The Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle: A Playful Story About Brother and Sister Bear Postponing Their Bedtime for Kids

The Berenstain Bears

by Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain

Is bedtime battle time in your house? Share this funny story with your cubs to help them remember the importance of bedtime. Who wants to go to bed when you can play with dinosaurs, have a tea party, or get a piggyback ride on Papa Bear? Brother and Sister Bear are doing everything they can to postpone their bedtime—even if that means putting Mama and Papa Bear to bed first! This Berenstain Bears story will have kids laughing—and hopefully lead to bedtime being less of a struggle.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Animals, Juvenile, Family

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

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

[Luisa Knight · Rating 1 out of 5]

What! This is not at all like the Berenstain Bear books I came to know and love as a kid. This is clearly a recently written story - and one that deviates drastically from the original standards of Brother and Sister learning a lesson in each and every book. Because they sure don't in this one. Not. One. Bit.

Ages: none

Here’s a few of our bedtime favs: watch my reel!

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[Cassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really hoping for a nice lesson to talk to my son about because every night is a bedtime battle with him. However, the only lesson in this book is that if you stall long enough, your parents will fall asleep reading you books and then you can stay up as late as you want. 😒

[Franci · Rating 3 out of 5]

#96 of 2020

No lesson in this one. Just a cute story about bedtime.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed in this Berenstain Bear book. I expect a good moral teaching at the end of Berenstain Bear books. This book ended with the children defeating their parents. I looked at the copyright of this book and it was 2005. I guess even the Berenstains have "watered down" their teaching since the '80s. It's a shame.

[CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an all too true depiction of the wiles children use to avoid bed time (or anything else that they don't want to do). I was surprised that there wasn't the moral/ resolution that most BB books have, though. It was cute--just no solution to the problem/ lesson for the kids.

[Katie O’Reilly · Rating 1 out of 5]

It pains me to write this, but this book stinks. Brother and Sister spend the whole book delaying bedtime--picking up toys slowly, complaining, fighting about which story to read in bed, and then Mama and Papa Bear are so tired they fall asleep. That's it. NO LESSON IS LEARNED.

[Grace H · Rating 1 out of 5]

The moral of the story: if you stay up late enough, your parents will fall asleep, and then you can stay up as late as you want. This was not the ending I was hoping for.

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

As another reviewer pointed out, the takeaway is to stall at bedtime until the grown-ups pass out and you can do what you want.

[Craig · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst BB books I've read. No lesson, no parental guidance, just chaos. Like a Greek tragedy- sorry parents, after all that opening buildup, there's no hope or guidance to improve the situation and bring the family together and that's just how life is, dark and chaotic. Good luck.

I thought for sure mama or papa was going to pull a quick lesson out, or gramps and gran were going to ride in and save the day with some old wisdom, but instead the parents fall asleep and the kids don't learn anything. Might as well turn on some Cocomelon Netflix brainrot and save the agony of turning these pages.

Very different than the original 'First Reader Series' where Theo Geisel was helping with editing/production. The dark text is over dark images, images repeat from page to page, proportions aren't great. It says it was written by Stan/Jan, but this has Mike's fingerprints all over it.

[Mavis’s Dad · Rating 3 out of 5]

No truer title has ever been used in a book. Mavis and I have a different Bedtime Battle each night… and I have to say, there have been nights I fall asleep like Mama and Papa bear here.

Moral: Kids will do anything to stay up past their bedtime.

Length: Short enough you won’t fall asleep reading it. Long enough, maybe The Kid will.

Favorite Line: “Bathtime isn’t playtime.”

Overall impression: Spoiler: The kids win. They’re still awake at the end of the book - even though they cleaned, bathed and prayed. I’m sure that causes some parents to fret. I’m a realist and acknowledge this happens all the time… and probably will for the rest of my life. I’ll use this book as a guide to show Mavis what good kids do when they stay up later than their parents (both kids are reading on the final page).

[Arwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long day
and bedtime has come.
When little bears fight it,
tired grownups succumb.

Parents will really relate to this one. All the bedtime excuses that kids pull and the fact that most of the time we really are the tired ones (I keep thinking that I could be just as energetic in the evening if I could nap in the car too, but you know somebodies got to drive us home.) A great book with a slight surprise at the end.

[Jessica Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reminds me of my kids when bedtime comes.

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

(i read the kindle version through Kindle Unlimited, but that is not listed here on Goodreads only paperback??!) i love this series, raised on this cuties ... great illustrations. so fuN!!

