" "Splish, splash," "Squish, squash" and "crash". All except the tiptoe part. The parts I didn't like as much was the "We're not scared./ Been there before." They've been there before? I think I prefer repeating "We're not scared" again. Then when they get to the lion, he's laying there peacefully, and although they leave, they tiptoe out. I wish there was more of a sense of urgency besides the lion peacefully walking on the pages behind them. Like a "Roar" or something, or just that they ran. Anyways, it's set in Africa and the two girls are black- so great book to add diversity and I think even with my "cons" I still probably prefer it to the original.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A retelling of the story 'We're Going On A Bear Hunt'. This is a great story to share with the class as children can join in with the actions such as squilch, squelch, splish and splash. It also introduces children to onomatopoeia words-as a class children could create their own hunt for another animal using onomatopoeia words and creating actions. Lovely use of oil pastels for the illustrations.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully illustrated rendition of the well known 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'.

I love the thought of this, really creating a relatable atmosphere for children from different countries. Would be great to explore with children what other hunts they might want to go on- might they have links to other countries where they could suggest a hunt?

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A take on "we're going on a bear hunt", these two girls go through the African bush in search of a lion. And as they traverse the landscape they find one! And then they run back home. I like it because it brings a different cultural and landscape perspective to children.

[Christina Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This colorful poem is a spin off from the well known Were Going On a Bear Hunt. However, instead of describing a wooded area, this book is all about the Afrian animal world. We learn a few different types of animals, geological staples, and fun facts about Africa.

[Nadina · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading twists/retellings of other stories I had high hopes for retellings/twists of "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" but while the illustrations fit the story, the whole thing disappointed me a bit.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

The girls are joyfully painted, but I always feel a little odd seeing books set in Africa written and illustrated by white creators. It feels a little appropriative and unauthentic, especially when there's no backmatter explaining why this author chose this setting for their book.

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kids give this 5 stars, for what it’s worth. 😊

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.

[Lily Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars because...
I don't know.Just not a big fan.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but not a favorite. While it's a cool play on the African "poem", it wasn't super interesting.

[Sarah Alley · Rating 4 out of 5]

My toddler loves this book. Beautiful illustrations, too.

[Nanny B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, fun story taken from the children's rhyme.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids love this rendition of this children’s chant.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great action book to use for preschool or toddler storytimes.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has gone over well with my baby/toddler groups. I use Mbube(Lion Sleeps Tonight) on the CD Gift of the Tortoise with it. 2/6/13

Tried with a really active toddler who came to PJ Time, with no luck. 2/3/14

Used for my Celebrate Africa story time, since I had a small group of 2's. 2/4

Worked really well with a class visit of PreKs. 2/7

The young boy was really in to lions so I tried this, but hopefully his mother will feed him dinner before they come next time. The 2 girls liked it. 2/23/15

Used for my African Story Time and went over well with the group of toddlers. 2/23/16

Baby/Toddler is mostly baby's now. Might have to check out more board books... Went over really well in Family Story Time.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why in the world would two little girls go hunting for a hungry lion by themselves? What are they going to do when they find him? I would be afraid to read this to my future child, especially at nighttime. It could put dangerous ideas in his head or instill future nightmares. I know that we want to teach our children to not be afraid, but should we encourage them to do something that could be extremely dangerous? Would you encourage your child to pet an angered rattlesnake or swim with a hungry shark? No! So don't read it to them otherwise!

[LeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember playing the lion hunt game when you were a child? Axtell has made it into a picture book with vivid pastel (chalk?) illustrations. The setting is modern rural Africa, perhaps the home of a game warden. I would have used a boy and a girl, but the author drew two little girls. (Oh, well, the value and courage of African women needs a boost!) Makes a great read aloud with lots of interaction and activity.

[Inna Nako · Rating 4 out of 5]

-two African girls are going on a lion hunt
-they come across obstacles, and they have to go through those obstacles
-fun sounds like swish swash accompany the girls as they go through the lake, swamp, long grass..
-can be used in a geography lesson about the African savanna
-repeats a few line, which can engage all the students

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can still remember my kindergarten teacher playing/reading "Going on a Bear Hunt" with my class. I loved the interaction and the sense of suspense. I was pleased to find this version of the story, which sets it in Africa where two sisters are "hunting" a lion. My one-year-old liked all of the sound effects, and I imagine he'll only like stories like this even more as he gets bigger.

[Candice Call · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great to use with emerging readers. The way the phrases are positioned in the book and the flowing language helps the reader read with more fluency. There is also a sing-a-long that is very similar to the words in the book that would also be benficial for the students to learn before independently reading the book.

[Magila · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

Nice for young girls. I appreciated the African heroines. The story had a nice message of exploration, and getting outside to discover the world. The repetition makes this a good book for early readers.

The illustrations were good, but unremarkable, and the story left me wanting a bit in the end.

Good, in particular for girls, but I'd borrow this one.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations of this apparently well-known children's story. It wasn't one I remember from my childhood, but prereading it today reminded me of Honey Honey Lion, which is a very neat spin on this tale.

[Christian Padgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Repetition is one of the greatest things about this book. Thus this makes it a good choice when young children are learning how to read for whey can understand many words. This is so a good book for it has a certain rhythm to it.

[Michelle King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun. Fun. Fun. Basically the same as "Going on a Bear Hunt" except the bear is a lion. The repetition in the book makes it a great pick for a read aloud. I will love to see how my students respond to this book as Going on a Bear Hunt is one of their favorites.