Three Jovial Huntsmen

by Susan Jeffers

Despite the many animals in the forest, three hunters see only a ship, a house, and a pincushion and find nothing to shoot.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Nursery Rhymes, Adventure, Poetry, Juvenile

30 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

There is more than one author with this name.

Biography:

Graduate of Pratt Institute 1964
Worked in the publishing field for three years
Began freelance career in 1968
Published first children's book in 1970

Awards:

Caldecott Honor
Golden Apple Biennial Bratislava
The ABBY American Booksellers Best Book award
Society of Illustrators Awards of Merit
Golden Kite Society of Children's Books Author Illustrators

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the delicate and soft looking drawings in this lyrical telling of this story. 3 Huntsman are out hunting and we see all the animals around them, but they are walking and talking and never seeing anything. Each page is a line of poetry in this beginning tale. At the end, they think they have found a rabbit, when it was the tail end of 2 skunks and the gentlemen run.

This book had the kids laughing. The kids kept saying, look at all the animals they can’t see. The nephew loved the 2 skunk tails at the end. He laughed and was yelling gross in his excited way. He gave this 5 stars. The niece thought this was a fun story. She found the hunters amusing too. She gave this 3 stars.

[Reana Smiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeffers, Susan, and Susan Jeffers. Three Jovial Huntsmen. Scarsdale, N.Y.: Bradbury, 1973. Print. Verse book. Ages 4-8. Three Jovial Huntsmen is a story about three huntsmen who attempt to go hunting, but never find any animals. This story is written in verse, which adds some interest to the story. The pictures are a really important element to this book, because you can see how close they are to the animals that they are hunting. The reader can see how the animals are hiding from the hunters. If the reader were to just read the book without the pictures, it would be really easy to just assume there were no animals around. The pictures and text work well together to tell a complete story. This would be a great book to read to children who are just looking for a cute story. The main lesson that I could take from it was to not give up, and to be happy despite not being able to find what you are looking for, but unless you describe that to a child, I don’t know that they would learn that from this book.

[Cassandra Lemieux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Jovial Huntsmen is a short children's book that talks about three men who go "hunting" every St. David's day, but it isn't exactly what it seems. It is a funny book with GREAT images. This would be a good book for the grades pre-k- 2nd. I would use this book primarily for transitions because it is so short, but it would also be a good book when talking about habitats. Students could look through the book and discuss what habitat it is and the animals they see through out the book. Students who would benefit from this book would be children who enjoy lots of pictures and are just learning to read. I would read this book to the whole class over small group use because it is so short and I feel like students would get distracted if they were in small groups. Some related books would be anything from the "Mother Goose Rhymes" or "The Nutcracker" by Susan Jeffers
Multimedia connections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvPEi...

*Caldecott winner*

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caldecott Honor retelling of a nursery tale. Beautiful art. Okay enough text. Not a nursery rhyme that I know but it clearly sounded familiar. Lots to look at hidden in the art.

[Mother Goose Librarian]

1974 Caldecott Honor

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The three jovial huntsmen go out on St. David's day...and are extremely unsuccessful at hunting.

Evidently this is based on a traditional children's nursery rhyme. Jeffers adds humor to the story by having various animals all around the hunters, but of which they seem oblivious. The coloration of this is somewhat unique, but I did not dislike it. A fun tale that would be a quick read with little ones and could even be a little bit of a hide-n-seek for them (see if they can find the animals the hunters can't see).

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This short book was based off a Mother Goose rhyme about three huntsmen who are so enjoying the act of going out and talking amongst themselves that they lose track of the prey they are following. They come back home empty-handed. This book won a 1974 Caldecott Honor award. Recommended for ages 3-6, 2 stars.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The three huntsmen went out on a hunt however they came back with nothing, they were too busy talking that they did not see all the fuzzy forrest animals around them. This is a good read aloud for K-4th in teaching about classic fairy tails and nursery rhymes.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Caldecott 1973 honor book, this is a short, and delightful book filled with lovely illustrations. When three men go into the woods, they seem more intent on discussing what they cannot find rather than what is all around them.

[Erma Talamante · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever take on an old rhyme, the illustrations are the best part of this story. I read this to the kids as a bedtime story, and even the oldest ones were picking out the animals on the pages. My only complaint was that it was so short, but it did stay true to the tale.

