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

[Clawdy]

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.

[RubyGates]

But! but but but but but.....

[LapinDeBois]

Ha, I nearly started this thread the other day when I read the article, because I got rubbished ages ago on MN for suggesting he was the older brother . And of course it's an imaginary game - in what real life expedition would you encounter a warm-enough-to-wade-through river, a snowstorm and a real bear ?.

[McPhee]

Oh no

My bubble has been popped

This feels just like watching the very last episode of friends

[LynetteScavo]

DS1 was convinced the oldest sister is the Mum. Of course I'm far too mature to argue with a small child about something like this.

[BrianButterfield]

I read it to DS this morning and then had to trek to nursery through teeming rain and deep puddles...must admit I kept mentally repeating "can't go over it, can't gp under it, oh no! I've got to go through it..." as I waded on.

[confuddledDOTcom]

BarbecuedBillygoats - I always ask that!

InmaculadaConcepcion - I read that in Michael Rosen's voice.

I've just done a Google images search (make sure you put the full name in ) to check what he looks like and I think he definitely seems more of the dad than the brother. I can see that being my family with my husband!

Got to ask this, how many people don't need the book any more?

[Kahu]

Just found this No sad bear at the end though

[Kahu]

Sorry, link didn't work

[beela]

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.

[littleducks]

He is definately a dad in the play.

BTW thanks again MNHQ for the tickets to that!

[CheerfulYank]

Whhhaaaaaaaaattt? NO!

[ChocFudgeCake]

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

[saffronwblue]

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?

[BonzoDooDah]

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.

[frankie4]

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.

[frankie4]

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!

[DioneTheDiabolist]

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

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

[ProcrastinatingPanda]

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

[DioneTheDiabolist]

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.

[frankie4]

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

[ProcrastinatingPanda]

:o

[Clary]

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

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...

[nooka]

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 noindex" 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 noindex" target="_blank">this picture he could easily be a teenager.

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

[DowagersHump]

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