We're Going on A Lion Hunt

Children's Literature - Children's Literature

The beautifully paintings in this book retell the familiar children's story We're going on a Bear Hunt with the setting shifted to the African savanna. Two sisters on a lion hunt have to pass through tall grass, cross a lake, trudge through a swamp, and investigate a dark cave where they find a lion. They run home safely, again crossing all the obstacles. The book is meant to be read aloud as it includes lots of repetition of onomatopoetic words including "squish, squash" and "splish, splash." The artistic rendering of this well-known ecosystem is excellent, and children will find many of their favorite animals in the background of each painting. 2000, Henry Holt and Company, Ages 3 to 6, $15.95. Reviewer: Seth Berg

School Library Journal

PreS-Axtell takes a storytime classic to the African savanna, where loving sisters enjoy a day's adventure. With fruit, juice, and teddy bear in hand, they travel through towering green grasses under the watchful eye of a giraffe, swim through a dappled blue lake with zebras and a flamingo, and pull each other through a squishy swamp unbeknownst to a hippopotamus. They wake the lion sleeping in his cave, and as he follows them, they arrive home and shut the door safely. The adventure has neither dampened their spirits nor muddied their white anklets. Axtell's sun-soaked, impressionistic oil paintings offer beautiful landscapes and engaging details, from wild animals who linger at a safe distance, to a dropped teddy that is retrieved just in time. Large figures on the page make this a good choice for storytimes as well as lap times. Like Michael Rosen's We're Going on a Bear Hunt (McElderry, 1989), this lovely picture book will delight preschoolers.-Laura Scott, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|