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The Berenstain Bears
THE BERENSTEIN BEARS AND THE SPOOKY OLD TREE
Illus. in full color. Three terrified little bears explore the inside of a mysterious old tree and go into, up, through, over, down, and out.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
135 people are currently reading
1680 people want to read
About the author
Stan Berenstain
878 books694 followersStan 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 344 reviews
October 19, 2017
Happy Halloween. I never read this as a child - too bad. This was fun. Very simple. Very Halloween. It is creepy and it still feels safe. This was a huge hit with the kids. They loved it. I'm glad they got introduced to it. Good for age 2 and up. The bears are going through a haunted tree. Shivers ensue.
Enjoy!!
Enjoy!!
September 23, 2015
Fear. Illusion. Nightmares. A heady mix of rebellion and self-discovery, a bildungsroman of Lynchian proportions, a journey through the darkness surrounding middle America, wading into the murk of the mind, of life, to the farthest reaches of night. Is there joy in this world? Perhaps. Safety? A more assured thing, if accepted as a temporary measure. Yet evil remains, waiting, reaching. Sleep tight, sleepybears.
Also, this was the first book I fell in love with, mainly because it also came with a cassette that played spooky sound effects when it was time to turn the page. Woo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo!
Also, this was the first book I fell in love with, mainly because it also came with a cassette that played spooky sound effects when it was time to turn the page. Woo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo!
October 29, 2019
This is a bit different than most of the Berenstain Bears books I remember. The story is kind of detached, with no dialogue and little character exploration.
In this story, three little bears (Brother, Sister, and some random bear I don't recognize) go off to explore the Spooky Old Tree. Inside, rather surprisingly, is a mansion (well, I guess if their family lives inside a tree, it's possible...) and the little bears explore it, getting progressively more scared until they finally reach the homeowner's room. Then, thoroughly terrified, they all run home to Mama.
I'm not quite sure what the point of the story is, other than showing the little bears go on a spooky adventure. Surely Mama bear would've known what was in that tree, so I don't really understand why she would've let the kids go poking around in there (some of the situations they encountered were downright dangerous).
I think I prefer the Berenstain Bears stories that are more focused on character development and message.
In this story, three little bears (Brother, Sister, and some random bear I don't recognize) go off to explore the Spooky Old Tree. Inside, rather surprisingly, is a mansion (well, I guess if their family lives inside a tree, it's possible...) and the little bears explore it, getting progressively more scared until they finally reach the homeowner's room. Then, thoroughly terrified, they all run home to Mama.
I'm not quite sure what the point of the story is, other than showing the little bears go on a spooky adventure. Surely Mama bear would've known what was in that tree, so I don't really understand why she would've let the kids go poking around in there (some of the situations they encountered were downright dangerous).
I think I prefer the Berenstain Bears stories that are more focused on character development and message.
October 31, 2022
The Berenstain Bears are always a fun delight!!
Join the three bears: " One with a light
" One with a stick,
" One with a rope " on a fun adventure and see if they are brave enough to overcome their personal fears and enter the Spooky Old Tree! 😃
A wonderful book for beginning readers! Lots of colorful pictures for the kids to read and enjoy!!! 🤗📖🍀🍃🍂🍁
Join the three bears: " One with a light
" One with a stick,
" One with a rope " on a fun adventure and see if they are brave enough to overcome their personal fears and enter the Spooky Old Tree! 😃
A wonderful book for beginning readers! Lots of colorful pictures for the kids to read and enjoy!!! 🤗📖🍀🍃🍂🍁
Read
October 30, 2022Loved the illustrations in this one with the camping setting! Very fun and definitely enjoyed the message in the end!
October 10, 2018
Three little bears, one with a light, one with a stick, and one with a rope, set out to explore the spooky old tree near their home in this early reader from the Berenstains. Encountering many dangers along the way, they make their way through the interior of the tree, eventually finding their way home again...
Like many American children, I grew up reading about the Berenstain Bears, and I have happy memories of entering their ursine world, so like the human one. I particularly enjoyed looking at the interiors of the tree houses in that world, and The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree provides an especially interesting arboreal house for the little bears to explore. Simple text and appealing illustrations make this an excellent Halloween-time title for kids just getting going with their reading.
