Early readers · ages 4–7

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

This one is not a book. It is a script.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt — Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books). Ages 2–6.

Less a book than a script. Swishy swashy, splash splosh, squelch squerch — the sounds are the whole engine, and children join in before they can read a word.

Oxenbury alternates soft grey wash for the journey with full colour for each obstacle, so the pages breathe in and out.

The catch — it demands a performer. Read flat in a tired voice at the end of a long day, it dies on the page.

The book does not carry itself. The adult carries it.

Get the full guide: The Picture Book Years →

Cover: We're Going on a Bear Hunt · Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury · Walker Books