The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Vacation

The Berenstain Bears

by Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain

This classic Berenstain Bears story is a perfect way to teach children about making the best out of a bad situation! 

Go on a vacation with the Bear family in this classic First Time Book® from Stan and Jan Berenstain. Papa, Mama, Brother, and Sister are heading to the Great Grizzly Mountains for a relaxing vacation. But a messy cabin, noisy animals, a swarm of mosquitos, and a rainstorm just might dampen all of their fun. Includes over 50 bonus stickers!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, Family, Humor, Summer

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1989

About the author

Stan and Jan Berenstain (often called The Berenstains) were American writers and illustrators best known for creating the children's book series the Berenstain Bears. Their son Mike Berenstain joined them as a creative team in the late 1980s.

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book about how we have to laugh at the absurdity of life.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a bad vacation, but everyone appreciates having the experience afterwards. It was a nice if subtle lesson. I found all the characters' actions and motivations realistic. Especially Papa Bear. He has this great idea for a camping adventure, but nothing works out. Mama Bear is incredibly patient with all of it, and manages to sneak a few digs in with her pictures. I totally related to Papa bear in this story, I found myself rooting for him. On reflection, I probably would have done more research ahead of time.

This story is notable in that there's no turn around, no recovery, no 'its not so bad after all', it was just a really crappy vacation. I'm glad my family has never had a vacation like this, but we've definitely gone places that were underwhelming. This story teaches that that is just a normal part of life, and it's good to make the best of your situation. Bad choices make great stories.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I prefer the green-eyed monster one.

[lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

/w my nanny baby <3 my loved it

[Joanna S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartfelt family adventure!

[Andrew Stockle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Berenstain Bears return in, “The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Vacation.” As the book begins Papa Bear has a fantastic idea, or so it seems, to go to a cabin in the woods and live off the land. The events that unfold illustrate how awful this idea really was. From bad stew to sleepless nights, the Berenstain bears have an awful time. However, this experience turns out not to be so bad. After the bears return home they are able to look back on their horrible vacation and all the memories they made together and laugh. This book is awesome! If a child is unable to read they can look at the pictures and almost read the book without the words and understand what is going on. This book would be good for children ages five to seven. I would use this book to help children keep their head up when they have had a bad day.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great childhood memories.

[Andi Blodgett · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this adventure, the Berenstain Bears head on Papa Bear's dream vacation. They load up the car, grab a camera, and head to the Great Grizzly Mountains in search of a "real wilderness experience." However, their excursion to the wild might not be as wonderful as Papa Bear thought it would be.

The Berenstain Bears learn yet another important in this installment of their series: there's no place like home. Many things went wrong on their trip, but they happily laughed at photos of it once they returned to the safety of their home. Some notable text features include the use imagery and onomatopoeia, which offers a nice way to introduce these elements to young readers. The illustrations are bright and colorful, and they are cropped into various shapes. While this book is clearly intended for younger children, it definitely has the potential to spark discussion about family vacations among any age group. It is a cute story with a heart-warming ending, and it is a reminder of how wonderful it can be to home.

[MarineCAT · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Berenstain Bears books are great to read for any generation. I had pulled these out to look at them again, and I was instantly going down memory lane. The illustrations are great, and the story always has a moral. We have all been there, and this story does not shy away from the drama when we have too much vacation. This story is very similar to a time that I had with my father and brother camping in WA. Rain, rain, rain. Although, at the end it, it was a great memory to have with family. The Berenstain family has the same outcome as well. What a great story to have for the family to read to their children.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how expectations and reality don't mesh up in this delightful story about taking a family vacation. I think this is such an excellent book to read to a child before your vacation just to underscore that things might not always work out as expected, especially as so few vacations actually do.

But my favorite part is when the Bear family get home and talk about their vacation memories. Here we see that while the vacation itself might have been a disaster, that it still was a lot of fun, mostly because they'd experienced it together.

So many teachable moments!!!

[Christy Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute and adorable especially after the last three books being a let down. The bears go on vacation and it is a disaster from the start. Mama bear thankfully packed food or they would have starved. The boat sank when Papa tried fish and the stew he made was so gross he didn't even like.

The best use was when Papa suggested they go home which they did. They had the pictures developed and declared it the worst vacation ever.

I loved it.

[Kaya · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is truly awful. It is an absolute awful example to readers, with extremely traditional gender roles, with examples of helpful moms, who “put up” with the father. A fat, clumsy dad. With a rough brother and sweet, innocent sister. Not to mention that this father gives his children rusted water. The dangerous, harmful, and old acts and messages are dangerously for any young child to take in.

[Kristen EJ Lauderdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one more than several of the other Berenstain books I recently bought at a book sale. In the other books, the plots all revolve around Mama Bear forcing her family through extreme interventions.

[Slow Man · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mama knows best. Papa... pretty useless.
What’s the best vacation?
When things don’t go according to plan and you still manage to enjoy the scenery of a different kind.
I am having vacation in the Bear Country now.

[Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glamorous dreams of a true wilderness vacation.

Hilarious turn of events that happened and continued to be reminisced afterwards.

Story from beginning to end can be repeated again and again for ages.

[Megan Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I smiled reading this. it's a good one minute light read and I was a fan of this series and read a lot of them when I was a kid. Mama bear reminds me of me because I love taking pictures going places and this book is something my son will like. He loved children books.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family vacation: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Join the Berenstain Bears on their disastrous family vacation- these Bears weren't meant to rough it!

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

My family enjoyed this book so much! Probably because we had a vacation experience just like the Berenstain Bears - wet, soggy, cold ... and hilariously laughable only afterwards!

Ages: 4 - 8

[Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Camping is better in hindsight.

[Kenzathome · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read and reread all these books hundreds of times as a child and LOVE sharing them with my nieces today. This is my absolute favorite! So funny!

[Ashley Kempkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminds me of my vacation in Maine! Finally being back inside my house was all I wanted!

[Huratio · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when Papa landed in the mud.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually quite enjoyed this one! Very humorous.

[Bryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a deep buried memory of imagining what the wilderness stew tasted like.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anything that makes Lincoln laugh so happily as he reads makes it a 4-star read.

[enlam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A CLASSIC. THIS DEFINED MY CHILDHOOD. We read this with the cousins every vacation and it was a source of many laughs.

[Dinushka J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very realistic actually as I have gone on similar vacations during the early years of my marriage

[Arya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite Berenstain Bears book as an adult. After having enough experiences of things not working out as planned, I can empathize with the bear family. The story cracks me up.

[Chris Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this is not a great or novel approach, yet it is a good reminder that things do not always turn out the way one hopes.