Mike Berenstain

The best part: When Brother Bear and Sister Bear are breaking up the fight between the Nerds and the Troublemakers, Cousin Fred (a Nerd) gets involved. "'Let's remember what it says in the Bible,' said Cousin Fred who liked to memorize things. '"Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness."' 'Huh?' Said Too-Tall. 'What's that supposed to mean?' 'It means that if you make peace,' explained Ferdy, 'You will get a rich reward.' 'Oh, cool,' said Too-Tall." People don't talk like that. It's just awkward and bizarre.

It's a pretty inane and simple lift-the-flap book. I feel children of an age where they would still be interested in lift-the-flap books would also be tearing the books apart. But maybe my kids are more destructive than average children. The story is basically just a vehicle for the lift-the-flap gimmick. There's nothing to it; there's no message; nobody learns anything; nothing happens.

They have their own Bear Jesus? The world of the Berenstain Bears gets weirder and weirder as time goes on, and as Mike Berenstain builds on the legacy of his parents in a more and more Christian way. Especially given that at least one of the earlier books had a fox creature. Do the fox people have Fox Jesus? Or are they a lesser race that has to settle for the Jesus of another species?

It's pretty simplistic. It kind of makes me think of Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, which my kid had a copy of and which was a lot more interesting than this book, but apparently a lot of fun to rip into pieces as well.

Maybe she just wants them to play harder and isn't giving them any real advice? Do they even have a coach? It's unclear why they're not having fun at first.

It feels like it should go somewhere as a story, but it doesn't. There's no story here. It's just a framing device for a lecture.

We're supposed to get into trouble! Let's get into some super-stereotypical trouble right now!

It kind of sucks that Mama still has to be in charge of a lot of things even though it's supposed to be her night off.

Kids probably shouldn't just randomly take home animals that they find in a pond, whether or not they're kittens. They might have rabies, or something worse.

These kids are just a frigging pain. They just will not shut up about the stupid dolphins and whale.