We're Going on a Book Hunt

by Pat Miller

A rhyming picture book featuring forest animals as they take a trip to the library and learn proper library skills.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Books About Books, Animals, School, Storytime, Juvenile

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the pictures. I wasn't too fond of the words. Yes, it's teaching good library etiquette, and what librarian can't appreciate that? Yet I didn't think the words went too well with the original "Goin' on a Bear Hunt" song. Kind of cheesy actually. And what was up with the motions to show the dancing during the chorus? I "got" them all except for "not too easy." How does that portray "not too easy?" And what was up with the finger counting? I'ver never heard of that.

Well, whatever. Here is a huge list of things that I did love:
-Bears as the characters of the school class going ot the library
-all the cute animals at the library, including the turtle and the bookwork
-The books the animals were reading (mother duck and children reading "Make Way for Ducklings," turtle reading "Tortoise and the Hare," Raven reading "The Raven," bunny reading "Peter Rabbit," the bears reading such titles as "Goldilocks" and "Honey Recipes).
-All the animals getting into the weird library dance
-Library elements in a forest library setting
-the laser checkout that made the librarian look like she was shooting ketchup on the book
-Animals get rosy cheeks, but birds don't? Except for the ducks?
-Books of all sizes for all sizes of animals
-Biggest eyes on an owl that I've ever seen

And from all of that, it moves the original 2 star rating up to 3 stars.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any book that you can also turn into a song is elite.

[Magpie67 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A version of The Bear Hunt rhyme, but a little awkward. I'm not sure the easy, hard and just right reference is actually needed for the rhyme. Maybe the path they took to get to the library or the path through the library is what would boost this rhyming title a bit more. Shelf markers, good book manners and when to return library materials is nice and worthy for children to know how to visit the library. Read to my Babies and Book program

[Shawn L’s Book Notes & Quotes · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Miss a word, finger up. Stop at five.”

I had no idea what this meant. According to the internet, “The five finger rule is a quick and easy way for your child to check if a book is suitable to read on their own. Before they start, ask them to turn to a random page in the book and read it. For every word that they don’t know, they should hold up a finger.” ...and stop if they don’t know five.

Well, I’ve learned something today.

[RJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice concept - changing the words to "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" to be about bears going to the library - but it ends up feeling prescriptive and particular and not very fun, in some ways that couldn't really be helped (the original song makes the word "Can't" a little hard to work around) and some that probably could - you don't need to tiptoe in the library!

[Nadina · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this was pretty cute, and the illustrations were pretty good. I liked the concept of the book and how it showed how to use a library/read borrowed books, but the title and text layout imply that it is a "version" of "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" yet the text does not go well with the rhythm of the original, it is off and it could have potentially fit better. Just a little disappointing to me.

[J.D. Holman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Students and a teacher's aide told me that this seems to be a take on "We're going on a bear hunt." I don't know, I'm not familiar with that.

This is a fun book about going to the library and finding the book that is just right for the reader. I appreciate that includes the use of shelf markers, just like in the school library I run. The illustrations are pleasant.

[Laura (Librarian) Masters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book that helps readers learn to pick a book that is just right. Has a bit of a sing song to it and physical movements. Reminiscent of Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians.

*Good for beginning of the year helping 2nd graders find just right books as they are venturing into beginning chapter book territory.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based upon the song “going on a bear hunt” teaches how to behave in a library, how to choose “not to easy not to hard” books by raising a finger when you miss a word and you get to five wrong book. (I hadn’t ever heard that) cute book to teach children about borrowing books from library

[Kylee Champlin]

This is a picture book that follows generally the same storyline as We're Going on a Bear Hunt. However, the characters are going on a hunt to find the perfect book. Very fun and the illustrations are great.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

My previous librarian partner liked using this story to teach about using the library and finding books. I just don't love the format or the storytelling. I have other books I'd prefer for this type of lesson.

Story: 2
Illustrations: 3
Read-aloud: 2

[Lizanell · Rating 3 out of 5]

use of repetition is great but I felt the actions were confusing and was not a big fan of the overall word choice.

[Julia Crainshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for teaching library procedures.

