The Berenstain Bear Books have been staples in libraries for 50 years. Known for their solid moral values and fun stories, they continue to be favorites. Mike Berenstain has carried on the tradition of writing what his parents started decades ago. Under the Living Lights series, Mr. Mike has strived to add Bible verses and biblical principles to the new books.
God Bless the Animals
: In this new Lift-the Flap book, the Bears take a walk looking at various animals in nature. The Bears notice that God created the animals, and He provides and protects them through nature. This book could be used with a Creation or animal theme.
Faith Gets Us Through
: The bear friends visit a cave and learn about stalactites, stalagmites, and echos.
God Made the Seasons
: In rhyming form, the Bears learn about the movement between season and characteristics that make each season unique.
– A honey contest has been announced in Bear Country. Papa Bear is going to teach the cubs how to search for the best honey. Unfortunately Papa Bear continually messes up, gets stuck and gets into mayhem during the search.
In the Living Lights series, Mike Berenstain has made some wonderful additions to the Berenstain Bear books – Bible verses and discussions about God. Unfortunately the books seem rough. Instead of the stories centering around God it seems that adding biblical principles was an after thought. This could be because often times he is simply updating previously released books. The story lines don’t flow well and seem jumpy. In two of the four books above, Papa Bear resembles a father figure who is unable to make wise choices and lacks good character. Definitely not the characteristics that a good father should have.
I will continue to suggest several of the traditional Berenstain Bear books. Unfortunately I can’t highly recommend the books listed above.
What is your favorite Berenstain Bear book?
Thank you to Zonderkidz for allowing me to review these books.
