The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Friends
by Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain
Berenstain Bears (64)
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Lonely without friends her age to play with, Sister Bear is delighted when a new little girl cub moves into the house down the road.Tags
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As a mom watching my little ones navigate friendships, this beloved Berenstain Bears story hits close to home. Sister Bear's struggles with bossy Lizzy Bruin perfectly capture the delicate dance of early friendships, teaching valuable lessons about compromise and kindness in a way children can understand. The familiar warm illustrations and gentle humor make it easy to discuss these tricky social situations with my kids, who particularly love pointing out when they've experienced similar playground dynamics. This book has become a go-to in our house whenever we need to talk about sharing, taking turns, and being a good friend – proving once again why the Berenstain Bears remain such trusted guides for young families.
I really enjoyed this book. There are many Berenstain Bear books, so the readers can really begin to connect to the characters. The illustrations are great. Each picture is very colorful and detailed. The illustrator often uses multiple frames in one page when there is a lot going on. One thing I really liked about this story is that Sister Bear was complaining that Lizzy was bossy, which is the same thing Brother thought about Sister. The message of this book is that you should learn to take turns with your friends, and respect them, because it’s not fun to be lonely.
Friends do not always get along and this book can help any child learn to understand that. I think that the authors, Stan and Jan Berenstain, do a great job in setting a real-life scenario of misunderstandings and conflict between friends but they also resolve the issue in a great way. The problem that arises is something that occurs everyday between children, not knowing how to stop saying things that could hurt others or how to share properly. I think that this book is a great book to teach children what not to say during an argument. For example, Sister Bear is playing with her friend Lizzy and while she is storming out of Lizzy's house to go home she says to Lizzy, "'Lizzy Lizzy in a tizzy!'". Those words, or words just like it, are show more more than likely being said between friends of a young age. The resolution shows how Lizzy comes over and gives Sister Bear a teddy bear that Sister left behind when she stormed out. The two young girls decide that they are okay and decide to take turns in playing teacher. Every child should learn how to resolve their conflicts in a calm and mannered way. The two girls resolved it with a smile and a hug, which should be how every conflict should be done. show less
Tell you the truth, I really am not a fan of the paperback B. Bears. I find them too long, too wordy, and, really, too moralistic.
My nieces adore them, though, so I added a star for that, and I keep buying them. (I'm a sucker, really.)
This is a great example of the books. New cub moves into the neighborhood, Sister and Lizzy become fast friends (and why does everybody in this series get a real name except for the main characters?), they fight over something silly, and eventually learn to compromise and share. Aw.
Great moral message, but kinda boring story.
My nieces adore them, though, so I added a star for that, and I keep buying them. (I'm a sucker, really.)
This is a great example of the books. New cub moves into the neighborhood, Sister and Lizzy become fast friends (and why does everybody in this series get a real name except for the main characters?), they fight over something silly, and eventually learn to compromise and share. Aw.
Great moral message, but kinda boring story.
I liked this book. I liked this book because it gave great examples of friendship and compromise. Even though the characters are bears, the story line is exactly what happens with younger children. They want to be the boss. One of the main reasons as to why I liked this book was because of the way it was written. The writer made the story very engaging by the way she wrote the book. For example, “Sister Bear, if you don’t sit down this minute, I’m going to keep you after school….Is that so?...” The be coming friends with someone new keeps you engaged and then when they start to fight it also keeps you engaged. The author wanted me to keep reading with how she wrote the book. Another reason that I really liked this book was show more because of the illustrations. The illustrator adds tons of details. For example, on the classroom page in the book when the girls begin to fight, a piece of chalk falls of the chalkboard on to the ground. This is a good children’s book. show less
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.
Sister Bear finally gets a friend next door and is very excited- until that friend wants everything her way. Sister and her new friend, Lizzy are BOTH bossy, so it takes both of them to realize that they need to compromise.
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Stan Berenstain was born in 1923 in Philadelphia, the same year and place as his future wife, Jan. They met as students at the Philadelphia College of Art. World War II delayed their career plans: Stan joined the army as a medical assistant while Jan supported the war effort by working in an airplane factory. They married in 1946 and together show more began drawing cartoons for the McCall's/Good Housekeeping It's All in the Family series. They worked on this feature from 1956 through 1990. The Big Honey Hunt, published in 1962, was their first book for children. This book about a family of bears, written for Dr. Seuss's Beginner Books series, was so popular that Dr. Seuss himself, Theodore Geisel, encouraged them to write more stories. Geisel's advice launched the Berenstains on life-career writing and illustrating the very successful Berenstain Bears books. The Berenstain Bears' New Baby, published in 1974, was the beginning of the First Time Books series. The Children's Choice Award was given to The Berenstain Bears' New Neighbors in 1995. The Berenstains were also honored for their work in children's literature when they received the Ludington Award in 1989. There have been television shows based on the Berenstain Bears books, as well as CD-ROMs and videos. Stan Berenstain passed away on November 26th, 2005, after a lengthy battle with lymphoma. He was 82. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
566+ Works 193,974 Members
Jan Berenstain was born Jan Grant on July 26, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She met Stan Berenstain on their first day of classes in 1941 at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. During World War II, Stan served as a medical illustrator in an Army hospital and Jan worked as a draftswoman in the Army Corps of Engineers and as an show more aircraft riveter. They married in 1946 and together began drawing cartoons for the McCall's/Good Housekeeping All in the Family series. They worked on this feature from 1956 through 1990. They also published artwork in magazines like Colliers and the Saturday Evening Post. The Big Honey Hunt, published in 1962, was their first book for children. This book, which was written for Dr. Seuss's Beginner Books series, was so popular that Dr. Seuss himself, Theodore Geisel, encouraged them to write more stories. His advice launched them on a life-career writing and illustrating the Berenstain Bears books. The Berenstain Bears' New Baby, published in 1974, was the beginning of the First Time Books series. She wrote more than 300 books during her lifetime. The couple received numerous awards including the Children's Choice Award for The Berenstain Bears' New Neighbors in 1995 and the Ludington Award in 1989 for their work in children's literature. There have been television shows based on the Berenstain Bears books, as well as CD-ROMs and videos. She died after a stroke on February 24, 2012 at the age of 88. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Friends
- Original publication date
- 1986
- People/Characters
- Sister Bear [Berenstain Bears series]; Brother Bear [Berenstain Bears series]; Mama Bear [Berenstain Bears series]; Papa Bear [Berenstain Bears series]; Lizzy Bruin
- Important places
- Bear Country
- Epigraph
- When making friends,
the cub who’s wise
is the cub who learns to
compromise. - First words
- Sister and Brother Bear, who lived with their mama and papa in the big tree house down a sunny dirt road deep in Bear Country, were not only sister and brother, they were playmates and they got along pretty well -- most of th... (show all)e time.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And off she scooted, laughing and giggling, with Lizzy scampering after her.
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- Please be careful when combining Berenstain Bears books that contain "the Trouble with" as there are several different titles that contain this. Thanks.
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- 2,331
- Popularity
- 8,447
- Reviews
- 13
- Rating
- (3.79)
- Languages
- English, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 3