We’re Going on a Book Hunt

by Pat Miller

CHARACTERS

Narrator 1 / Narrator 2
Teacher Bear / Bear 3
Librarian Bear / Bear 4
Bear 1 / Bear 5
Bear 2 / Boys, Girls

PROPS

a shelf marker for each Student Bear

a book for each Student Bear

book scanner for Librarian Bear (optional)

REFRAIN WITH HAND MOTIONS*

We’re going on a book hunt.

We’re going to find a good one. (Arms out expansively.)

We know how. (Point to brain.)

Not too easy, (Hands like a hula girl.)

Not too hard, (Knock knuckles together.)

But just right. (Both fists with thumbs up.)

STAGE DIRECTIONS

ACT ONE Stage right is always on the speaker’s right as he/she faces the audience. Stage left is on the speaker’s left as he/she faces the audience. The directions would be the opposite from the hands of someone in the audience facing the stage. In Scene One, the Teacher Bear is stage right, the Librarian Bear is stage left, and the five Bear Students are in numerical order between them. Narrators are center stage, standing in front of the Bear Students. In front of their feet, each Student Bear has a book. On top of each book is a shelf marker.

ACT TWO Characters are in the same order as in Act One, but Librarian Bear is offstage. When Librarian Bear comes onstage, it will be to the same place as in Act One.

ACT ONE

Character / Dialogue
Narrator 1 / Let’s learn how to use the library. We’re Going on a Book Hunt.
Narrator 2 / This is the book called We’re Going on a Book Hunt.
Narrator 1 / It’s by Pat Miller.
Narrator 2 / Let’s go to a classroom filled with…bears! And their teacher.
Narrator 1 / Before we begin, we’d like to teach you your part.
Narrator 2 / You have a refrain with hand motions. It goes like this:
Teacher Bear / We’re going on a book hunt.
Bear 1 / We’re going to find a good one.
Bear 2 / We know how.
Bear 3 / Not too easy
Bear 4 / Not too hard
Bear 5 / But just right!
Teacher Bear / Here it is—the library.
Bear 1
Bear 2 / Can’t skip or yell and shout.
Bear 3, Bear 4, and Bear 5 / We’ll have to be considerate.
ALL / (softly) Tip toe, tip toe, tip toe.
Librarian Bear / Here it is—the shelf marker
Bear 1 / Can’t look without it.
Bear 2 / Shows where the book fits.
Bear 3, Bear 4, and Bear 5 / We’ll have to slide the marker in
ALL / Slippy slide, slippy slide, slippy slide.
Teacher Bear / We’re going on a book hunt.
Bear 1 and Bear 2 / We’re going to find a good one.
Bear 3, Bear 4, and Bear 5 / We know how.
ALL / Not too easy
Not too hard
But just right!
*Librarian Bear / Here it is—a book.
Bear 3 / Can’t tell from outside.
Bear 4 / Have to look inside.
Bear 5 / We have to see what size it is.
ALL / Peek and turn, peek and turn, peek and turn.
Teacher Bear / We’re going on a book hunt.
Librarian Bear / We’re going to find a good one.
ALL / We know how.
Not too easy
Not too hard
But just right!
Teacher Bear / Here it is—the choosing part.
Bear 1 / Can’t read a hard one.
Bear 2 / Don’t want an easy one.
Bear 3 / We’ll have to count our fingers.
ALL / (Hold up fingers, counting from one to five.) Miss a word, finger up. Stop at five.
Bear 4 and Bear 5 / Here it is—the perfect book.
Bear 3 / Can’t be rough with it.
Bear 2 / Can’t be tough with it.
Bear 1 / We’ll have to treat it kindly.
ALL / (Bears hold book to their chests with their arms crossing over it.) Cross and hug, cross and hug, cross and hug.
Librarian Bear / We’re going on a book hunt.
Teacher Bear / We’re going to find a good one.
ALL / We know how.
Not too easy
Not too hard
But just right!
Librarian Bear / Here it is—the book check.
Bear 1 / Can’t keep it always.
Bear 2 / Can keep it two weeks.
Bear 3, Bear 4, and Bear 5 / We’ll have to bring our book back.
ALL / Beep boop beep,
Beep boop beep,
Beep boop beep.

ACT TWO

Bear 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 / Here we are—back in class.
Bear 3 / Can’t wait to read the words.
Bear 4 / Can share it with our friends.
Bear 5 / We’ll have to turn carefully.
ALL / At the corner, corner, corner.
Teacher Bear / Here we are—our books are done.
ALL / Time to take our books back.
Time to choose some other ones.
Girls / (softly)Tip toe, tip toe, tip toe.
Boys / Slippy slide, slippy slide, slippy slide.
Girls / Peek and turn, peek and turn, peek and turn.
Boys / Miss a word, finger up. Stop at five.
Girls / Cross and hug, cross and hug, cross and hug.
Boys / Beep boop beep,
Beep boop beep,
Beep boop beep.
Girls / At the corner, corner, corner.
ALL / We’re going on a book hunt.
We’re going to find a good one.
We know how.
Not too easy
Not too hard
Librarian Bear and Teacher Bear / But just right!
ALL / (loudly) YEAH!