The Bear Detectives: The Case of the Missing Pumpkin

This is probably more comical than anything else because it is about a pumpkin that has gone missing and a group of young bears (using a detective handbook) and their father, using only his brain (or lack of it as one might suspect) go out in search of it. The problem is that because Papa Bear acts before thinking he tends to get himself caught up in a lot of trouble (such as landing in a pig pen or getting bailed up in some hay).
I'm not really sure if there is any real moral in this story, because once again it seems to have moved beyond basic functions of language to create more of a story than anything else. Maybe the idea in this book is not to be like Papa Bear, who automatically jumps to conclusions without actually questioning show more the evidence and making a more thorough examination of the scene. In fact the whole idea of there actually being a thief turns out to be wrong, because the pumpkin was never stolen, just reallocated to another place to be used by one of the rightful owners.
As such, we when are out looking for things, or trying to solve a puzzle, we need to not jump to conclusions (like Papa bear) but rather examine all of the facts and from those facts reach the best (and hopefully correct) conclusion. show less

I like this book for two reasons. First, I liked the style of writing and the plot. I like that the father bear is always trying to show his kids the right way to do things, but he makes a lot of mistakes. It allows the kids to seem more heroic and in charge in the book. Secondly, I like the style of writing. The rhyming nature of the story gave it a sing-songy feel and kept me more motivated to turn the page. The big idea of the Bear Detectives is to tell the story of the Berenstain Bear family solving a mystery. The dad was hasty and didn’t pay close attention, but the kids found the right clues to solve the mystery.

This isn't a "Moral Lesson" Berenstain Bears book, it's an early reader.

As you might expect, Papa Bear does everything wrong, and the kids find the pumpkin thief. It's a pretty light read even for a beginning reader - some of the rhymes are a bit forced, and Papa's wrongheadedness is a little overexaggerated - attacking chickens?

But the kids like it, and it is simple for a beginning reader, and that's the important thing.

A classic mystery tale featuring the Bear Detectives and Papa Bear. Using rhyming text, Stan and Jan Berenstain provide clues in both the text and illustrations for young reading detectives to follow. Ask your child or student to make their own predictions after each clue for even more fun.

In “The Bear Detectives, the case of the Missing Pumpkin”, follows the intrepid Bear Detectives, their hound dog Snuff and Papa Bear, as they study the clues, follow the tracks and try to solve the mysterious disappearance of Farmer Ben’s first prize winning pumpkin. However, with bumbling Papa Bear in charge of the case, finding the culprit will not be easy, in fact, it will lead the young Bear Detectives of Bear Country into one funny situation after another. Will the Bear Detectives, their hound dog Snuff and Papa Bear solve the case of Farmer Ben’s missing pumpkin? Follow the clues along with the Bear Detectives and see where it leads

Fun to read, moves quickly. Good pictures.