Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Berenstain Bears Love Their Neighbors


The Berenstain Bears Love Their Neighbors, written and illustrated by Jan and Mike Berenstain, is a book in the “Living Lights” series of Berenstain books published by ZonderKidz.

The Berenstain Bears live in a neat tree house in Bear Country. They, and most of their neighbors around them, take pride in keeping their properties clean and well-maintained. The one exception is the house where the Boggs live. The Bogg brothers share a run-down shack not far from the Berenstain’s home. The Bogg residence sports a roof that is caving in and a yard that is full of junk. They even drive a car that is as old and ratty looking as their house. The Berenstain Bears think the Boggs are a problem for the neighborhood.

One day, on the way to the Big Bear Town Festival, the Berenstain Bear’s car breaks down. They are stranded along the side of the road. A car comes by, driven by Mayor Honeypot. He slows down long enough to tell them he can’t stop and help them; he is in a hurry to get to the Festival as he is Master of Ceremonies for the event. Another car, driven by Squire Grizzly, also slows down, but Squire Grizzly tells them he can’t stop either as he too must hurry to the Festival where he will judge the flower-arranging contest. The occupants of the third car to come down the road are the Bogg brothers. They, or course, stop and help the Berenstain Bears. The Bogg brothers tow Papa’s car to a nearby garage that is run by their Uncle Zeke. Uncle Zeke not only fixes the car, he doesn’t charge them for the repair. As he says, “This one is on us. After all, we’re neighbors.” The Berenstain’s invite the Boggs to join them at the Festival, where they all have a good time.

The illustrations are the usual, colorful, cartoon-like drawings used in all the Berenstain Bear picture books. There is a section at the back of the book with questions about the story and activities for kids that relate to the story.

What I Like: In most of the Berenstain Bear picture books, one of the cubs, either Brother or Sister Bear, needs to learn a lesson about something. In this book, the parents, as well as the cubs, learn a lesson about judging others.

I also like the fact that this is a Good Samaritan story, Berenstain Bears style.

What I Dislike: Nothing.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

Age Appeal: 4-8.

Publisher Info: Zonderkidz, 2009; ISBN: 0310712491 ; Paperback, $3.99.

Buy now at ChristianBook $2.99!

Or buy at Amazon.com $3.99.

Special Info: Read our other reviews of Berenstain Bears books.




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