Mike Berenstain

This series is older than I am, but I do not recall it ever being a part of my childhood reading material. These books seem rather ubiquitous, though, so when I saw the title of this one, I thought I would pick it up. I am an environmentalist and have been since I was in elementary school. I have done lots of neighborhood and park cleanups, recycled, composted, reduced and reused. Environmental principles guide my daily life. This book is such a poor example of how to introduce environmental show more principles to children. The bears discover an environmental problem that should be dealt with on a governmental level, but end up following misguided adults by exposing themselves to countless dangers by handling garbage and moving it slightly. As an afterthought, there are a few ideas tossed out that are very practical, but not explained: recycling and composting are pictured but not labeled; a young bear is shown screwing a lightbulb into a lamp with one hand while turning off (or on?) a faucet with the other (can you say electrocution?); a windmill magically powers electrical tools; while only the carpooling would make any sense to young children.

If I were forced to use this book, I would explain to children that while there are things we can do to be less harmful to our environment there are things that should be the responsibility of business and government. We would then find other materials that explain the doable practices briefly touched on in the book. We would also start reducing, reusing and recycling in our classroom. show less

I truly hate assigning so low a rating to this book, because our family likes the Berenstain books, and the stories in these staples of children's literature tend to be entertaining and well written. However, this particular entry in the series is inferior to its brethren books. The story describes Brother and Sister Bear venturing into a haunted house, in search of their cat who preceded them. It features lift the flaps, usually in the places the bears are searching around or under or show more behind. Eventually, they do find their cat, sitting with another Bear, the owner of the house. Brother and Sister proclaim that she is a nice bear after all, even if she does live in a haunted house, and promise to visit her again.

The concept behind the book is fine, and could lead to a good story about mistaken first impressions and being carried away by one's imagination. However, these themes are not developed at all. In the first place, the house is not scary. No ghosts, no creepy shadows or spooky animals jumping out at them, nothing moving or floating around on its own. It is just some armor and dusty furniture and lots of cute and cuddly animals hiding in strange places. For a story about a haunted house, this book is disappointing. It is absurdly unscary. This could have been explained if the house had an unfair reputation of being haunted, and the author included some of the stories the bears had heard that led them to this conclusion, but no such framework exists.

The second major problem is that the bear at the end of the book is simply a picture and a few sentences. The story does not characterize her at all. It never even mentions her until the end. Why didn't Brother and Sister know about her? Why does she live in this house? Why is she even a nice bear? We don't know, because the book doesn't tell us. It left me caring absolutely nothing about her, her house, and the entire surrounding adventure. Basically, this book is a dashed off story that uses familiar characters and the lift-the-flap technique to generate interest, and tie into a popular holiday motif. We ordered it through a school book order form, and I was excited to read it to my daughters, but it was a sad disappointment. show less

The first Sunday after Labor Day has been designated Grandparents Day, and the Berenstain Bears will help you celebrate with Bless Our Gramps And Gran. In this book, the Bear Family shows their appreciation for their grandparents as well as sharing a favorite Bible story with a new perspective. Colorful and fun illustrations accompany the read-along text. Vocabulary is challenging enough for developing readers as they learn about Noah and his family while thinking of ways grandparents add to show more our lives. Kids will find the story engaging, and adults will have a chuckle or two as the Bear cubs put their own twist on Noah’s family. The book includes ways to celebrate Grandparents Day in your own family or church — love that!

Just in time for Grandparents Day, Bless Our Gramps And Gran is a great addition to your family’s library.

Recommended.

Audience: preschool — 3rd grade and their parents/grandparents.

(Thanks to Zonderkidz for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.) show less

The Bear family is just like us! They work, they play, and they have pets! In the latest book in the Living Lights series, The Berenstain Bears Bless Our Pets, everyone in Bear Country comes to church to ask for God’s blessing on very special members of their family, their pets. Large and small, common and unusual, the pets are present. I especially liked the scripture verse at the beginning of the book — The righteous care for the needs of their animals (Proverbs 12:10). It is a show more wonderful reminder to children about God’s creation and mankind’s directive to care for it. The book is filled with fun illustrations and there is plenty to cause a chuckle — pandemonium breaks out at one point. This book, targeted at children ages 4-8, is also a great way to get kids reading. If you have a pet-loving child in your life, definitely check out Bless Our Pets.

Recommended.

Audience: children ages 4-8.

(Thanks to Zonderkidz for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.) show less