Lift the Flaps as The Berenstain Bears Trim the Tree

The Berenstain Bears have been around for a long time, long enough to have several books dedicated to their Christmas celebrations. These include The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree, The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear and The Berenstain Bears Save Christmas. More recent than any of these is The Berenstain Bears Trim the Tree, a book that is not so much about the story as it is about the pictures, and finding little surprises in the illustrations.

This lift-the-flap book aims at a slightly younger audience than the typical Berenstain book, with little in the way of narration and less in the way of plot or character. For a book of this format, such things can afford to be a bit lacking, since it’s really all about lifting up those stiff bits of paper and unearthing whatever is hidden underneath. The reason for the peeking in this story is that various items keep disappearing, prompting inquiries of “Where is [the missing object]?”

Like most books in the series, this one is full of colorful illustrations, both above the flaps and below. Each page has just a single flap, so it’s not a book that’s likely to keep youngsters occupied for long periods of time, but it’s a start. A trek up to the attic for ornaments is fun and may inspire kids to check out their own attics, if they’re lucky enough to have them, for long-lost treasures. There’s also a Christmas light-untangling scene that should ring true with anyone who has ever hung those delightful but dastardly decorations.

Another nice element of this book is the fact that it includes Honey Bear, the youngest member of the Bear family who has only been a part of the series for about a decade. There’s a mildly chaotic feel to the book, but on the whole it’s rather uneventful. Additionally, because it’s not a board book, it might not hold up too well with vigorous young readers. But at least for the first couple of times through, The Berenstain Bears Trim the Tree is a fun option for young Berenstain Bears fans.

Bears in the Night Provides Minimal Fright

When my brother Nathan was little, one of his favorite books was Stan and Jan Berenstain's The Bears' Picnic, in which Papa Bear leads his wife and son on a meandering hunt for the perfect picnic spot, so I thought of him when I spotted Bears in the Night at a recent library sale. Ultimately, this book has less in common with the Papa-Bear-Acts-Like-a-Dope stories than the Small-Bear-Has-an-Independent-Adventure stories. This is a Bright and Early book, designed for the most inexperienced of readers, and as such it is in league with the likes of Old Hat, New Hat and Inside, Outside, Upside-Down.

Instead of the simple verse of The Bears' Picnic, Bears in the Night is a series of directions that build upon each other, much like progressive songs such as the Irish Rovers' The Rattlin' Bog. It's a good way for children to learn the orienting words "up," "down," "at," "through," "between," "around," "over," "under," "in" and "out".

I find the illustrations somewhat perplexing because we get two glimpses of Mama Bear, who looks just like Mama from the vast majority of Berenstain Bears books, but she has six children - sextuplets by the looks of it - and there is no trace of Papa Bear. So I'm not sure just who this family is in relation to the one we usually see; maybe it's Mama's twin sister and six nephews... The bears' expressive faces, peeking out through a dark bluish atmosphere, tell more than the words, as they creep outside smugly, only to have their wide-eyed faces turn terrified as a loud 'WHOOOOOO" fills the air.

When I showed it to Nathan, he sarcastically commented, "This book has quite the compelling plot!" Okay, so an 18-year-old can breeze through it in all of about a minute and might not find the bears' climactic encounter with an owl on Spook Hill - "They don't call it Spook Hill for nothin'!" Nathan piped up - very impressive. But he would've eaten this right up 13 years ago...

Bears in the Night lacks the distinctive characters found in most of these books, and its plot so simplistic that no verbs are needed. There's not a scrap of dialogue; the entire narrative consists of phrases like "out the window" and "through the woods". But if you're looking for a spooky story for a tiny tot, this might just fit the bill, as it builds suspense without being too scary. So grab a night-light and read Bears in the Night!

Papa Bear Isn't Quite As Smart As He Thinks He Is...

Over the past 45 years, the Berenstain Bears have become one of the most famous families in children's literature, spawning television shows, computer games, even their own section at Cedar Point. For years, their books have served as models for decent decorum as Brother and Sister Bear get themselves into some sort of trouble and Mama Bear tries to help them see the error of their ways while Papa Bear usually falls into the same traps as his cubs. Written in prose except for a verse at the beginning that serves as a preview, these stories are entertaining but also heavy-handedly moral.

The earliest of Stan and Jan Berenstain's books aren't like this. Part of Dr. Seuss's series of Beginner Books, they are written entirely in verse, the illustrative style is sketchier and uses a duller palette of colors, and as Sister Bear hasn't been born yet, Brother is instead Small Bear. Rather than being small paperbacks of roughly Little Golden Book size, these are hardbacks comparable in length to any Seuss book, and most focus on Papa Bear's inept attempts to teach his son a great lesson.

The Big Honey Hunt is the first of these, and as in The Bears' Picnic and The Bears' Vacation, among others, Small Bear is eager to absorb any wisdom his father has to pass on. It is especially similar to the former, as it revolves around a quest to fill their honey pot that takes them into one dangerous situation after another. Papa Bear won't settle for any old ordinary store honey when he can show his son how a real bear gets the job done. It all begins with finding a bee; once he's managed that, he's on his way, ready to embrace the bumpy course the insect sets while believing that each latest stop on the journey must be where the honey is.

The illustrations are entertaining as Papa, clad in blue overalls and a red checkered shirt, and Small Bear, in jeans and a solid red shirt, race from one potential honey tree to the next, eager to extract the golden treasure but unnerved by the dangers that lurk nearby. We get to see Papa go from smug to panicked in the course of a page; Small Bear's confidence wavers just a little after such episodes, but his faith in his father remains intact.

The verses are very simple to read, marked by small words and exact rhymes with a pleasing rhythm: "If you want to get honey, / There is just one way. / You must follow your bee / If it takes all day." The repetition of finding what appears to be the perfect honey tree and discovering that it's not so great after all adds to the fun.

Beginning readers should find a lot to like about The Big Honey Hunt; if they're like me, they'll still be engrossed 20 years later.