Review: Bears, Bob, and Larry - Parenting to Impress

Berenstain Bears

In celebration for the 50th Anniversary of Berenstain Bears, Zonderkidz and Living Lights is offering three Berenstain Bear books in one. Good Deed Scouts Help Their Neighbors is one of the newest sets available and is also part of the “I Can Read Book” series.

Honey Hunt Helpers:
This is a classic Berenstain Bear story where Papa struggles and the kids come to his rescue. Unfortunately, humor is used at a dad’s expense. Papa Bear and the cubs want to win a Honey contest. Papa gets into all kinds of havoc and the bears help him out.

Mama’s Helpers:
The Good Deed Scouts decide to help Mama today. They are eager and willing to assist her in any work that she needs done – cleaning, babysitting, or recycling. Of course Papa Bear throws a twist into each job that they are doing.

Help the Homeless:
In the final story, the scouts fix up a home to help the homeless. They get over their fear of ghosts, goblins, and monsters and busy themselves with hard work.

Sadly, there are Berenstain stories that demoralize fatherhood and other newer stories which seem disjointed and thrown together. While I love the scripture emphasis, the verses seem to be added to the story instead of being part of the story.

I encourage you to preread each story before purchasing. You will definitely find some classics that you will want to add to your collection and others that would be better to borrow from the library.

Do Not Fear, God Is Near – Sister Bear was scared of
everything. As she grew, she learned that God is with her. The verses
(Psalms 34:5-6) helped her be brave for many things expect she still
feared shadows. To help, Papa Bear showed her how to make shadows using
a flashlight shined on a wall. Biblical and practical solutions to
help Sister Bear learn to trust God with her fears.

The Berenstain Bears Piggy Bank Blessings – The Bear cubs have the wants. Mama Bear decided to teach the cubs about money but giving them a piggy bank. The cubs work very hard filling the bank. When it comes time to spend the money, Mama assumes that the cubs have spend unwisely. In reality, they purchased their mama gift for her birthday.

There are great Berenstain Bear books available and we own several of
them. The books teach wonderful moral lessons and children enjoy
having them read out loud. I love the emphasis these three stories
place on volunteering, helping with a happy heart, and the joy hard work
brings.

Sadly, there are Berenstain stories that
demoralize fatherhood and other newer stories which seem disjointed and
thrown together. While I love the scripture emphasis, the verses seem
to be added to the story instead of being part of the story.

I
encourage you to preread each story before purchasing. You will
definitely find some classics that you will want to add to your
collection and others that would be better to borrow from the library.

Veggie Tales

The Case of the Couch Potato Caper – Laura
Carrot has gone missing. Detective Larry and Bob have been called in
to solve the mystery. With humor and whit, the duo discover that the
Couch Potatoes have nabbed Laura while she was struggling with
laziness. While cleaning up her mess, Laura discovers many missing
treasures. She also realizes that being lazy isn’t as great as she
thought.

Junior Comes Clean – Junior is
struggling to tell the truth. Detective Larry and Bob are called in to
help. Mistakes and lies are blamed on a zucchini and two brussel
sprouts.

Bubblegum, Maps, and Missing Patience – This book contains three short stories in one book.

LarryBoy Meets the Bubblegum Bandit: Everyone has stopped doing what they are to do. The janitor is no longer cleaning the school. The swim team has stopped practicing. The entire town is suffering from laziness. Even LarryBoy doesn’t want to be a superhero. They learn that the bubblegum is causing them to be lazy. All must spit out their gum to defeat the lazies.

Bob and Larry’s Creation Vacation: “Bob and Larry love to go on vacation. This year, Larry has planned a special trip. ‘We are going to see all of God’s creation.'” Using the days of creation, Bob and Larry experience day and night, sky and land. And on through the days of creation.

Bob and Larry in the Case of the Missing Patience: The Masked Door Slammer has been sighted. But problems during the case cause Bob and Larry to get angry with those helping them. The detective team learns, “God wants us to use nice words and encourage one another.”

Our kiddos enjoy the Veggie Tale books. Even though the books will never become classic and aren’t my favorite, you can’t go wrong with quality moral stories. One exception – I love the Bob and Larry’s Creation Vacation story. This plot would make a really fun family vacation of visiting the ocean, zoo, and specific museums.

Thank you to Zonderkidz for allowing me to review these books.

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