Like many American children, I grew up reading about the Berenstain Bears, and I have happy memories of entering their ursine world, so like the human one. I particularly enjoyed looking at the interiors of the tree houses in that world, and The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree provides an especially interesting arboreal house for the little bears to explore. Simple text and appealing illustrations make this an excellent Halloween-time title for kids just getting going with their reading.
November 18, 2008
I must have read "The Spooky Old Tree" to my kids a million times. My daughter and son are 12 years apart in age and I still remembered at least half the words to this book when my son was a toddler. I think I have it completely memorized. It's short enough to read out loud without losing your voice and it's fun to do it in a creepy, scary voice. This was my all-time favorite bedtime book.
October 1, 2018
My son loved this book and so we read it over and over again. We owned a copy which I may still have but not sure.
June 29, 2023
One characteristic of great art is that you can engage with it over and over and continue to glean new meaning. This principle is born out in the acclaimed 20th century classic, "The Spooky Old Tree".
On the first few reads, I thought it was a straightforward tale of children running through a spooky sub-arboreal mansion filled with spiders and alligators, then climbing over a giant nude vagrant bear before sliding down an exit slide and sprinting home.
However, some things didn't add up. Why does the mother smile as she watches her children leave and return? Would she really let her children run around the neighborhood in the middle of the night? Especially when they live within walking distance of an abandoned death-trap house? Why did the original owner of the mansion build it underneath a tree, whether or not it was old or spooky at the time? I assume it's abandoned because the owner died, but why did the executors of the estate not remove the paintings or the suits of armor? Why are there so many nude animals? Are they dumb beasts or just very comfortable? Do the bear-shaped suits of armor mean there was a bear medieval age? Why are there no books about bear knights wearing bear armor living in bear castles? Is Great Sleeping Bear a squatter? Why is he called "Great Sleeping Bear"? Is "sleeping" really a significant enough character trait to be his middle name? Is he actually a nudist, or does he just sleep in the nude? Why are second-story exit slides not a standard house feature?
The answer, of course, is that it isn't really happening. I know surrealism when I see it, and this is obviously a narrative about a struggle through the Oedipus complex by children in shared custody.
The single mother bear lives with her children in a "tree", signifying the low-income housing she can afford on her monthly alimony check and part-time job at the local honey store. At the beginning of the story, the children leave for their every-other-weekend visit to their father. They leave at night (depression), passing through a creepy forest (resentment) before arriving at "the spooky old tree" (apparently dad isn't earning much more than mom). The three children (id, ego, and superego) carry a light (search for answers, carried by the superego), a stick (aggression, carried by the id), and a rope (both attachment and restriction, carried by the ego). They make their way through various haunted house staples (mental objections to their father), and lose their accoutrements one by one until they come face-to-face with Great Sleeping Bear, without design or pretense. Unable to interact with their father on a meaningful level, they seek only to escape, but are unable to avoid a violent confrontation and a quick departure. The story ends as the mother welcomes the children back, outwardly cheerful but inwardly torn by the children's inability to progress in their paternal relationship.
This interpretation answers many questions, but of course we are left to struggle thematically with the ambiguity inherent in great art. Was the separation caused by financial struggles (statistically probable) or perhaps the parents failure to communicate (neither parent is shown speaking)? Will the children ever break the cycle of resentment and fear? Is the interpretation as a literal family even valid, or is it just a comment on the modern state of the family unit in our postmodern Western world?
In summary: the art is fine, the prose is mostly okay, but probably too thematically dark and complex for children.
On the first few reads, I thought it was a straightforward tale of children running through a spooky sub-arboreal mansion filled with spiders and alligators, then climbing over a giant nude vagrant bear before sliding down an exit slide and sprinting home.
However, some things didn't add up. Why does the mother smile as she watches her children leave and return? Would she really let her children run around the neighborhood in the middle of the night? Especially when they live within walking distance of an abandoned death-trap house? Why did the original owner of the mansion build it underneath a tree, whether or not it was old or spooky at the time? I assume it's abandoned because the owner died, but why did the executors of the estate not remove the paintings or the suits of armor? Why are there so many nude animals? Are they dumb beasts or just very comfortable? Do the bear-shaped suits of armor mean there was a bear medieval age? Why are there no books about bear knights wearing bear armor living in bear castles? Is Great Sleeping Bear a squatter? Why is he called "Great Sleeping Bear"? Is "sleeping" really a significant enough character trait to be his middle name? Is he actually a nudist, or does he just sleep in the nude? Why are second-story exit slides not a standard house feature?
The answer, of course, is that it isn't really happening. I know surrealism when I see it, and this is obviously a narrative about a struggle through the Oedipus complex by children in shared custody.
The single mother bear lives with her children in a "tree", signifying the low-income housing she can afford on her monthly alimony check and part-time job at the local honey store. At the beginning of the story, the children leave for their every-other-weekend visit to their father. They leave at night (depression), passing through a creepy forest (resentment) before arriving at "the spooky old tree" (apparently dad isn't earning much more than mom). The three children (id, ego, and superego) carry a light (search for answers, carried by the superego), a stick (aggression, carried by the id), and a rope (both attachment and restriction, carried by the ego). They make their way through various haunted house staples (mental objections to their father), and lose their accoutrements one by one until they come face-to-face with Great Sleeping Bear, without design or pretense. Unable to interact with their father on a meaningful level, they seek only to escape, but are unable to avoid a violent confrontation and a quick departure. The story ends as the mother welcomes the children back, outwardly cheerful but inwardly torn by the children's inability to progress in their paternal relationship.
This interpretation answers many questions, but of course we are left to struggle thematically with the ambiguity inherent in great art. Was the separation caused by financial struggles (statistically probable) or perhaps the parents failure to communicate (neither parent is shown speaking)? Will the children ever break the cycle of resentment and fear? Is the interpretation as a literal family even valid, or is it just a comment on the modern state of the family unit in our postmodern Western world?
In summary: the art is fine, the prose is mostly okay, but probably too thematically dark and complex for children.
April 27, 2013
★★★★★The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Love it! My daughter and I love spooky old Halloween looking trees. So what are the cubs gonna do when they find it, go exploring what else. Armed with all the goods, a rope, a light and a stick, they set off. What do they find, the Great Sleeping Bear. This has got to be our favorite Bears book.
Love it! My daughter and I love spooky old Halloween looking trees. So what are the cubs gonna do when they find it, go exploring what else. Armed with all the goods, a rope, a light and a stick, they set off. What do they find, the Great Sleeping Bear. This has got to be our favorite Bears book.
October 1, 2018
It amazes me how their style of writing changes. Sometimes it’s wordier, and reads like a regular story, some are rhyming, has humor, and is really cute. Other times they're simple.
This ended up being the latter. This was overly simple, and not one of their better ones. It wasn’t pleasant to read because of the simple writing, and it didn’t have the humor and charm that a lot of their books have. There was one line that rhymed, wall and hall, yet nothing else rhymed. So that was odd to have there.
The three bears start out with rope, a stick, and a light.
The questions throughout is always answered with ‘yes. They dare.’ Like will they go in the spooky tree, up the stairs, through the wall, down the hall, over the bear? And it’s all answered with yes, they dare. I didn’t like the repetition of it. It also makes you read in a robotic voice, which isn't pleasant. It sets that robotic tone for the book.
There are a couple underlined words that didn’t make sense to underline. If they were putting emphasis on it, it should have been italicized.
The first cute thing was how it went from one shivering bear, to two, and you knew it would eventually be all three.
When asked if they’ll over the great sleeping bear, it recaps with how they went into the tree, climbed the stairs, went through the wall, into the hall, so of course they were going over the bear. Because they had come that far, they weren’t going to stop there. I thought that was cute.
You have to keep up with the illustrations to see what’s happening to the stuff they were carrying; the rope, the stick, and the light, because it doesn’t tell what happens to it in the story.
