We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Now this isn't really for adults at all, but by watching writer Michael Rosen's colourfully visualised attention to the elementary linguistics of the story, it soon becomes clear that teaching youngsters the basics of phonetics, rhyme and fun is the order of the day here - and by mixing it together with a little adventure and a simple song it's surprisingly engaging. Big brother has to childmind whilst their parents make some sort of mercy dash to grandma, and so he and his siblings head off on a trek across the fields, the river, through a snowstorm and some creepy woods - to find a bear! Assuming that they all avoid hypothermia, will they discover one and what will they do if they do? The quality of the animation and it's sketch-style of artwork is self-evident and the simplicity of a message of the joys of family and nature is writ large enough to prove to be enjoyable and resonating for children tinged with warnings that not everything outdoors is friendly and benign, either. It is possibly too long, but as a learning tool it has something charming about it and is easily something you could plonk the bairns in front of without any worries.