We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books)

With Walker Books running a 'Buy one, Get One Free' promotion at the moment, we finally got round to buying "We're going on a Bear Hunt!" and rooting through the blog I couldn't actually believe that we've mentioned this book but never reviewed it.

It goes without saying that just about every parent will have read this book to their children at some point. Charlotte loved it when we first started reading it to her as the board-book version, back when she was more interested in chewing books than having them read to her but it kept her engaged even back then. Now she loves it because she can follow the story, do the actions (what actions you say? OF COURSE there are actions!) and silly sound effects before the race to the end (yes for some reason the last few pages must be read at breakneck speed until you slow down to a crawl for the last page!)

Of course, that's why this book is such a classic. Everyone interprets and tells the story in their own way, everyone gets something slightly different from it and everyone absolutely loves it with very good reason. Michael Rosen is, of course, a children's book legend. Helen Oxenbury's art style is beautifully understated yet absolutely fitting.

Many have tried (and failed miserably) to replicate the core theme and idea, but no one has ever done it better and I doubt anyone ever will.

Fabulous, book of the week without a doubt even though it's taken us nearly 4 years to review it properly!

Charlotte's best bit: The bear!

Daddy's favourite bit: How Helen Oxenbury manages to convey such a range of human emotions with just a few tiny little ink lines

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars, Book of the Week