We're Going on a Bear Hunt

A 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. However, the six pictures of the family facing each new hazard are black and white drawings.

At each obstacle is an onomatopoeic description. Before each obstacle the children chant the refrain:

{{blockquote|We're going on a bear hunt.

We're going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day!

We're not scared.}}

followed by (while crossing the obstacles):

{{blockquote|We can't go over it.

We can't go under it.

Oh no!

We've got to go through it!}}

At the end of the bear hunt, they (now safe from the bear at home), conclude with this line:

{{blockquote|We're not going on a bear hunt again.}}

• The eldest of the children (called Stanley "Stan" in the television adaptation) is sometimes mistaken by readers as being their father but is in fact the oldest brother and sibling. They are based on Oxenbury's own children. Likewise, the dog is modelled on an actual family pet.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/05/how-we-made-bear-hunt|title=How we made: Helen Oxenbury and Michael Rosen on We're Going on a Bear Hunt|last=Tims|first=Anna|work=The Guardian|date=5 November 2012|accessdate=3 January 2017}}
• In the television adaptation, though not in the book, the mother, father, and grandmother of the family make an appearance. Also, the four older children (unnamed in the book) are identified as Stanley, Katie, Rosie, and Max. The baby sister (youngest of which) remains nameless. The dog (also anonymous in the book) is called Rufus.
• Stanley is the eldest child, Katie is the second oldest, Rosie is the middle child, Max is the second youngest and the baby sister (unnamed) is the youngest.
• Each of the obstacles, apart from the river, is based on a real life location in England and Wales that Oxenbury knew.{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/interview-with-helen-oxenbury-for-were-goin-on-a-bear-hunt|title=Interview with Helen Oxenbury for We're Going on a Bear Hunt|publisher=Channel 4|date=16 November 2016|accessdate=14 January 2017}}
• Unlike the book, where the bear is ambiguously mean and hostile, in the TV adaptation it is unambiguously friendly and lonely, and merely chases the children only because of Rosie being friendly to it and wanting more attention.

The 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. Since publication, the book has never been out of print and each year has been in the 5,000 best selling books. The publisher has stated that the book has attained worldwide sales of more than 9 million copies.{{cite web|url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/walker-and-partners-launch-bear-hunt-app-446016|title=Walker and partners launch Bear Hunt app|last= Eyre|first=Charlotte|work=The Bookseller|date=7 December 2016|accessdate=14 January 2017}}

The book won the overall Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in 1989 and also won the 0–5 years category.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2014/apr/10/we-re-going-on-a-bear-hunt-michael-rosen-helen-oxenbury-video|title=We're Going on a Bear Hunt: 'The editors were so excited they were nearly weeping' – video|last=Sprenger|first=Richard|date=10 April 2014|work=The Guardian|accessdate=25 December 2016}} In 1989 it was an 'Honor Book' in the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards.{{Cite web|url=http://www.hbook.com/2011/05/news/boston-globe-horn-book-awards/past-boston-globe-horn-book-award-winners/|title=Past Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Winners|work=The Horn Book Magazine|date=30 May 2011|accessdate=2 January 2017}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/michael-rosen|title=Michael Rosen|publisher=Poetry Foundation|accessdate=5 January 2017}} It was highly commended for the 1989 Kate Greenaway Medal.{{cite web|url=http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Were-Going-on-a-Bear-Hunt-9781406365634|title=We're Going on a Bear Hunt|publisher=Walker Books Australia|accessdate=14 January 2017}}

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.{{cite web |title=Walker Books & The RNIB |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/business-solutions/case-studies/walker-books |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512055540/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/business-solutions/case-studies/walker-books |archive-date=12 May 2024 |accessdate=25 December 2016 |publisher=Guinness World Records}}

The 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/london-shows/show/item104419/were-going-on-a-bear-hunt/|title=WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT|publisher=www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk|accessdate=25 January 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/07/bear-hunting-on-shaftesbury-avenue-michael-rosen-sally-cookson/|title=Bear hunting on Shaftesbury Avenue|last=Vickery|first=Lucy|work=The Spectator|date=20 July 2013|accessdate=25 January 2017}} 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."{{cite news|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/were-going-on-a-bear-hunt-5|title=We're Going on a Bear Hunt|work=Time Out|last=Bowie-Sell|first=Daisy|date=10 July 2013|accessdate=25 January 2017}}

