Social Conditions

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I really enjoyed reading this book because it was informative but also not losing touch of the fictional theme. It is important for students to know at a young age to not talk to strangers and I feel like that theme was emphasized very well throughout the book. It allows the reader to comprehend strangers and safety. As a student, attending schools opens them up to the world and they are too young to understand how scary and dangerous it can be, that is why this book should be read early on so it is implemented sooner than later. The way the book was worded and illustrated is the perfect audience for K-3rd grade. The story explains how “you can’t always tell from the outside which are the ‘bad apples.’” The mother bear cuts the apple open and show how a worm is growing in the apple. This visual example is far easier to show students how even if a stranger looks trustworthy that you cannot always tell. The big theme to take away from the book is that that not all strangers are trustworthy, using common sense is the best bet. ( )

I am in general no fan of the Berenstain Bears books,* which annoy me on multiple levels: didacticism, role-based names ("Brother" and "Sister" and "Mama" and "Papa"), gender-stereotyped parental roles .... but this one was pretty well done for the "don't talk to strangers" genre. It addressed not just the "don't go with strangers", but also how not to be unnecessarily afraid of strangers, too, which I appreciated.[return][return]* Note -- My 6yo has loved these Berenstain Bears books since discovering them at 3yo. So, I read them even though I'm not a fan. Her perspective is at least as important as mine, in this review! ( )

I liked this book for a number of reasons. It's informative and an engaging way to teach kids about stranger danger. As with all of the Berenstein Bears books, the illustrations do such a great job with reinforcing the story as well as adding depth to it. Mama uses apples as a metaphor to explain stranger danger which I think gives children a very good visual. The story finishes by listing a set of rules when it comes to interacting with strangers. Overall, I think this is a great book with a great message for children! ( )

This book is a great way to teach students to stay away from strangers. Its a more fun way and will grab the students attention and maybe they will listen and learn something about staying away from strangers. ( )

teaches students how to deal with strangers and to do with someone you don't know

This is a fun way to teach children to stay away from strangers and how to recognize that most everyone has rules. It keeps them focused on the bears and interested on how they have to follow the procedure as well. ( )

discusses the important of not talking to strangers but understanding that not all strangers are bad and that we need to get to know people also.

2 books

This book was a bit different from the other books in the series, however I still really enjoyed this one. The poem at the beginning of the book explains what the books concept is: “Bear country is sage when every small cub there learns some special lessons from ma and papa bear.” This book centers on the concept of “stranger danger” for young children. This book had the classic characteristics of the Berenstain Bear books that I love, including the bright, interactive and classic illustrations of everyone’s favorite bear family. This book, like many in the series, places emphasis on family and the everyday lives of a majority of the children in the books targeted age group. One thing I noticed in the book that children really enjoy is that many of the expressions and reactions of the bear family are written in large, colored letters in the pictures. For example, the words YIPE! Or HELLO! are written in a very interactive for the children reading the stories. Finally, one aspect of this particular book that made it different than others in the series is the last page of the book actually contained a list of “rules for cubs.” I thought this was a great idea and was a really appealing element of this book. Children love to have their rules laid out and this book not only provided an interactive story for the children to learn about stranger danger, but also contained a useful reminder at the end of the book that parents also could take and use as rules for their own children. All in all, it was a great concept and the different elements of the book and how it was constructed really appealed to me as a reader. ( )

When it comes to children's series that provide life lessons under the guise of entertaining stories, Berenstain Bears is at the top of the class. Need a book to teach kids about doctor visits, first days of school, or learning how to share? Look no further than the familiar and friendly family of Berenstain Bears. As the title suggests, this particular book provides some life lessons on dealing with strangers.

The story begins with Sister's sweet but naive familiarity with everyone. She is friends with the world. She likes to say hello to every single bear she meets and have conversations with the first bear she sees in the park. Brother Bear is worried. He talks to their parents about Sister's over-familiarity with bears she doesn't know. Papa decides to solve the problem by showing sister newspaper articles about bad bears and abductions, to scare her away from strangers.

His plan works a little too well. Sister does stay away from strangers, but at a cost. The world suddenly looks like a bleak and dangerous place to her. No one, and no place, is safe. Seeing her daughter's melancholy, Mama Bear decides to step in. She helps Sister understand that most strangers are good bears, but the occasional rotten apple has a hidden worm. Sister learns how to balance her kind heart with more prudence, and all is well in the Bear family again. As is often the case, Papa Bear is portrayed as well-meaning but ineffectual, and Mama Bear is the one to solve the problem. I dislike this unfair representation of fathers, which is typical of of the series, but other than that complaint, I like the book. I appreciate the way it handles its central issue. The authors emphasize the necessity for caution, but not at the expense of losing trust in humanity. This is exactly the lesson I want my girls to learn. Also, the story and its appealing illustrations, using familiar characters, is fun and easy to read. My daughters love reading Berenstain Bear stories, and they don't even realize they are learning important lessons. ( )

I am in general no fan of the Berenstain Bears books,* which annoy me on multiple levels: didacticism, role-based names ("Brother" and "Sister" and "Mama" and "Papa"), gender-stereotyped parental roles .... but this one was pretty well done for the "don't talk to strangers" genre. It addressed not just the "don't go with strangers", but also how not to be unnecessarily afraid of strangers, too, which I appreciated.

* Note -- My 6yo has loved these Berenstain Bears books since discovering them at 3yo. So, I read them even though I'm not a fan. Her perspective is at least as important as mine, in this review! ( )

I liked the story in that the book was informative while also sticking to a fantasy story theme. The message of never talking to strangers is emphasized in the main theme. I liked how the book makes the reader think about strangers and overall safety. Students need to know stranger safety early on and this book is a great tool to implement that. The writing and illustrations are helpful in the story by showing a metaphor about strangers. The story explains how “you can’t always tell from the outside which are the ‘bad apples.’” The mother bear cuts the apple open and show how a worm is growing in the apple. This visual example is far easier to show students how even if a stranger looks trustworthy that you cannot always tell. The big theme to take away from the book is that that not all strangers are trustworthy, using common sense is the best bet.

I like that this book is centered on guiding children through solid advice about not talking to strangers and putting safety first. The author did a fine job with expressing good advice through children's experiences outside of home and with their parents. It teaches readers to respect their parents. The illustrations also did a fine job with expressing the daughter's emotional changes throughout the story. The mother shares the phrase, "There'll always be a couple of bad apples in every barrel". The key message is not to talk to strangers and to listen to your parents. ( )

Author Stan Bernstein
Title The Bernstein Bears learn about strangers
Illustrator
Publisher Random house books for young readers
Date 1985
Pages 32

Picture book

Short Summary. This book is about the family of the Bernstein bears and how they learn not to talk to strangers or to ride in a car with strangers. A stranger is a person that you do not know. This book shows how the bear family stick together by holding on to their mama or papas hands and to not go up and talk to someone you do not know either.

Tags or subject headings. Safety is a tag. Safety because this book teaches how it is not safe to go talk to someone you don't know because you might get hurt if you do so.

Personal Response: All of Stan's books are about the Bernstein Bears which is one family. All of his books teaches something. There is a while series of his books. These books I think are a really good learning tool and does a very good job of speaking to kids in a way that they can understand. I also use to read a lot of the Bernstein Bear books when I was a child and I can say they actually did teach me a lot believe it or not. I still have some of the books at home now actually. Overall these books are an awesome teching tool for young kids. ( )

I liked this book for three reasons. First, I liked how the language is descriptive, which allows the reader to understand the dangers of talking to strangers. The sentence, “The reason you should never talk to a stranger and never ever take presents from a stranger and never ever ever go anywhere with a stranger is that it’s dangerous” is an example of the descriptions used in this book. Second, I liked how each character was well developed and played their role. For example, Papa and Mama bear played the role as parents. They showed their children the importance of not talking to strangers and made sure to lay down rules to keep their children safe at all times. For example, “before they left, they told Mama where they’d be- it was a family rule that they never went anywhere without telling Mama or Papa”. Lastly, I really liked the plot of this story. It was organized and well developed throughout the story. The Bernstein Bears perfectly explained the dangers of talking to strangers and laid down rules. Some of the rules that were presented in the book were, “ Never take candy or other gifts from a stranger, don’t keep secrets from your parents- especially if someone asks you, your body is your own personal property and nobody else’s business- especially the private parts”. All of these rules perfectly present why children shouldn’t talk to a stranger. Overall, as you can see the main idea of this story is the importance of safety and not talking to strangers. ( )

Brother and sister learn about strangers. I like that I can use this book when addressing safety in my classroom and how your not supposed to talk, accept anything, or go anywhere with strangers.

Momma Bear always knows just what to say to help her cubs. When sister bear was scared that all strangers were bad; Momma showed her that you can't judge someone by their outward appearance.

this book is very good when teaching children how to me alert when it comes to strangers. It helps children understand the need to be cautious but not scared.

Summary
This book is about when Brother Bear and Sister Bear learn about strangers. There Mama and Papa tell them about how strangers can be bad and how you have to be careful and not talk to any of them just in case. So Sister bear starts to think everyone who is a stranger is evil, and she gets scared to go out and looks at everything different. Her mother explains to her that all people aren't bad but they have to be careful with everyone just in case. Sister is more at ease and they go play at the park, then Sister sees her brother talking to a stranger! She pulls him away and runs home to tell Mama. Mama reminds them how dangerous some people can be and that they need to remember the rules about the strangers.

Personal Reaction
I really like this book because I think a-lot of children don't think anything about talking to strangers. They think that everyone in the world is nice. I think it is a good way to introduce the fact that there are bad people out there that can really hurt you.

Classroom Extension
1. If the school was having a week dedicated to safety I think this would be a great book to incorporate into that.
2. It could also be used in a unit for the Berenstain Bears. ( )

This is a story about learning he dangers of talking to strangers. Brother and Sister learn about this by using apples. You can't really tell from the outside if they are bad or not. On the inside they may be ad and you wouldn't know it. This would be a great story to read to youngr students to teach a lesson about talking to strangers.

This story teaches children all about what to do about strangers. Sister bear will talk to anyone, and brother bear thnks this is bad. When she sees an article about a cub being snatched, sister becomes afraid of all strangers. Then, when brother becomes tempted to go with a stranger for a toy, sister tells on him for his safety. Mother bear finally explains that only a few strangers really are bad, and papa bear tells the rules about strangers. This is a good book for explaining how children should deal with strangers. ( )

This is a great book for 1st graders. It teaches them not to talk to strangers and the dangers of people they might not know. All of the Berenstain bear books have great lessons. I love these books!

1st-3rd grade. Good to teach children the danger of strangers. Sister bear use to talk to everyone. The paper said something about strangers and papa bear told the cubs to be careful. One day sister bear saw Brother bear talking to a stranger about airplanes. She ran and got him and told mama and papa bear what he had done.

This book covers a lot important information about stranger danger. It deals with the issue of children becoming frightened by the vast amount of warnings they get about strangers by explaining that most strangers are not dangerous. It explains that children have no way of knowing which strangers are bad. So, that is why it is important to be careful. It also mentions and lists a number of rules for safety. However, it does not mention who children should approach for help when they need it. ( )