As our #Booky100Keepers list nearly draws to a close, I had to cast eyes back over the entire list to make sure I hadn't already featured this one. Any children's book list of recommendations will have certain books that folk will firmly get behind, and "We're going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury seems to have escaped the usual "We love it / we hate it now / we love it again / no we definitely hate it now and it's not cool any more" thing that book folk go through from time to time with beloved children's titles.

But let's face it, this book bounces along, it has an entertaining story, it has an imaginative twist or two in it, and it's just so filled with alliterative read-aloud fun that it's nigh-on impossible to resist.

We bought this way back in 2012 when C was still knee high to a grasshopper and it swiftly ended up being a bedtime favourite. Back then we probably used to read at least 3-4 picture books a night to her, and this was always somewhere in the mix.

A family jaunt out into the great outdoors is filled with swishy grass to wrestle your way through, squishy mud to wade through, trip-tastic forests to navigate and then at the end, a cave...but what's inside? Or more likely who...

Michael Rosen is usually quite quick to point out that this isn't his work entirely, and the rhyme existed long before the book did. He's also very quick to point out that a large part of the success of this book is down to Helen Oxenbury's utterly perfect illustrations, filled with energy and youthful vibrance and it's these that are always the biggest draw for me, marvelling at how her sparse lines and glorious watercolours depict a living breathing landscape for her awesome family of characters to inhabit.

This was one of the books that we used to read whenever we did read-aloud events (sadly that never turned into a regular gig, which is a shame as they were always so much fun to do but lacking any silly props or daft hats I guess no one wanted to book a baldy 50-something to read aloud to their kids). What always struck me is that kids who had never heard of the book before (and yes, there were a surprising number) always got quite scared at the bit at the end. The book goes silent, wordless as the chase between the bear and the family kicks off - with the bear chasing them right to the front door of their house. I found that quite interesting, that the dark twist elicited that response, but the 'damping down' at the end as the lonely bear trudged back off to his cave always brought those kids around and turned the bear from a menacing foe into something of a sympathetic character really.

Like / hate it (and I'll be brutally honest here, the animated TV version was pretty terrible and left us utterly cold due to the liberties it took with the original story) it is without doubt one of those revered and hallowed books that you really ought to have on your kids' bookshelves. A real classic.

Original review links and articles: 

Come to Discover for a brilliant Bear Hunt spectacular from October 2015

Don't miss out on the biggest "Bear Hunt" reading in history!

Three new fantastic books for lovers of nature and the great outdoors. Perfect for Spring and Summer - out now from Walker Books

ReadItDaddy Reads aloud - Mostly Books and Usborne's 40th Anniversary, the perfect time for storytelling fun!

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

"We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books) is one of THE books that is absolutely essential for your child's book collection.
We nominated it as one of our "Book of the Week" selections back in 2012, but it's been around for a lot longer (it first saw the light of day 25 years ago, wow!)

To celebrate the book's anniversary and timeless appeal, a very special record attempt was made a few weeks ago in aid of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). Alas we missed the live stream of a record-breaking mass reading of "We're going on a Bear Hunt" but didn't want you to miss out - so please do check out the video below, it's hugely entertaining. 1438 intrepid bear hunters joined Nikki Gamble and Michael Rosen and succeeded in smashing the record! Awesome work, everyone!


"We're Going on a Bear Hunt" has gone on to sell millions of copies worldwide, and has been turned into an animated feature and a stage show.

Find out more about the record breaking event, and also more about this utterly wonderful book on the Walker Books Website

ReaditDaddy reading to a great little bunch of Bookworms!

Well, as promised I wanted to get out there and do this. Reading aloud to children always looks like a massive amount of fun (though really nerve-wracking) and so @thestrollingmum and I thought it would be ace to do something 'Booky' at Charlotte's birthday bash.

Though the kids were tired and stuffed to the gills with lovely party food, I managed to corral a few to listen to me reading 'We're going on a Bear Hunt' by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.

It's a great book to read in this setting for lots of reasons. One - most kids know it already either from school or home so it's a challenge to read it in a new and exciting way (we did lots of interaction and actions to go along with the tale). Two - It's an exciting book, some kids actually found it a little scary too (mostly because of the 'bear bit').

Though we were huddled in a tiny corner of the venue it was a great fun way to start out and I'd really love to do this again (perhaps when Charlotte isn't continually blowing a party razzer in my ear - cheeky monkey!)

We really ran out of time, which was a shame as we'd got two other books to read. What's interesting here is that only the girls sat down for story time, the boys were too busy running around, playing ninjas and kicking balloons around. Hmm - note to self, try and mix things up a bit with more books with 'boy appeal' next time!

Words are gifts when freely shared

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

The genius of this book is how interactive it is for young children. Before they can even begin to form words properly, before they can understand what words mean - they can get a lot out of a book that has such deliciously addictive alliterative sounds in it. Squishing, squelching, swishing, stumbling. Lots of 'S' words that trip off the tongue and for babies and toddlers, the chance to bounce in their seats and attempt to match what mummy or daddy are saying. 

"Pants" by Giles Andreae and Nick Sharratt