We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

Since publication, the book has never been out of print and each year has been in the 5,000 best selling books. Rosen, who heard the song, incorporated it in his poetry shows and subsequently wrote the book based upon it. The story was adapted from an American folk song. Each of the obstacles, apart from the river, is based on a real life location in England and Wales that Oxenbury knew.Stanley is the eldest child, Katie is the second oldest, Rosie is the middle child, Max is the fourth child, and the baby sister (unnamed in both the book and TV adaptation) is the youngest.The dog (also anonymous in the book) is called Rufus. Also, the four older children (unnamed in the book) are identified as Stanley, Katie, Rosie, and Max. In the television adaptation, though not in the book, the mother, father, and grandmother of the family make an appearance.Likewise, the dog is modelled on an actual family pet. They are based on Oxenbury's own children. The eldest of the children (called Stanley “Stan” in the television adaptation) is sometimes mistaken by readers as being their father but is in fact the older brother.WE ARE NOT GOING ON A BEAR HUNT AGAIN! Characters and location Before each obstacle the children chant the refrain: However, the six pictures of the family facing each new hazard are black and white drawings.Īt each obstacle is an onomatopoeic description. Most of the illustrations were painted in watercolor. At the end of the book, the bear is pictured trudging disconsolately on a beach at night, the same beach that is shown on a sunny day as the frontispiece. The children hide under a duvet and saying: 'We're not going on a bear hunt again!' (see below). After the bear retreats, leaving the children safe. Finally, the children return to home and lock the bear out of their house. This meeting causes panic and the children are told by a bird to start running back home, across all the obstacles (see obstacle phrases below), chased by the bear. They travel through grass (Long wavy grass), a river (Deep, cold river), mud (Thick oozy mud), a forest (A big dark forest) and a snowstorm (A swirling whirling snowstorm) before coming face to face with a bear in a cave (A narrow gloomy cave). It has won numerous awards and was the subject of a Guinness World Record for 'Largest Reading Lesson' with a book-reading attended by 1,500 children, and an additional 30,000 listeners online, in 2014.Ī family of five children (plus their dog), are going out to hunt a bear. We're Going on a Bear Hunt is a 1989 children's picture book written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen