Customer Reviews

The Berenstain Bears and the Gift of Courage (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights)

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Sister Bear is being bullied and she's scared. After Papa Bear reads the Bear Cubs the story of David and Goliath, however, Sister Bear finds courage in knowing that God is watching over her. Although, I was a bit surprised that Sister Bear's courage led her to grab hold of Bully Too-Tall's arm, the handling of this behavior in the story is dealt with in a comical manner:

"Too-Tall swung Sister around and around like David with his sling. But Sister hung on for all she was worth. Finally, Too-Tall gave a great heave and broke Sister's grip."

and, fortunately, it is not this action that solves Too-Tall's bullying.

If a child is being bullied at school or in the neighborhood, this book may be just silly and non-threatening enough to help open the lines of communication enabling parent and child to discuss the bullying as well as some non-physical options for dealing with the bully. Starter questions and activities are suggested at the end of the book.

I received this book from Zondervan Publishers in exchange for my honest review. The thoughts printed in this review are entirely my own.

This book takes on the subject of bullying and, above all, standing up to bullying--an important and valuable lesson in today's world. Recommended.

The Berenstain Bears and the Gift of Courage by Jan and Mike Berenstain is another entry in the Living Lights series putting a little faith in the classic series. First Mia's review: The book was about being brave and standing up to bullies. I think I'm a little like Sister Bear, we both like animals, but she likes bugs, and I don't! My favorite pages are when David was a shepherd and when Sister was standing up to Too-Tall. I like that these books have Christian stuff in them, because they make me think more than the regular ones. The funniest page that I found was with the hornet winking in the bush!My review is a good example of standing up for something, because other reviews out there are saying that these books are bad, just because they are Christian, and some people out there doesn't even believe in God, but they should because they won't have as many problems, and that's a good thing. Now my review: I really like these Christian-themed Berenstain Bears books of the Living Lights series. The traditional series has a long-standing reputation for teaching children important lessons, and the Living Lights series is an outstanding example of that tradition. In this book, Sister Bear stands up to Too-Tall Grizzly, a bully known for picking on others. After hearing Papa Bear read the story of David and Goliath, Sister and Brother stand up to Too-Tall. There's a powerful message for children to stand up for what they believe in and not allow bullies to hurt them or others. It's an important message in this era where stories about bullies seem to make the nightly news on an almost daily basis.

I purchased this book thinking the topic would offer good advice for a preschooler preparing for a first school year. The theme of the book (trust in God)tells preschool children that all they need to overcome a school yard bully is courage (trusting in God) and any David will overcome all Goliaths. The heroine grabs the bully's arm (he has not touched her) to stop him from throwing a rock at a hornet nest. This is really bad advice and likely to result in the injury or expulsion of your preschool daughter. These guys don't get parables or metaphore, any more then would the 4 to 8 age group that the book is recommeneded for. I do hope that the publisher and author can be held liable for the consequences of their inane book's lesson.