The Berenstain Bears and the Truth

The Berenstain Bears and the Truth tells how Brother Bear and Sister Bear tell a lie, and come to learn that they should always tell the truth, because, as the book says, “trust is one thing you can’t put back together once it’s broken.”

The story opens with Brother and Sister Bear sitting at home, doing nothing, and bored. Sister Bear suggests some things they could do, but Brother dismisses her ideas. Annoyed, she accuses him of being in love with the soccer ball he’s been holding. Incensed, he challenges her to try to stop him from dribbling the ball past her. Of course, playing soccer in the house must end badly, and Mama’s favorite lamp is broken.

When Mama arrives back home, moments later, Brother and Sister insist that show more it was a bird that broke the lamp–a purple bird with yellow feet, green wing tips, and red feathers sticking out of its head, they embellish. But Mama and Papa, who arrives later, aren’t fooled by their story. Mama tells them that the lamp can be fixed, but she is sad that her cubs, who she’s always trusted, are lying to her, and that trust can’t be so easily repaired.

Hearing this, both Brother and Sister fall all over themselves to take the blame for breaking the lamp, and we are told that after this, they “never, ever again told a whopper.”

Like many of the later books, the story is just there to hang the moral lesson on, so it’s not that great. But the part with them describing the bird is a little amusing, and the lesson is good, even if it’s a bit unbelievable that they never lied again.

...

(The rest of this review is posted on my blog.) show less

The Berenstain Bears books have been a favorite of mine, but I do really believe this book is one of the best. I really enjoy this book because of the characters and how they act and behave. The authors are so good with brother and sister bear, making every situation very realistic and plausible. In this book brother and sister break a lamp with a soccer ball and in fear both of them lie to their mother to not get in trouble. Another reason I love this book is the plot of the story. The story starts on a boring day with nothing to do and so the kids get rough and play soccer inside, giving us the buildup of knowing something bad is going to happen. The authors then have the conflict of breaking the lamp and move into the lying bears. In show more the end though they show the big picture of the book by having mama bear talk about how "A broken lamp can be glued back together, but trust cannot be". Last, I love the images in these books, not only do they bring back many childhood memories, but they connect very well with the story and sometimes you don’t even have to read the page to understand what is happening. When brother bear kicks the ball the words describe what is happening and how quickly, the illustration is showing almost word for word the process of the lamp being broken. The big picture or main theme of this story is that the true is always the best. show less

Brother and Sister Bear accidentally break Mama's favorite lamp and try to cover it up. Through their subsequent lies and growing guilt, the cubs learn that dishonesty only makes situations worse and creates a tangle of additional problems.

This was a pretty easy book to understand and sympathize with, what kid has not been tempted to lie to avoid trouble? But in the end, honesty is indeed the best policy!

A typical Berenstain Bears book that focuses on the value of telling the truth, even when things go wrong. Brother Bear and Sister Bear knock over Mama Bear's favorite lamp while their parents are out shopping. When their parents return, instead of telling them the truth, they create a "whopper" of a lie. When Brother and Sister get caught up in their lie, they learn that telling the truth is an important aspect of trust, that once broken "is not something that you can put back together again."

I loved The Berenstain Bears as a child, and I'm thrilled that my children love them too. We've had Berenstain Bear books and movie/videos in our collection for years.... each of my 5 children have loved them, and has gone through a Berenstain Bears phase at some point..... my youngest, 7, is currently in this phase. These books are part of our bedtime reading every night.

I have always loved the Bernstain bears because they are teaching you something. This one is a favorite of mine because i hate it when people don't tell the truth. This would be great to use in a classroom because it can show students the trouble about not telling the truth.