The Berenstain Bears and the Nutcracker: A Christmas Holiday Book for Kids

The Berenstain Bears

by Jan Berenstain, Mike Berenstain (Illustrator)

It’s Christmas morning, and Santa has left the Berenstain Bears a special gift—a nutcracker! At first the cubs are more interested in their new video game, electronic toy, and Bearbie movie. But when they put the presents away and put their imaginations to use, the fun really starts. Join the Bears as they act out their own version of The Nutcracker !

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2011

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

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

simple holiday lesson about gratitude; when the bear cubs get bored with their Christmas gifts on Christmas day, momma bear wants to scold them but Papa bear says why don't they take their special gift from Santa (a nutcracker) upstairs, play dress up and act out the story with their new toy....

[Rachel B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love alternate tellings of familiar stories so that my preschooler and I can talk about how variation is a good thing and identify differences between the "original" and whatever we are reading at that time. It took a bit of 4-year-old mental processing to accept that the Nutcracker roles in this story are spread across Brother, Sister, and Honey in their game of pretend.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Bear cubs get bored of their new things on Christmas day so decide to act out the play of the Nutcracker.

Ages: 4 - 7

Cleanliness: it mentions a magical kingdom, dancing, Santa Claus.

#christmas

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The siblings learn that the gift of a good imagination is the best gift of all. When they grow tired of their new presents, their parents suggest playing "Nutcracker" in the attic. They get so lost in the play that they spend all their "waiting time" lost in a pretend world.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the cute stories with a subtle message by the Berenstains and this one is just as good as the others. Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear tire of their Christmas presents and end up in the attic using their imaginations. A fun story with a timely message-- use your imagination!

[sarah young · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 3 year old son loves the nutcracker so he was quick to snatch this from the shelves. The BB can be hit or miss — depending on which author and if the story has aged gracefully. Overall not bad. My son enjoyed the imagination and the mouse king.

[Ambre Grund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nyyhgjfyfyginn. Mikjjj!kknkvkihijgfbhbuvnujbybutyucyuuuuuyiuknhiimkukkkklmlkmollplmjhbhbhuhiuuujkhkjiijkkmok!lmlmkoppppkk!!lkoooooomlklklooini

[BooksAreMyProblem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute. But I grew up with the old Berenstain Bears and this one is different of how they use to be.

[kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

poorly done

[Della Tingle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the Berenstain Bears! A lot! The Nutcracker is only tolerable to me (I know! I know!). Combining the two in this book is meh.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beloved Berenstain bear cubs re-enact The Nutcracker on Christmas Day. Cute story about imagination to cure boredom

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. Not my favorite Berenstain Bears 🐻 book.

[Chris Hays · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son was a bit meh about this one.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a new to us favorite Christmas Berenstain Bears.

[Aleisha Froude · Rating 2 out of 5]

If your kids love the nutcracker, they will like the story but otherwise it is too long and the message to "use your imagination" isn't as strong a theme as in other Berenstein books.

[Cassandra Gelvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's an im-ag-in-a-shun?

For Christmas the bear kids get new things. They play with them and then get bored of them and complain to their parents. The parents say, "You have a bunch of new stuff," but they say, "We're bored anyway." "Go use your imagination." "How do we do that?" Like they've never imagined anything in their lives. They decide to use the old nutcracker toy that they got for Christmas as well, that they didn't want to play with at first, and their play is a weird version of the nutcracker story. They play, then it's dinnertime, then their grandparents come over and they tell them they've been playing with the nutcracker. The grandparents ask if they know the story of the nutcracker, and they say, "Yeah, we'll act it out for you!" "Without any costumes or anything?" "Yeah! You just have to use your imagination!"

It's kind of bland. I'm not very familiar with the story of the nutcracker, so I'm not sure how accurate the storyline is. At any rate, it just seems like they're copying this older story instead of being very imaginative. It's something kids do, but the story of the book isn't new. It's like the writer was being lazy.

The best part: Honey just looks like she's annoyed at being there the entire time they're in the attic.

Message: Using your imagination is awesome!

For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

We're still catching up on the last few Christmas books I had checked out from the library. This book was fun because it was different from the other Christmas books we'd been reading. Everything else had been retellings and twists on The Night Before Christmas or A Christmas Carol.

I liked that this book brought the story of The Nutcracker to kids. Most kids won't be able to sit still for a ballet, and ballet's can be hard for kids to understand. So this was a pretty good introduction to the story. Also, it was a story about using your imagination. I feel like kids these days are starting to lose the ability to imagine and pretend play due to all the video games and toys that make noise and do everything for them. My favorite story is when my brother was younger, we had some family friends come over to the house. My brother was playing with an older boy (closer to my age) and he picked up a toy car and asked my brother "how do you make it go?" - he seriously didn't understand how to put the car down and drive it himself!

This was a pretty good story - and I had forgotten that the Berenstain Bears had a third child! Overall this was a good read for Christmas - I think this is one we'll try to read annually at this time of year.

[Eva Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

O.K., well, I decided to give these bears one more try. And you know, you'd think I'd like this one, since it's about the Nutcracker, which is a really really great DANCE. But you know what? It's just like every other Nutcracker book I ever read. There's hardly any DANCING in it. They always show toys and Christmas things and mice and soldiers (or BEARS in this one) but no ballerinas or music. I guess if I want the Nutcracker, I should just get a DVD, so I can see dancing and hear music. As long as I get books about it, people are going to think it should be a STORY and not dancing.
So I didn't like this one, but it wasn't those bears' faults. They tried.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the Berenstain Bears. Since I was a kid, actually. But this one is super boring, because it tells the story of the Nutcracker really quick, on one page, and then again for the rest of the book. I think if they got rid of the little synopsis of it before the Bear cubs act out the play in the attic, it would be a lot better. But as it is, my kid barely listened as I went through exactly what the book already said except with more pictures. Womp, womp.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids love the Berenstain bears. If they see one of their books at the library, we will be taking it home. As with most of my reviews of children's books, the stars correspond to their love for and interest in the book.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading the Berenstain Bears books as a kid, so it was a lot of fun to re-read this one! I also enjoy watching the play The Nutcracker, so this was a two-for-one! I would recommend this adventurous book for younger readers! :)

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute book. I always love Berenstain Bears! :)

[Miri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Berenstain bear version of the nutcracker, also Brother, Sister and Honey act out the Nutcracker when they get bored with their toys.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is a little bit preachy, but the message about using your imagination is admirable enough. Fans of the Berenstain Bears are sure to enjoy this edition.

[Carolyn Borgen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loves to read this one year after year. It's one of her favorite bear books.

[Whole And · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story for encouraging creative play and pointing out some of the downfalls of present overwhelm at Christmas.

[Shaun Winters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewing book on blog, which will be live later today.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would read every holiday season!