[Sidney McQuade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a rhyming story and great for students to learn to rhyme and problem solve. The illustrations are very detailed and fun to look at.

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A catchy take on "Going on a Bear Hunt" that teaches kids how to treat library books.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children's book on how to choose a good book.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be used for discussing how to find a book in the library.

[Marianne Blackstone Tabner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun rhythmic story about bears taking a trip to the library and finding just the right book. It also provides guidelines for how to treat a library book...cute!

[HQ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for beginning of the library class. KG/G1/G2

[Relyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Reese Martin]

This book teachers students how to use the library. It also talks about how the students can tell if a book is too easy or too hard for them.

[Reagan Church]

My own peppy story about a class of bears learning to use the library, complete with original choruses, was ready to be written with the structure of the traditional rhyme as a framework.

[Danielle Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a cute way to teach little kids about how to act in the library and a start on book care and choosing the right book. All done in the sing song style if "We're going on a bear hunt".

[What · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be good for teaching about how to interact with the library as a read aloud.

[Casandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story time book about a trip to the library. Has actions too.
Books
Library

[Angela Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library
Going on a Bear Hunt!
Perfect book for the beginning of school to learn about the library. Done to the tune of Going on a Bear Hunt.

[Jnase1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with the reviewer who said the pictures were great, but the words, not so much. This book was meant for lower grades, but I think the way the book is worded would be confusing to the younger grades. I do like that it covered using a shelf marker and choosing a good fit book, a.k.a. "just right book" because that is what my county is using to teach students to find books they can read independently. The five finger rule is also mentioned. For those who don't know, the five finger rule is: 1) Choose a book that looks interesting. 2) Open the book to any page. 3) Try to read the words on just that one page. 4) When you get to a word you don't know, hold up 1 finger. 5) When you have finished reading the page, or if you end up holding up 5 fingers before you get to the end of the page, you can stop reading. 6) If you are holding up 0 or 1 fingers, the book is probably super easy for you to read. If you are hold up 4 or 5 fingers, the book is probably too difficult for you to read and you should choose another book, if this is a book you are supposed to be able to read independently. If you are hold up 2 or 3 fingers, then the book is probably "just right" and a good fit for you.

I think the idea behind the book is super cute, but I would reword it to make it bit easier for the little ones to understand.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows a group of bear students who go to the library on a book hunt. It shows students how to choose a book that is at the right level for them, to not scream or run in the library, use the shelf markers, and to not judge a book by its cover. The book also shares the strategy of while choosing a book, the student should choose a different book if they run into five words that they cannot read, “miss a word, finger up, stop at five.” The book continues to describe appropriate library behavior and expectations and rules.
I think this book would be useful for young students, kindergarten through first grade, because it tells first time users of the library how to behave appropriately and choose a book that is right for them in a memorable way with a rhyme and accompanying movements. I would definitely use this book as a tool in a library setting because I believe that reading an interactive book with the students would encourage the kids to get excited about reading and going to the library, and how to properly treat their library books.

Miller, P., & Westcott, N. B. (2008). We're going on a book hunt. Fort Atkinson, Wis.: UpstartBooks.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see how this will be helpful in schools for media specialists to read to kindergartners to show "what we do in the library", but I have a hard time with always telling kids to pick books that are "not too easy" or "not too hard". I get the idea that we want kids reading at their instructional level, scaffolding the knowledge they have, not frustrating them with text they can't read independently, but I don't like telling kids "that book is too easy for you." I love picture books - should I not read them because I am able to read novels? Do many kids reread over and over simpler picture books in order to avoid the challenge of harder text, or do they love those books and have a connection? Or what about kids who are passionate about trying to read a "hard" book and learn a lot about reading by working on a book they really want to read?

Just my two cents. OK, three!

[Maya Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book for reading to the class when it is the first time going to the library! I've used this book with k-2nd graders. Since my 2nd graders heard me read it when they were in first grade they knew how excited I was for library day already so they might have only got excited for the book because of how ready I was! For students who have never been to the library though, many times pick books they know will be easy, or pick books far past there reading level. Hearing the five fingers up rule slows children down to pick a book at the right level for them!