When they get to the stairs, there’s somehow a river with alligators in them. How is it possible that a river is going underneath the stairs that are inside a tree? That’s when the bear loses his rope.
Down the hall, sister bear’s stick in split in half by one of the knight’s spears lining the hallway.
Brother has his flashlight going over the bear, and in the next scene, it’s suddenly gone, so we’re led to believe it got lost in the shuffle.
The escape is far fetched at the end. There’s a very convenient ladder that reaches all the way up to the floor, and then another hole in the floor opens up to a slide that has a door at the end, which shoots them outside.
Stairs, halls, ladders, slides, and a pit of alligators is a bit much to have in one tree. Even though this is a children's book, and they might not question anything, I like for it to be at least believable and not so outrageous and impossible.
It has a happy, warm ending at the end, with them running home. The last lines are ‘home again. safe at last’ and it shows them running to their mom.
However, it felt like the adventure was over before it started. It happened so quickly. It was way too short, and could have used way more words to convey an actual story and adventure.
I realized after that the bears weren’t even given names. We know sister and brother, but who was the third bear with them? How can you not name your character?
Also, in these books, you know the general layout of the town, their friends, neighbors, etc., yet all of a sudden there's a new neighbor, place, tree, house, that only shows up once and you never see it again. Where is this tree, with this bear, and alligators in their town?
This wasn't one of their good ones. Like I said earlier, their writing style changes with each story. You never know what you're going to get. This wasn't one with good writing in it.
It seemed like a straightforward story of a spooky tree, but I didn't see any of that coming. It would have been better if it wasn't so far-fetched, and it had been just a normal, spooky tree, and they got creeped out and went home after. This ended up being pretty crazy with everything that happened.
Such a shame to give it one star, but it just wasn't enjoyable.
This was so different that I thought it would be. This wasn’t pleasant to read because of the simplistic writing. No humor or charm. It was so short.
This ended up being the latter. This was overly simple, and not one of their better ones. It wasn’t pleasant to read because of the simple writing, and it didn’t have the humor and charm that a lot of their books have. There was one line that rhymed, wall and hall, yet nothing else rhymed. So that was odd to have there.
The three bears start out with rope, a stick, and a light.
The questions throughout is always answered with ‘yes. They dare.’ Like will they go in the spooky tree, up the stairs, through the wall, down the hall, over the bear? And it’s all answered with yes, they dare. I didn’t like the repetition of it. It also makes you read in a robotic voice, which isn't pleasant. It sets that robotic tone for the book.
There are a couple underlined words that didn’t make sense to underline. If they were putting emphasis on it, it should have been italicized.
The first cute thing was how it went from one shivering bear, to two, and you knew it would eventually be all three.
When asked if they’ll over the great sleeping bear, it recaps with how they went into the tree, climbed the stairs, went through the wall, into the hall, so of course they were going over the bear. Because they had come that far, they weren’t going to stop there. I thought that was cute.
You have to keep up with the illustrations to see what’s happening to the stuff they were carrying; the rope, the stick, and the light, because it doesn’t tell what happens to it in the story.
When they get to the stairs, there’s somehow a river with alligators in them. How is it possible that a river is going underneath the stairs that are inside a tree? That’s when the bear loses his rope.
Down the hall, sister bear’s stick in split in half by one of the knight’s spears lining the hallway.
Brother has his flashlight going over the bear, and in the next scene, it’s suddenly gone, so we’re led to believe it got lost in the shuffle.
The escape is far fetched at the end. There’s a very convenient ladder that reaches all the way up to the floor, and then another hole in the floor opens up to a slide that has a door at the end, which shoots them outside.
Stairs, halls, ladders, slides, and a pit of alligators is a bit much to have in one tree. Even though this is a children's book, and they might not question anything, I like for it to be at least believable and not so outrageous and impossible.
It has a happy, warm ending at the end, with them running home. The last lines are ‘home again. safe at last’ and it shows them running to their mom.
However, it felt like the adventure was over before it started. It happened so quickly. It was way too short, and could have used way more words to convey an actual story and adventure.