Channel 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, 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?".{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/12/24/going-bear-hunt-casting-pall-gloom-classic-childrens-story-review/|title=We're Going on a Bear Hunt: casting a pall of gloom on a classic children's story, review|last=Auld|first=Tim|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=24 December 2016|accessdate=30 December 2016}} However, The Guardian said that adaptation was "sumptuous", "prestigious" but that "The animation adds a dose of festive sadness."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/dec/19/were-going-on-a-bear-hunt-michael-rosen-channel-4-christmas-animation|title=Move over, Snowman! Let's have a cuddly Christmas with Bear Hunt instead|last=Heritage|first=Stuart|work=The Guardian|date=19 December 2016|accessdate=31 December 2016}} It was released on DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on 14 June 2017.

A mobile app, based on the book, was launched in December 2016. It is available on Amazon, Android, and Apple platforms.

In 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.{{cite web |last1=Crace |first1=John |title='We're going on a bar hunt … we're not old!' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/oct/17/were-going-on-a-bar-hunt-bear-michael-rosen-childrens-book |website=The Guardian |date=17 October 2013}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, "bear hunts" became popular with houses across the United States,{{cite web |last1=Wynne |first1=Sharon Kennedy |title=Bored kids are going on a bear hunt and it's adorable |url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/03/28/bored-kids-are-going-on-a-bear-hunt-and-its-adorable/ |publisher=Tampa Bay Times |accessdate=29 March 2020 |date=March 28, 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Leonard |first1=Robert |title=The Coronavirus Is Upending Life in Rural America, Too |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/29/opinion/coronavirus-iowa.html |work=The New York Times |accessdate=29 March 2020 |date=March 29, 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Keeler |first1=Sean |title=Coronavirus teddy bear hunts make social distancing fun — yes, fun — for Front Range families |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/03/29/coronavirus-teddy-bear-hunts/ |publisher=Denver Post |accessdate=29 March 2020 |date=March 29, 2020}}{{cite web |title="Bear hunts" get kids outdoors while still distancing |url=https://www.foxcarolina.com/bear-hunts-get-kids-outdoors-while-still-distancing/video_817b6117-ffbf-56ee-8975-87628c6755f1.html |publisher=Fox Carolina |accessdate=29 March 2020 |date=March 28, 2020}} Belgium,{{Cite web |last= |date=2020-03-26 |title=De Vlaming gaat massaal op ‘berenjacht’ tijdens een blokje om |url=https://www.demorgen.be/nieuws/de-vlaming-gaat-massaal-op-berenjacht-tijdens-een-blokje-om~bb1ab2964/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |work=De Morgen |language=nl}} Netherlands,{{Cite web|url=https://www.hartvannederland.nl/nieuws/2020/berenjacht-voor-kinderen-populair-in-nederland/|title='Berenjacht' voor kinderen, door coronacrisis, populair in Nederland|website=Hart van Nederland|accessdate=Aug 2, 2020}} New Zealand,{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2020-03-25|title=Teddy bears in windows to cheer up kids during lockdown|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/412602/teddy-bears-in-windows-to-cheer-up-kids-during-lockdown|website=Radio New Zealand}} and Australia{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2020-03-25|title=Socially distanced neighbourhood bear hunts are taking off around the world|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-25/coronavirus-bear-hunts-around-the-world-including-melbourne/12085168|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-31|website=ABC News|language=en-AU}} placing stuffed bears in windows, in front yards, or on mailboxes for children to look for and find during walks or drives.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Official website|http://www.walker.co.uk/We-re-Going-on-a-Bear-Hunt-9780744523232.aspx}}

Category:1989 British novels

Category:1989 children's books

Category:British picture books

Category:Children's fiction books

Category:Books adapted into plays

Category:Books adapted into television series

Category:Novels adapted into video games

Category:Children's books about bears

Category:Walker Books books