The Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle

My daughter and I both love this book. It’s light hearted and we even had a few laughs. Definitely one of my favorite Berenstain Bears books.

I have a difficult time believing that this book came from the same team that brought us those seminal works that helped parents contextualize those situations I remember from my childhood. When, for example, I was scheduled for a vaccination (this was back when parents still did that), my folks turned to the "The Berenstain Bears Go To The Doctor" where we learn of Sister Bear's fortitude as she faces the first booster shot that she can evidently remember. Difficult conversations, you say? Try "The Berenstain Bears learn about Strangers." Kids watching too much TV? One of the strongest entries in the series covers this very topic.As a father of an energetic 2 year old, on a nightly basis I find myself having the same issues that Papa and Mama face with their cubs, as communicated through the cover art. "This will be great," I thought. Just like, for example, when the cubs learned about too much junk food, Dr. Gert Grizzly explained to them why choco chums and sugar balls are not the go-to items to nourish a healthy body. The cubs, having received information in terms they can understand, reform their ways and eat nuts, raisins and crunchy carrot sticks just about any time.Unfortunately, this book is nothing like "Junk Food." The conflict in the book comes not from the sources I would have expected (e.g. "Mama, why do we need to get sleep?" ) but from silly and random events that unfold over the course of the book. For example, the cubs go to their bath willingly. One delay is when Papa Bear very stupidly pours in a full cup of bubble bath, as opposed to the cap of bubble bath that mama failed to communicate. Bubble-driven mayhem ensues, and prolongs the cubs bedtime, not the cubs own resistance. The net result is a disconnect between the cubs actions and the benefits of additional sleep that a less-difficult bedtime hour would provide.Not that the cubs are entirely off the hook; there are moments when the cubs resilience to the bedtime hour drives the narrative. The cubs never learn why sleep is important, and neither sister nor brother ask "But Mama, why do I need to go to bed?" The penultimate page shows Mama and Papa finally collapsed in exhaustion, before concluding with a page showing the cubs reading their books in bed. The cubs won, no lessons were learned. The book attempts to substitute entertainment for lessons, but it falls far short on this piece as well.It's hard to believe that Stan and Jan would ruin their legacy by hurrying this drivel to market. Perhaps this wasn't written at all by Stan and Jan.

While this wasn't as epic a bed time disaster as I have caused myself, the Berenstain bear parents find their usual sweet way to solve their bedtime blues.I have found the berenstain bear books to be super helpful in giving me new phrases to use with my kids and new ideas on how to problem solve those pesky issues all parents have in varying degrees. I keep reading them to do better and my kids keep choosing them for bed time stories so it is a win-win.I recommend these books for sure!

My grandson isn't sleeping well so this was the first book Grammi read to him. He went to sleep half way through. These books are great for reading to the baby in the womb all the way to pre teen.

When I had these books, my shelf was a collection of Stan and Jan BBB. I may have traded some too for new stories. That’s just how well these books appealed to me as a youngster. Now my son gets to have these stories read to by the original collector of berenstain books. Older books of mine and new I purchase.

I love the Berenstain Bears books. I read them to my children and now give these little books as gifts.Great colors, illustrations and timely topics.

I liked this book for kids. My daughter enjoyed it too. We have read it a few times through and she is always excited about it.

The kids love these books! I highly recommend them!

This story is humorous (in an "ah, that's familiar" way) from the parents' point of view, but it doesn't exactly encourage kids to lie down and go to sleep. Brother and sister get up to lots of shenanigans, act a bit bratty, and then Mama and Papa Bear fall asleep, exhausted.

The content was average - not up to the usual rhyming themes, but the presentation was rather more like a pamphlet than a book - it had no spine (rather like the story). Losing enthusiasm for the previously well loved Bears.

MY grand-children love the Berenstain Bears. This is a delightful story full of humour. Every parent has some experience at some stage of their children's lives with bedtime battles and can therefore identify with it.

As with all the other Berenstain books in the series, this book is just wonderful for both the adult reader and the child listener. Pictures are lovely and the stories are always relevant.

I love the old books but as time goes on the books seem more and more religious and out of touch. The hardest part of the bedtime is kids picking up their toys to slow. Seriously this makes me laugh if that was my worst problem at bed time I wouldn't have to get drunk before 8:30. But in all seriousness this book is not that great it is ok if ur kids like the barenstain bears but not the best book they have