I realized after that the bears weren’t even given names. We know sister and brother, but who was the third bear with them? How can you not name your character?
Also, in these books, you know the general layout of the town, their friends, neighbors, etc., yet all of a sudden there's a new neighbor, place, tree, house, that only shows up once and you never see it again. Where is this tree, with this bear, and alligators in their town?
This wasn't one of their good ones. Like I said earlier, their writing style changes with each story. You never know what you're going to get. This wasn't one with good writing in it.
It seemed like a straightforward story of a spooky tree, but I didn't see any of that coming. It would have been better if it wasn't so far-fetched, and it had been just a normal, spooky tree, and they got creeped out and went home after. This ended up being pretty crazy with everything that happened.
Such a shame to give it one star, but it just wasn't enjoyable.
This was so different that I thought it would be. This wasn’t pleasant to read because of the simplistic writing. No humor or charm. It was so short.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2018
These seem to be either hit or miss, and this was a miss. This is one of, if not the, worst of the Berenstain Bear books. I don't know what style of writing this is considered, but I didn't like it at all. It repeats the same phrases and sentence structure throughout the book that I find repetitive styles very annoying and tiresome.
3 little bears, light, stick and rope, and "Do they dare...?" I get it, I don't need everything reiterated over and over again. The thing I liked was when they used their items and then I didn't have to hear about them anymore. It went to one light and one stick, with one having the shivers, and then one light and two having shivers.
It started with 3 bears and obviously I know it's Brother and Sister but I had no idea who the third bear was. A name wasn't given and that was so odd. It stood out to me so glaringly and Idk how you could leave a detail like that out.
There was literally no point to this story. Usually these come with a lesson but this was all about repetitiveness and no point. They explored a scary tree, the insides making no sense. They slide through the hole in the branch, go through a tunnel, climb stairs, and then all of a sudden there's a crocodile snapping the stairs. Where did a crocodile come from? There was an opening through the tree that looked like it led out to sea. What is this environment that supports crocodiles, with a body of water existing inside this tree? It's outlandish.
Then there's a key in the floor that opens a door into a hallway, down some more stairs and there's a huge bear. They wake him up crawling over him, have to climb this ladder, where there's a hole in the floor leading to a slide, which takes them out of the tree. The illustrator on the last page had to make the tree enormous to fit everything that had just happened. It made the whole thing even more unrealistic and far-fetched, because the tree was the size of a house.
They go home safe, with this nameless bear also hugging their mom. So, no point whatsoever to this tale aside from some rhyming. Not one of their good books. I also would have liked for Papa to make an appearance.
3 little bears, light, stick and rope, and "Do they dare...?" I get it, I don't need everything reiterated over and over again. The thing I liked was when they used their items and then I didn't have to hear about them anymore. It went to one light and one stick, with one having the shivers, and then one light and two having shivers.
It started with 3 bears and obviously I know it's Brother and Sister but I had no idea who the third bear was. A name wasn't given and that was so odd. It stood out to me so glaringly and Idk how you could leave a detail like that out.
There was literally no point to this story. Usually these come with a lesson but this was all about repetitiveness and no point. They explored a scary tree, the insides making no sense. They slide through the hole in the branch, go through a tunnel, climb stairs, and then all of a sudden there's a crocodile snapping the stairs. Where did a crocodile come from? There was an opening through the tree that looked like it led out to sea. What is this environment that supports crocodiles, with a body of water existing inside this tree? It's outlandish.
Then there's a key in the floor that opens a door into a hallway, down some more stairs and there's a huge bear. They wake him up crawling over him, have to climb this ladder, where there's a hole in the floor leading to a slide, which takes them out of the tree. The illustrator on the last page had to make the tree enormous to fit everything that had just happened. It made the whole thing even more unrealistic and far-fetched, because the tree was the size of a house.
They go home safe, with this nameless bear also hugging their mom. So, no point whatsoever to this tale aside from some rhyming. Not one of their good books. I also would have liked for Papa to make an appearance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2022
Simple, but not too simple. The storyline delivers thrills with the help of small details in the illustrations, keeping the text at a beginner’s level. Perfect for Halloween chills for young children. No ghosts or gouls, and (spoiler alert) everyone makes it to the safety of home.
