We're Going on a Lion Hunt

Reviews

Teacher and students embark on an imaginary, exciting safari in this adaptation of the familiar bear-hunt chanting game.With safari hats on, the class members head out the door and into an exotic landscape, where they join in the refrain: “We’re going on a lion hunt./We’re going to catch a big one./We’re not afraid./Look what’s up ahead.” First they head through mud, then sticks (“snap, snap, snap”), and on until they reach a dark cave, where they feel a c-c-cold nose [and]s-s-sharp teeth... It’s a lion!” Time to run, backtracking from grass to mud to finally, safely, the classroom. The peppy text incorporates repetition, sound effects, and participation opportunities for lively readings. The bright, cartoonlike watercolor-and-pencil illustrations highlight the diverse animals, first shown as classroom pictures and then in their native habitats. The lion encounter is not too spooky but will still bring a fun, tingly thrill. An entertaining version of a ubiquitous imagination game for storytimes and animal-themes class units. – Booklist

This new adaptation of the familiar campfire story takes children from their classroom into an adventure in their imaginations. With safari hats on their heads, they fearlessly slog through the mud, snap their way through sticks, climb up trees, splish-splash through the river, swish through the grass and creep into a dark cave where they find... a LION! With their teacher in the lead, they quickly retrace their steps with the lion snapping at their heels until they are safe within the confines of their classroom once again. Joe Mathieu’s dynamic illustrations bring to life every emotion the children experience. He populates each spread with the animals and scenery of the African savanna, providing readers the opportunity to identify creatures with which they are familiar. With its wonderful onomatopoeia, this book will become an easy favorite with the read-aloud crowd, and story time leaders will use the repeated text along with hand motions to encourage audience participation. – Children’s Literature

A gentle adaptation of the familiar call-and-response game. Teacher shows a picture of a lion and passes out safari hats to her multiethnic students, who look to be in kindergarten. Magically, their classroom door opens onto an African terrain, and the hunt is on. They slog through mud, snap through sticks, climb trees, splash through a river and swish through the tall grass before reaching the dark cave, where all that can be seen is a pair of yellow eyes. After getting too close to the king of the jungle, back they go, triple-time. The soft colors in Mathieu's pencil illustrations are attractive, and he offers a variety of facial expressions and action poses on the exuberant children in every two-page spread. While nothing beats or can replace the classic Rosen-Oxenbury collaboration, We're Going on a Bear Hunt (1989), the classroom setting this outing offers makes it a terrific invitation for young listeners to take "Lion Hunt" out of the story circle for some happy dramatic play. – Kirkus Reviews

A lively teacher and her energetic students step out of the classroom and into the jungle for an adventure. A twist on the traditional "Going on a Bear Hunt" and similar to David Axtell's We're Going on a Lion Hunt (Holt, 2000), Cuyler's rollicking adaptation stands on it own. On their quest for a lion, the kids slog through mud, climb up trees, splish-splash through a river, and so on. Different species of animals watch as the children make their way to a cave inhabited by a furry, cold-nosed lion with sharp teeth. Printed in color, the action words are set apart from the black text, which is placed within the double-page illustrations. Mathieu's colored-pencil and watercolor artwork bounces off the spreads. He gives the characters individual facial expressions, which convey their changing moods. The illustrations in Axtell's Lion Hunt are more realistic and star two African girls. Both versions could be used in combination for compare and contrast lessons. – School Library Journal