[Danielle Grimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun little story to read to my students on pajama day!

[Lgordo · Rating 1 out of 5]

what is this nonsense? this is not what people look for when they look for a Berenstein Bears book.

[Wolfrum Fergusson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this to my son and he decided to try to do the same thing at bedtime. AVOID THIS BOOK AT ALL COSTS.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of Oceanhouse Media Kindle Fire App. The topic of a bedtime battle could not be more appropriate for us with my almost three year old and her nine month old sister. While witty birth will nurse right to sleep our little-big girl refuses. She sure does like stories and snuggles though.

Watching all these children's storybooks come out in apps for iOS and Nook Kids I have found myself jealous but now o am ecstatic that quality apps like those from Oceanhouse Media are available in all the major formats including Kindle Fire.

With the Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle book app you get many things in one with an affordable price tag. Like tonight when I'm too exhausted to read I set it to auto play and AppleBlossom had a story read right to her mist like an animated storybook. Other times we put it on Read to Me where she is in charge of page turns but can instigate a re-read of a word, page or paragraph. Then again later on as she can decipher more words herself she can Read Myself and tap words and images for more interaction.

While I would never cancel out all physical books in favor of book apps, when it comes to book apps like this one it is worth every penny for the interaction and educational value.

Join Mama, Papa, Brother and Sister Bear in a night time ritual that many a parent can relate to. Quaint and real while full of smiles. I will come back for more.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're picking up this book to help find a solution to the bedtime battle in your own home (as I did) prepare to be disappointed. Unlike most BB books, which present a problem and wrap up with a tidy, manageable solution (or at least a lesson), this one definitely lacks a resolution. On the plus side, it was an entertaining read and my kids enjoyed the illustrations (Brother and Sister running down the hall in their undies, in particular). But for those of us who grew up relying on the Bear Family to help us solve some of life's trickiest problems, the sight of Mama and Papa down for the count while the cubs stay up reading in their bunk beds is sort of sad (albeit realistic for many of us who are now parents).

[Emily Levings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Berenstain, S. & Berenstain, J. (2005). the Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

I think this would be a great book for children ages 4-7 because it is a book made to help children jump start into reading. I think this would be great to read to children at night, because it really does happen. Many children will dawdle so they can stay up longer, and I think the book was very accurate in that sense. I really enjoyed this book because it reminded me of when I was younger and would beg to stay up for just ten more minutes.

[Melissa S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

We liked it. My son loves watching the TV show, so I wanted to introduce him to the books to help him to enjoy storytime. I liked the lesson, as I do with all of their stories. My son fell asleep listening to me read it to him, so I suppose it did its' job. The bedtime battle is a constant battle for us. My son is too little to understand what bedtime is, so he resists until he no longer can. I thought this would be a good book for him to see that bedtime is a normal thing. I like that he learned something new from this book.

[↜ƈɦǟռ☂ɛℓℓɛ↝ · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★The Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle by Stan Berenstain
So this one was so-so. Brother and Sister Bear are being rowdy, and don't want to get ready for bed. So Mama and Papa, try everything, to no avail. But in the Brother Bear and Sister Bear win, with Mama and Papa asleep, and them awake.
This wasn't the best story, but not the worst, either. I guess the lesson in this one, is wear your parents out, and you can stay up later.

[chucklesthescot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brother and Sister Bear are having too much fun playing with their toys and don't want to go to their bed when they are told to. Mama and Papa Bear have to try to get the toys tidied away so that the cubs can have their bath and bedtime story on time, which is easier said than done.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this as an app from iTunes, so I can read it or let the app read it. The kids think it's kinda like a movie. They like it though. Cute story. And it's exactly what my kids do at bedtime too.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The delay tactics Brother and Sister use to try to avoid bedtime are spot-on, but the ending of the book doesn't really show them learning from that--they let Mama and Papa sleep but they don't seem to understand that they did anything wrong, which isn't quite what I expected from a BB book.

[Don H.M]

Another story talking about Incest. It is a lot shallower this time around, trying not so subtly to reference grotesque things like pedophilia. The battle in question is one of morals and I am appalled at this book's lack of them.

[Lilman7878 · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good...............

[Cws]

JEAR3-Ber

[Erin McCarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://www.epinions.com/content_43487...

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kids love all the berenstain bear books! Always great lessons & values taught! :)

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bed Time Battle is a war that most parents have to endure at some point or another. Parents and children alike will be able to relate to this battle.