goldjay's Full Review: Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain - The Berenstai...
The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight is a children’s book in the Berenstain Bears series of books. It was written by Stan and Jan Berenstain and published in 1982. I chose this book because the subject sounded like it would be helpful and also because I really like the Berenstain Bears series.
The Story
”When two small bears
Don’t get along
The grown ups worry
What went wrong?”
This is the poem that is on the first page of the book. It gives a general idea of what the book will be about.
The story starts off by telling how Brother and Sister Bear usually got along very well, taking turns, using manners and sitting together on the school bus. But, one morning Brother and Sister didn’t get along well at all. When Sister sat up in bed to stretch, her feet hung in Brother’s face. She didn’t mean it to be rude but that’s what happens in bunk beds! Then she ran off to the bathroom first and she took a very long time! Brother was getting madder and madder!
They didn’t remember their manners at the breakfast table and they didn’t sit together on the bus. They drew a line down the clubhouse they were working on that afternoon. Each took back things that they normally shared. They got so angry at each other that they forgot they weren’t speaking to each other and started yelling at each other.
The neighbors didn’t know which was worse, the screaming from the Bear’s treehouse or the big storm outside. It was then that Mama had had enough! She got the cubs quiet and asked them if they even remembered what they were fighting about. The cubs didn’t.
Mama explained that everyone gets into an argument once in a while, especially when people live together. People can get angry at each other but after a while, it’s over, just like the storm ended! Brother and Sister looked outside and saw the sunshine through the clouds. And, then they saw a rainbow! Mama explained that a rainbow is something beautiful at the end of a storm, just like making up at the end of an argument.
Text and Illustrations
This 32 page book has black text written in different areas on each page. In most cases, the words are written over some background part of the illustration. Each page has between 50-100 words so this is not an easy reader book but one that makes a good read aloud story for a preschooler.
The illustrations are full page, full color drawings. Each page has black line drawings filled in with lots of colors. Illustrations are mostly from edge to edge on every page with a few minor exceptions where you will see several pictures in individual sections. For example, a double page spread near the beginning of the book shows all the ways that Brother and Sister get along: sharing the bathroom, using manners at the table, riding together on the bus, and building their treehouse together.
Lesson Learned
This book teaches the lesson that arguments can happen. It teaches that kids have to learn to end arguments and make up with each other. Brother and Sister need help ending their argument. Mama helps them to understand what is going on and they wind up being friendly with each other again.
Mama also teaches that arguments can happen when people live together. She tells them that sometimes people having an argument even say things that they don’t really mean. After a while, they make up and it’s over.
My experiences
I enjoyed reading this book with my daughter. I read it to her while she was in preschool where she occasionally had silly fights with other children, usually over who could play with what toy. She learned that arguments were normal and then we talked about ways that she could end the arguments with her friends. In the Berenstain Bears book, Mama simply ends the cubs arguments but this wasn’t always possible when my daughter was in preschool. This is one place where this book falls short, in giving kids ideas on how to end arguments. My daughter and I did come up with our own solutions and these did work but I wish that the book had had some kid-friendly suggestions as she seems to take suggestions from books more easily than from me!
Recommendations
I would definitely recommend this book for preschoolers as well as early elementary aged kids. I think it is good for kids to know that arguments are normal and that they can get past them. I would have liked to see some solutions but nonetheless, it is still a good book. Happy Reading!
The usually compatible Brother and Sister Bear are fighting--all day long! Mama Bear helps them realize that everyone argues once in a while, even wit...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
The usually compatible Brother and Sister Bear are fighting--all day long! Mama Bear helps them realize that everyone argues once in a while, even wit...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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