Title:

The official title of this book is The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation.

Year:

The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation was released on reprint in the year 2010. Following the many Berenstain Bears books published through out the 80's and 90's.

Authors:

This book, The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation, was written by and co-written by Mike Berenstain, Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain. Yes, you guessed it. These people are a family, creating family stories!

Book Type:

I am not aware as to if the book The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation comes in a hard cover form. However, our copy is a paper back copy of the book. It is made well at the seams, and made to outlast constant use of children. Of course with the exception of possible torn pages by a rougher child.

Number of pages and layout:

With both the front and back of each page being counted. This book is 32 pages long. Each page with very bold colored and vibrant pictures. The pictures are large and easy to view. They are very cartoon like. These pictures compared to the earlier books in this book series are much more updated, colorful and realistic to the characters.

The print/text of this book is medium large. Just under the larger print used for children. I can easily read this print with, or without my glasses. The text is very clear making it easy to read. The text size is perfect for those who are beginning to read. Due to the size, letter formation and the fact that there are no typos in this book.

About this story:

Most Berenstain Bears books do have a moral to the story. This one does as well. The story sets out to be fun, and teach a lesson at the same time. With the best part being, that your child never really picks up on the fact that they are learning. They just enjoy the story time and time again. If only everything could have this effect!

You will find four main characters in this story. Mama bear, Papa beear, Sister bear and brother bear. In the story The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation, Your child will watch the story of this vacation unfold. You will read about and see through the images, the bears riding to their vacation home with bags packed up all around the car and the roof. Once they arrive the cubs really want to go swimming, it is all they can think about.

Mama bear has a different idea. The family had not been to the vacation home in quite some time. Everything was dusty and dirty. Mama bear lets Papa and the cubs know, that before they can enjoy their vacation they must clean up the mess, and get their food and clothing put away. This does not seem fair to the cubs, and even Papa bear seems less than excited to go along with this plan.

When the cubs dust, the dust falls on the floor, then the floors need to be swept. Now they need to be washed. The cubs are impatient and do not want to clean anymore. Just when they think that they are done, Mama gives them another chore to complete. Letting them know that everyone has to pitch in to make to house clean and ready to live in. This is where you will view images on the pages of Mama Bear wagging her finger at the cubs as they try to sneak out to go swimming. The cubs in the next picture have their heads down and go off to do their chore.

At this point the question "Cam we go swimming now Mama?" has been asked several times and each time the answer has been the same. Mama bear says at this point it is time for lunch. The cubs do not want to wait anymore, but they must listen to Mama. The cubs end up having a great lunch with their family. And now are ready for swimming. No,no not yet according to Mama, you must wait after eating to go swimming! Now the cubs must wait again. Back to cleaning they go.

By now the cubs are getting in to the swing of things. They are even finding their own things to get cleaned up with out Mama having to assign them to a certain chore. The two cubs and Papa are seen in the pictures cleaning, with a smiling Mama bear watching, happy that her family is pulling together to get things done, and that no one is complaining. They continue on this way until Mama tells them it is time to go swimming. The cubs are so excited, they run out of the vacation home toward to ocean. This time Pap bear stops them. He tells that that he too, is exited. However, there is one more thing that they must do. The cubs do not seem upset about this, but they do ask Papa what they need to do. Papa bear tells them that they must put on sun block. The cubs do this right away.

Finally, all the chores have been done, everything has been put away, everyone has had their lunch, has had time to digest and is now having fun as a family. Here you will view pictures of the cubs with their parents in the water enjoying themselves after a long hard day of work. The end reward for them was the best it could be, and the cubs appreciated more so that they were able to go swimming. At last, you will read and see through the pictures, a very content and happy bear family enjoying their very clean and organized vacation home! 

Ages this story would be best for:

This book is best for children who are ages four and over, as it is a beginner reader story, or stage 1 as some schools may call it. The book The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation, is great also as a bed time story for a parent to read to a child. It can be a great family story.

Thoughts, experience and recommendation:

My son is now age four years old, and my daughter is nine years old. The two of them are able to enjoy this story at bed time. My daughter is obviously very advanced for the stage 1 books, but she likes to get in to reading this story to Bret with me. She will be the "voice" of the cubs and I will do Mama and Papa bear. It turns out rather well. I also have been working with Bret using this and other Berenstain Bear books to help Bret learn his letters and words. So this book is great for many things, but mostly for family fun.

I love any book that can teach my kids something. This book teaches children to respect their parents, to do as they are asked to do, to be calm, to clean up after themselves, to be responsible and that when they do all of these things, it pays out in the end. Leaving them having more fun and enjoying their reward much more. Also looking at the pictures. You see how unhappy everyone looks when the whole house is just a mess and disorganized, and how happy they are in the house at the end because they can enjoy a clean and organized home. This is certainly a book that teaches a few lessons with out your child even knowing that they are learning anything at all.

My son Bret loves this story. The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation is o ne of his absolute favorite books. This says a lot considering he has two entire book shelves dedicated to just the Berenstain Bears series of books. Bret asks for this story at least twice a week, some times maybe more. Last year in pre-school he brought it in for show and tell and was very proud to have his teacher read his story to the class. The teacher sent home a note thanking us for sharing such a good story as well. I saved that note in his school folder so he would be able to look at it some day.

Bret is going on five years old and for the past two years this story has been part of our bed time routine a few times per week. He has not gotten tired of it. When I would like him to help out with cleaning his room before he plays or watches TV. If he is reluctant to do so I remind him of The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation, and I ask him how the cubs felt at the end of the story. He says "They had fun and were happy." So, he really does get the point of the story. I love that, and because it has helped me so much, and is so enjoyable for the kids. I would highly recommend buying a copy or at least checking out a copy from the library if you can. The Berenstain Bears Go On Vacation is a story I would always recommend.

Recommended: Yes