Written by Micheal Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxbury
How much do I love this book? I adore it. An absolute must-have for any child’s library – the tale of a father and his three children going on a bear hunt ticks all the boxes. Beautiful, whimsical illustrations by award winning Helen Oxbury. A clever, funny and slightly scary interpretation by Micheal Rosen and a delightfully theatrical chorus: “we can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, oh no we’ll have to go through it!” This repetitive verse comes from an old camp song which Rosen has adapted.
In the story a father and his three children set off on a bear hunt, armed with nothing more than a stick and bravery. The fantasy adventure has the feel of a walk that could be done in your back garden, imagining battling through tall grass and cold water to find the scary bear that jumps out the cave and has you running home with terror and excitement. Someone described this as a child’s first thriller and I can see why – the anticipation builds up but in a very fun and safe way. At the end the bear looks rather sad that they decided to escape and jump back into bed.
Celebrating it’s 25th year this is a bestseller that never ages.
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