
A parent should reach for this book when their child needs a pure, silly laugh to brighten their day or a perfectly fun and simple bedtime story. The book follows Cully Cully, a hunter, and a bear who are, unbeknownst to them, hunting each other. They end up on opposite sides of the same tree and begin a circular chase where each believes he is the pursuer. This book's emotional core is pure joy and comical surprise. Its simple text and escalating visual humor make it ideal for children ages 4 to 7. Parents will appreciate it for its fantastic read-aloud potential, building anticipation with every page turn and culminating in a wonderfully absurd and hilarious ending that requires no moralizing, just laughter.
Your experience helps other parents find the right book.
Sign in to write a reviewThe central premise involves hunting. Both characters explicitly state their desire to get the other's "skin". This is handled with complete cartoonish absurdity and the violence is never realized. The resolution is magical, not literal, with the characters merging into an inanimate object. The approach is secular and the tone is purely comedic, using the concept of hunting as a setup for a slapstick routine rather than a serious exploration of conflict or violence.
The ideal reader is a 4 to 6-year-old who loves physical comedy, chase scenes, and simple, repetitive gags that build to a crescendo. This book is perfect for a child who is beginning to grasp irony and enjoys being in on a joke that the characters in the story are missing. It will strongly appeal to fans of classic cartoon shorts like Looney Tunes.
A parent might want to preview the opening pages to see if the phrase "get a man-skin" or "get a bearskin" would be concerning for their specific child. However, for most children, the cartoonish illustrations make it clear this is not a realistic threat. The book can easily be read cold, as the simple premise needs no outside context. A parent has just seen their child delight in a silly cartoon chase or a funny misunderstanding. The trigger could also be a need for a guaranteed laugh: "My child had a frustrating day at preschool, we just need a book that is 100% fun and nothing else." It's a go-to for pure, uncomplicated entertainment.
A younger child (4-5) will focus on the visual humor: the repetition of the characters circling the tree, the increasing speed shown by the illustrations, and the funny final image. An older child (6-7) will more deeply appreciate the dramatic irony of the situation: that both characters are simultaneously the hunter and the hunted without realizing it. They will grasp the cleverness of the plot construction and the absurdity of the resolution.
This book's unique quality is its distilled focus. It takes a single comedic bit, a circular chase of mutual misunderstanding, and dedicates the entire narrative to executing it perfectly. Unlike other chase stories, the plot doesn't deviate. The collaboration between Wilson Gage's minimalist text and James Stevenson's expressive, kinetic illustrations creates a masterclass in pacing and visual comedy that feels both timeless and unique. The absurdist, nonviolent resolution is particularly memorable.
A hunter named Cully Cully sets out to get a bearskin for his floor. At the same time, a bear sets out to get a man-skin for his floor. They spot each other simultaneously and hide on opposite sides of a very large tree. Each peeks out, sees the other, and begins a chase around the tree, with both hunter and bear convinced they are the one in pursuit. The chase accelerates until they are just a blur of motion, eventually running so fast they turn into a single, fuzzy bearskin coat with a hunter's hat on top.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.