We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Story Time and DVD)

Product Description
Follow a tiny turtle’s life cycle with this fun, informative picture book, part of the new Nature Storybooks series.
We’re going on a bear hunt! Through the long wavy grass, the thick oozy mud and the swirling, whirling snowstorm – will we find a bear today? Children will love joining in with the animated version of this adventurous tale from the acclaimed King Rollo Films – accompanied by specially composed music and narrated by Emilia Fox and Kevin Whatley – and following all the action in the classic picture book, which won the Smarties Book Prize and was Highly Commended for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

Pick one of the most treasured contemporary children’s tales, listen to a dramatic reading accompanied by music and sound effects, and get ready for a whole new story experience! This compelling CD pack offers a full hour of story-inspired interactive fun, including:

– participatory games
– scenes to act out
– learning songs, rhythms, and movements
– suggestions for simple crafts

Ideal for both individuals and groups – at home, on a long car ride, in a classroom, or at a party – this entertaining and educational recording will energize children’s imaginations time and again and leave an indelible impression of the story it celebrates.

Publishers Weekly
A father and his four children–a toddler, a preschool boy and two older girls–go on the traditional bear hunt based on the old camp chant: “We’re going to catch a big one. / What a beautiful day! / We’re not scared. / Oh-oh! Grass! / Long, wavy grass. / We can’t go over it. / We can’t go under it. / Oh, no! / We’ve got to go through it!” The family skids down a grassy slope, swishes across a river, sludges through mud and, of course, finally sees the bear, who chases them all back to their home. It’s a fantastic journey–was it real or imagined?–with the family’s actions (and interaction) adding to the trip a goodnatured, jolly mood. The design of the oversized volume alternates black-and-white drawings with gorgeous full-color watercolor paintings, which Oxenbury uses to wonderful effect. Readers accustomed to her board books will find a different style here, of puddled colors and sweeps of light and shadow. The scale of the pictures and the ease with which the text can be shouted aloud make this ideal for families or groups to share. Ages 4-9. (Sept.)

Joan Kindig, Ph.D. – Children’s Literature
There are some books that instantly become favorites with the preschool crowd and the parents and teachers who work with them. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is definitely one of them. Publishers sometimes try to find other avenues where they can market the book and often turn to audio books. A wonderful alternative, an audio book allows children to listen to the story independently again and again which helps them to make the speech to print match as reading begins. This particular audio book format is something of a disappointment, however. Rather than providing the means for children to revisit the story independently, the producers of this CD focused on providing the background noises that one might encounter when going on a bear hunt. For example, there is the splooch sound of a boot emerging from wet mud, the swish of grass as the characters walk through the knee-high field, etc. While this is all well and good, the end product is a CD that is usable only in concert with parent and child and even then is ineffective. The CD asks the child to ‘repeat after me’ but never provides any modeling. There were many such good ideas but they were not fully developed. A better format would have been a package containing the book and a CD that offered extensions for learning. That way, parents or preschool teachers would have a resource to truly go beyond the book. A simple audio book with accompanying tape would have been sufficient. 2002, Candlewick Audio, Ages 3 to 5.

Children’s Literature
This delightful picture book makes a new appearance