October 22, 2017
it is awesome!!!
October 4, 2023
Guys I fucking LOVE Halloween.
December 17, 2024
Well, 5 of the pages were ripped out of this book but from what we could actually read it was pretty good!
October 20, 2018
One of the first books my sons learned to read by themselves.
May 29, 2014
Kids tend to enjoy suspense as much as adults. This ranks among the best early childhood titles for developing imaginations. Contrasting with so many other Berenstain stories, there isn't an explicit lesson to convey (unless you count teaching children never to explore wilderness in the dark lest they encounter implausible dangers). In fact, here's an article about how good horror can be for audiences of all ages: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/05/why-...
The benefits of this more open-ended tale are in the potential discussion between parent and child. Why did they go to those woods? Can you find a tree like that in real life? Why was the Great Sleeping Bear so different from the other bears?
Read, discuss, and mostly enjoy this fun little adventure.
The benefits of this more open-ended tale are in the potential discussion between parent and child. Why did they go to those woods? Can you find a tree like that in real life? Why was the Great Sleeping Bear so different from the other bears?
Read, discuss, and mostly enjoy this fun little adventure.
April 13, 2010
This is one of the earlier Berenstain Bear books, and it shows. The bears are less stylized and cutesy than the bears in the newer books, and the story is halfway between an early reader and the newer, longer read-alouds they do now.
It's a cute little story about three cubs going out with a light, a stick, and a rope to explore. Of course, they lose all three items and run screaming home to mom - and with good reason, that spooky old tree is *really* spooky.
There are only a few words per page, with a basic vocabulary, so it's great for early readers.
It's a cute little story about three cubs going out with a light, a stick, and a rope to explore. Of course, they lose all three items and run screaming home to mom - and with good reason, that spooky old tree is *really* spooky.
There are only a few words per page, with a basic vocabulary, so it's great for early readers.
August 7, 2007
I always picked this book for my mom to read to me when I was 3 years old. I knew it so well that I would say the whole thing for her instead:o) I still enjoy reading it to my nieces and love the Berenstain Bears.
June 11, 2008
One of my children's favorites this book is boxed away for their children someday. How many of us as children looked at an old tree in the dark shadows and imagined it was full of scary things. The Bernsteins address being scared of things we don't need to be scared of. Great story.
October 8, 2011
This is probobly the best Berenstain book out there! My kids loved this book. It has been to the "book doctor" so many times that is barely recognizable. It is on my list for my granddaughter, now.
June 2, 2012
My favorite book to read to my kids and now my grandson...
March 8, 2015
This book is awesome, yes it is.
October 19, 2014
Just enough words on the page, and just enough "spooky," for the young child. Brilliant in its simplicity.
October 29, 2016
I will always love the Berenstain Bears. Always. Does anyone else think it was Papa Bear hiding in the tree to scare them? Otherwise why is Mama Bear so cool with them exploring some creepy old tree?
April 4, 2016
This book has once again found its way into our regular rotation. One of my favorites when I was a kid. I just wish I knew what happened to the cassette tape that came with it...
August 16, 2017
Kassidi - liked the book but it was very short and too easy....needs more challenging books. Beginning of 2nd grade
January 4, 2018
My Granddaughter loved the book #very spooky for her!
She enjoys reading this story since she was 3 years old. Now she is 10 and still loves the book. It is the first book that she could read by herself.
She is a very smart girl and loves to read and go to the library with me when she visits.
We read a lot of books together.
She enjoys reading this story since she was 3 years old. Now she is 10 and still loves the book. It is the first book that she could read by herself.
She is a very smart girl and loves to read and go to the library with me when she visits.
We read a lot of books together.
October 4, 2025
A Berenstain Bears take on a haunted house. The text is repetitive and somewhat insipid. But really in the end this was kind of a fun book. Probably would have been improved if all the words were removed. 3.5 of 5
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