Customer Reviews

The Berenstain Bears: Report Card Trouble (First Time Books(R))

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

 

 

Every time when I go to Barnes and Noble, I go to the children's section to look at this book. Right now I have this book and my sisters liked it. They think this book is about getting good grades, even up to straight A's.

Kids, read this book several times, and you can end up getting good grades, even straight A's!!!

I would also give it 100 stars!!!

This book is really a big help in dealing with the problem of kids struggling with their school work. Papa and Mama Bear are disappointed with Brother's report card grades. But they help him deal with the issue in a constructive way, and in the process come to understand the pressures he is under. It's also a very funny book--that's something that is attractive about this whole series. The authors deal with real life situations and problems but the advice they give is presented in a fun and entertaining way. A lot of the way that the characters act--like Papa Bear messing up--is used for humorous purposes. Papa Bear reminds me a lot of Ralph Cramden in the Honeymooners!

I almost bought this book for my 6-year-old son, but started flipping through the pages, and I'm glad I did. In the story, although Papa is supposed to take the lead in improving his son's report card, he is portrayed as a bumbling idiot who is incapable of performing his role, and who requires and receives stern direction from Mama Bear.

Look at the cover - Papa Bear is shown frowning at the report card as if he can barely read it!

This book plays into the common, trite stereotype that fathers in the household are unnecessary buffoons who can expect at best to be tolerated, but never respected.

If you think I'm overreacting, read the book, imagine the story with the gender roles reversed, and then imagine the ensuing outcry if a publisher dared to print such a version.

If you think you might have heard this story before, it's because the Berenstains have written a handful of books about school experiences (Go To School, Trouble at School, School Scandal Sheet, Substitute Teacher, Homework Hassle, among others). This story is original, but reminiscent of topics already covered in "Trouble at School" and "Homework Hassle." The story itself is good (Brother's involvement in sports causes his grades to slip) and a topic that is actually becoming more and more of an issue in a world where there seem to be more sports teams to choose from in a given season than math problems in an average assignment. One question: where is Honey Bear, the new baby sister that was introduced last year? You won't find here here, just as we haven't seen in in two other recently published books that followed the introduction of a the Bear Family's new cub. I hope that she merely wasn't a promotional tool! :-)