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Original poster

We're going on a Bear Hunt....all is made clear...!

133 replies

Clawdy · 11/11/2012 22:10

Just read an interview with Helen Oxenbury the illustrator,and she said the one everyone thinks is the dad is actually the older brother...they are ALL children.

OP posts:
InMySpareTime · 22/11/2012 08:08

Just read it again to check, I always thought it was all children may be due to my having a brother 13 years younger than me both boys are wearing ill-fitting "dad" jumpers.
Given the girls dresses and the flowering grasses in the meadow, I'm willing to believe it was a freak summer snowstorm (they do happen occasionally).
Also, they may have been gone for only an hour or two, in the care of a teenage brother, in a rural environment, that's not very concerning.
I was more concerned with Maurice Sendak's "where the wild things are", when I looked at the moon in the illustrations. It is different phases when Max leaves and returns. How long was he gone? Why was his supper waiting for him?

Himalaya · 22/11/2012 08:03

He has a gut and a receding hairline.

CheerfulYank · 22/11/2012 07:45

Oh, merry, how I lusted after Charlie and Bailey in the day! :o

CheerfulYank · 22/11/2012 07:44

Oh no no, Dowager. It's "We're not scared." Hmmph.

RubyGates · 22/11/2012 07:40

Id actually always thought that Mum had sent them all out on a Saturday morning (with dad in charge) so she could get the housework done.

I always imagined her chagrin when she found they'd all rushed back home with dirty, muddy feet and climbed into the nice clean bed.

SoupDragon · 22/11/2012 07:39

I haven't been able to read this since I made an unfortunate spoonerism with the words hunt and catch

merrymouse · 22/11/2012 07:35

I expect it is like "Party of Five" - the older, grown up brother is looking after them.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0108894/

Tee2072 · 22/11/2012 07:33

I have imparted this news to my husband. He was Shock and Confused.

Never has MN been rocked so hard...

DowagersHump · 22/11/2012 07:08

This book generates controversy like no other. I have had heated debates about where the stress goes on 'We're not scared'

'We're not scared', is of course correct :o

nooka · 22/11/2012 05:32

We read the book many times and never thought that the man was a big brother. It's packed away now, but look at <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.ca/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=oWQ&sa=X&tbo=d&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1655&bih=970&tbm=isch&tbnid=NGfXg4ttO6dSLM:&imgrefurl=clubs-kids.scholastic.co.uk/clubs_assets/55894&docid=iGU2SVGw1SA7vM&imgurl=images.scholastic.co.uk/assets/a/01/20/bearhunt2-act-col-331616.jpg&w=841&h=595&ei=G7atUPn-I4rBigLT_4GIDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=786&vpy=165&dur=789&hovh=146&hovw=206&tx=137&ty=87&sig=107395877400159695134&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=203&start=0&ndsp=41&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:97" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this picture. That is so an adult.

Having said that in <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.ca/imgres?start=248&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=X&tbo=d&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1655&bih=970&tbm=isch&tbnid=G7nClKHVswzK9M:&imgrefurl=www.aquarellepublishing.co.uk/artistpage.aspx%3Fid%3D55%26picid%3D1004%26startimage%3D2&docid=Pu8TRhjcqNacoM&imgurl=www.aquarellepublishing.co.uk/img/artists/HO9002%252520-%252520Helen%252520Oxenbury%252520-%252520A%252520Deep%252520Cold%252520River%252520-%252520Going%252520on%252520a%252520Bear%252520Hunt%252520-%252520Collectors%252520Edition%252520Print.jpg&w=779&h=430&ei=aLitUNy-D6XBiwK874DQDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1314&vpy=140&dur=1&hovh=167&hovw=302&tx=191&ty=105&sig=107395877400159695134&page=6&tbnh=129&tbnw=233&ndsp=53&ved=1t:429,r:91,s:200,i:277" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this picture he could easily be a teenager.

We thought that the bear was sad they wouldn't play with him too :)

sleepywombat · 22/11/2012 05:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Clary · 22/11/2012 00:28

I always used to wonder why they tiptoe out of the bear's cave.

Also having found the bear why do they run off?? Or why look for him in the first place? He just wants to play anyway Sad

I always used to worry that they had no stairgate so when they run back to shut the front door, the toddler could fall down the stairs...

ProcrastinatingPanda · 22/11/2012 00:24

:o

frankie4 · 22/11/2012 00:13

Zoe Williams has been reading this thread !! She just tweeted it!

DioneTheDiabolist · 22/11/2012 00:13

No Panda, they left them in the care of a teenage family member. My parents, aunts and uncles are now aghast at what happened to their DCs under my (teenage) care.Grin

ProcrastinatingPanda · 22/11/2012 00:05

So their irresponsible parents let them go off on their own in the woods to hunt for a bear Hmm

DioneTheDiabolist · 22/11/2012 00:04

Frankie, you forgot to mention the reason that mum did nothing: she drank all the beer.Grin

Bear Hunt now makes more sense. The "dad" is a teenage brother!

frankie4 · 22/11/2012 00:04

But how can that not be the dad in Bear Hunt? He is so tall, if he is the brother he must be about 18! Next thing they will be saying is that Charlie is the dad in Charlie and Lola!

frankie4 · 21/11/2012 23:59

Going back to The Tiger Who Came For Tea, I don't think that there was a tiger, I think the mum made it all up as she hadn't made dinner or tidied up and she was worried about what the dad would say.

BonzoDooDah · 21/11/2012 23:53

Wow - I never did think that.

And whatever you do DON'T buy the (Walker books) pop-up version of the Bear Hunt Book - they have missed off the last page!!!
No bear walking away dejectedly!
So you don't get the whole point that the bear may have been friendly (lonely) and that it has gone. Utterly strange! And runined.

saffronwblue · 21/11/2012 23:36

I always thought the oldest girl was the mum, but thought the illustrator was a bit confused.
So when they go home is that Mum and Dad's bed they jump into? Where the hell are those neglectful parents?

ChocFudgeCake · 21/11/2012 23:18

I thought he was the dad too. But always wondered if the older girl was the mum or the sister. When they are crossing the river you can see her knickers, so I thought most likely to be a child

CheerfulYank · 21/11/2012 23:02

Whhhaaaaaaaaattt? NO! Shock

littleducks · 21/11/2012 22:46

He is definately a dad in the play.

BTW thanks again MNHQ for the tickets to that!

beela · 21/11/2012 22:14

Hmm. I too was confused re the oldest girl, but always thought the dad big brother was the dad. I also feel sorry for the bear, we always say to DS that it is running after them because he wants to play as we are too PFB to possibly introduce the idea of a mean bear.

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