Customer Reviews

The Berenstain Bears Play a Good Game (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a huge fan of the Berenstain Bears series of books. My kids grew up reading the picture books and then graduated to the chapter books. My youngest son, who is now 14, still occasionally reads a Berenstain Bears book. So, I was eager to review a couple of the latest books in the picture book series.

As you might expect, The Berenstain Bears Play a Good Game, written and illustrated by Jan and Mike Berenstain, is a story about playing a game. In this case, the game is soccer, as both Brother and Sister Bear are avid soccer players. They are both on the same team, the Rockets, which is coached by Papa Bear. He doesn't know much about soccer but he knows how to cheer his team on. And, their motto is the old familiar one: "It's not whether you win or lose that counts, but how you play the game." But one team in the league, the Steamrollers, has the opposite motto. Their coach tells them, "It isn't how you play the game that counts, but whether you win or lose!"

When the two teams meet up, of course there is trouble. The Steamrollers "roll" right over the Rockets. For the most part, the Steamrollers play fair, but the Rockets are just no match for them. When the score is 5-0 in favor of the Steamrollers, things start to heat up. Brother and Sister Bear set up a sneaky play that scores them their first goal of the game. Then the biggest player on the opposing team, Too-Tall, fouls Sister Bear, knocking her flat on her back. She's okay, but Papa Bear is concerned about his daughter so Papa starts yelling at the coach of the opposing team. The ref tries to keep them apart, but he's helpless to control the situation when everyone starts spilling out of the stands and onto the field.

The excitement is quelled when an old bear, Missus Ursula, a former Sunday school teacher, comes onto the field. She shames both the coaches who are former students in her Sunday school class. "I'm very disappointed with both of you," she says. "Is this the way I taught you to behave in my Sunday school? Is this any sort of example to set for the cubs?" When she quotes the Bible, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God," she has the two coaches shake hands. The game then continues with both sides playing fair.

As with all the "Living Lights" series of books, there is a section at the back of the book called "Activities and Questions from Brother and Sister Bear." There are two questions about what the reader thinks of the story and three different sports-related activities for kids.

The illustrations are the typical, bright, cartoon-like pictures used in all Berenstain Bear picture books.

What I Like: I like the fact that Missus Ursula quoted a Bible verse in her dialogue. A different Bible verse, Matthew 5:16, is given on the title page as the basis for the story.

What I Dislike: I like reading new Berenstain Bear books as I like to see what new topics the series covers. Sportsmanship is always a good topic for a children's book. But I was a bit disappointed with this story ending; I think it was a bit too predictable. I'm not sure how I would have changed it to make it better, but I think the issue should have been resolved by someone other than Missus Ursula.

Overall Rating: However, the overall rating is still very good.

Age Appeal: 4-8.

Christine M. Irvin - Christian Children's Book Review

Ever since the son took over authoring these books, they have really gone downhill in quality. The new method of illustrating looks rough and unfinished and the writing is not the same caliber style as when the parents wrote it. With that being said, these new 'Little Lights' books are the first ones I've liked in the series in almost a decade. I am an adult collector of the First Time Book series, which I consider 'Little Lights' a part of, and I bought 3 of the 'Little Lights' books to sample and really have enjoyed them and plan on buying more. I'm looking forward to the Thanksgivng one due to be released soon and hope they continue with the series. I also hope they consider bringing back the Big Chapter books. I think they were better than the First Time Books and they explore the other minor characters more like Too-Tall and Queenie.

My granddaughter absolutely LOVES this book. We have read it and read it, and she still wants to read it! She adores all the Berenstain books. Her Mom did too!

great message kids will love it if they like sports we really like it they are 5 & 7 boys

Our sons, 3 and 5, are huge fans of the Berenstain bears. They watch the videos, collect the books which they want to read daily, and often quote stories and morals they've picked up on from these great books from the 70s/80s. They picked this book and "Job Well Done" from the bookstore today, and we were excited about the new books.

However, we were very surprised to find that the books have now been written around New Testament quotes, pleasing God, and the "morals" have now become Christian morals, no longer universal morals geared towards ALL children. For examaple, in this book it says "Blessed are the peacemakers who will be the sons of God", or something along those lines, when there's a skirmish at the soccer game.

As parents who feel morals are important across any religious/non-religious beliefs, we are deeply disappointed in this development. Books that say "Living Lights" have the Bible quotes as well as Questions section in the back of the book that are straight from Sunday School. So, if you are Christian, you may like this series, but unfortunately, we'll stick to the wonderful old Berenstain Bear Books for exploration of morals and manners!