[Kassy Johns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the humor of this book and the illustrations that add so much to the book showing all that the huntsmen overlook, as the animals blend in with their surroundings. It reminds me of some of the hunts spent with my family.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of three huntsman who went out hunting on St David's Day (1 March), and although there was game a plenty these three couldn't find any. This tale of three foolish huntsmen who couldn't agree on anything that they saw, so their hunting was in vain.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoof on what they 'see.'
Caldecott honor.

[Jenica Sword · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was about a couple people going through the woods hunting. They saw different animals and different settings. The illustrations looked old and the background color on the pictures were mostly green. It was a very short and a little bit hard to follow. It also talked a lot about hunting, so I don't think I would use this.

I gave this book only one star. I did not particularly enjoy the storyline or the illustrations. I would not share this with my future classroom, especially because a lot of the focus is on hunting.

[Maria Rowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

• 1974 Caldecott Honor Book •

This was ok - I thought the book was rather dark in color overall - I realize they're in the woods, but there are bits of light in the forest. It was amusing to see the hunters not finding anything even though there were animals everywhere.

Materials used: pen & ink with wash overlays in red, yellow, blue and black oil
Typeface used: 20-point Bembo

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caldecott winner. Mother Goose adapted and re drawn. I had to listen and follow with a YouTube video to make sure I was not missing any pages. I picked a library copy up for $1. The illustrations are very clever because Susan camouflaged the animals throughout. This is really an older book. I am not sure if students of today would appreciate it BUT if you were doing an author or poetry study or Caldecott winners through the year class. It would be a great example.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

1974 Caldecott Honor book. This is the kind of book I remeber from my childhood - the artistic style, Mother Goose rhyme, colors used. As I've been reading my way through the Caldecott winners and honor books, I feel like every decade has a vibe, and this one tracks with the 70s vibe. The Mother Goose rhyme is one I'm not familiar with, and I didn't love it, but the illustrations definitely added some humor.

[Caroline Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Poetry- Single Poem Book
Awards: Caldecott Honor
Audience: 1-3rd
A. This is a narrative poem because it tells the story of the three huntsmen.
B. The author uses rhyme throughout the book by rhyming the last word of every other line. For example, "say, day, nay, away".
C. Add another part of this poem where the three huntsmen find another animal in the forest. The first said it was a blue bird, the second he said Nay, the third said it was a pillow case that had started to fly away

[Janin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a simple Mother Goose Rhyme but I bought it because of the illustrations because they are MAGNIFICENT. The copy I have is a very thin paper version that was probably given out to kids at school. I would like to order a copy of the hardback version though because it’s so beautiful.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations of the book. The content of the story was just okay. It depicted three huntsmen going around nature with various depictions of wildlife. The story didn't really tell much about the huntsmen or what they were doing or hunting for.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Mother Goose poem about three hunters who go on a hunt but never find the animals who are hiding but they do find some unusual things instead. This is a funny nursery rhyme and the accompanying illustrations are nice.

[Elly Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: poetry
Grade level: k-2

I think Mother Goose rhymes are so fun, especially for younger kids. They feel so smart when they've memorized them. This one was cute and innocent, children will love spotting the animals and think it's funy that the huntsmen can't find them!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read, and the illustrations really make it what it is. I think a child would need a lot of help understanding the language and the pictures, but would enjoy it.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful illustrations of a Mother Goose favorite. (Caldecott Honor Book)

[Kristin Holbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

We enjoyed the artwork. Lots of hidden animals.

[Nanny B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent "hidden pictures within a picture" illustrations.

[MaryAnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful book. Three huntsmen go off to hunt but can’t find the animals. The illustrator cleverly places them in the drawings barely camouflaged.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

1974 Caldecott Honor book. The pictures are beautiful and are fun to look at because of how the illustrator has hidden animals in the art. There is no story; it is an illustrated rhyme.

[Ketutar Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only problem with it is that it's too short :-D

It is beautifully illustrated and needs to be read slowly, and time taken to find all the different animals these hunters just couldn't find :-)

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's fun and has a lot of merit for reading aloud, but the art is what really makes this worthwhile. i just wish it wasn't so dark in color / value.