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We're Going on a Bear Hunt
We're Going on a Bear Hunt is a British 1989 children's picture book written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. 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. Plot and designA family of five children (plus their dog), are going out to hunt a bear. They travel through long wavy grass, a deep cold river, thick oozy mud, a big dark forest and a swirling whirling snowstorm before coming face to face with a bear in a narrow gloomy cave. This meeting causes panic and the children start running back home, across all the obstacles, chased by the bear. Finally, the children return to their home and lock the bear out of their house. The bear retreats, leaving the children safe. The children hide under a duvet and say: "We're not going on a bear hunt again!". 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. Most of the illustrations were painted in watercolour.[1] However, the six pictures of the family facing each new hazard are black and white drawings. At each obstacle is a onomatopoeic description. Before each obstacle the children chant the refrain:
followed by (while crossing the obstacles):
At the end of the bear hunt, they (now safe from the bear at home), conclude with this line:
Characters and locations
HistoryThe story was adapted from an American folk song; Rosen, who heard the song, incorporated it in his poetry shows and subsequently wrote the book based upon it.[2] Since publication, the book has never been out of print and each year has been in the 5,000 best selling books.[3] The publisher has stated that the book has attained worldwide sales of more than 9 million copies.[4] AwardsThe book won the overall Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in 1989 and also won the 0–5 years category.[5] In 1989 it was an 'Honor Book' in the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards.[6] The book also won the 'School Library Journal Best Book of the Year' and the 'Mainichi Newspapers Japanese Picture Book Award, Outstanding Picture Book from Abroad' award.[7] It was highly commended for the 1989 Kate Greenaway Medal.[8] The publisher, Walker Books, celebrated the work's 25th anniversary in 2014 by breaking a Guinness World Record for the "Largest Reading Lesson", with a book-reading by author Rosen that was attended by 1,500 children, with an additional 30,000 online.[3] AdaptationsTheatre adaptationThe book has been adapted as a stage play by director Sally Cookson with musical score by Benji Bower and design by Katie Sykes. The play has run in the West End and in provincial theatres. The ending of the performance has been changed so that there is a reconciliation between the family and the bear.[9][10] Time Out magazine, who awarded four stars out of five, whilst describing the performers as "wonderfully entertaining" also said "those in the later primary years might find it a little boring – not an awful lot happens, after all."[11] Television adaptationChannel 4 first aired a half hour animated television adaptation on 24 December 2016 at 7:30 pm. It featured the voices of Olivia Colman, Mark Williams, Pam Ferris and Michael Rosen,[12] and added much dialogue and other elements, including a scene of Rosie being friendly with the bear before the others pull her away. The Daily Telegraph, giving the programme three stars out of five, commented that "The whole thing was skilfully made, but ... did it need to take such a carefree story and cast a pall of gloom?".[13] However, The Guardian said that adaptation was "sumptuous", "prestigious" but that "The animation adds a dose of festive sadness."[12] It was released on DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on 14 June 2017. Mobile appA mobile app, based on the book, was launched in December 2016. It is available on Amazon, Android, and Apple platforms.[4] Cultural impactIn 2013, the novelists Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees wrote a parody of the book, called We're Going On A Bar Hunt, which was illustrated by Gillian Johnson in the style of the original and was published by Constable books and then republished by Little, Brown & Company.[14] "Bear hunts"During the COVID-19 pandemic, "bear hunts" became popular with houses across the United States,[15] Belgium,[16] Netherlands,[17] and Australia[18] placing stuffed bears in windows, in front yards, or on mailboxes for children to look for and find during walks or drives.[19][20][21] References
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