The Berenstain Bears and the Truth

The Berenstain Bears

by Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain

When Brother and Sister Bear accidentally break Mama's favorite lamp, their little lie grows bigger and bigger, until Papa Bear helps them find the words that set everything right again.

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

28 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1983

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

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me laugh. I see this all the time with my niece and nephew. Something happens and it's never their fault. They look so guilty and eventually they will confess.

They had fun with this book. The early 80s were the best Berenstain bears books.

Maybe it's a bit preachy, but it's still true. They kids don't catch the preachiness.

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Papa and mama bear are both busy. Sister and brother bear are at home getting bored and they decide to play soccer inside the house and they break a lamp. When the mother bear returns home to find her favorite lamp broken, she asks what happened? They start to come up with a story and adding details saying it was a bird who came inside and broke the lamp and as with any story, the details change but in this case the crucial details changed about the bird.

Obviously, mama bear knows that they are lying and she is disappointed. When the siblings realize that, they come clean and tell the truth. This was hilarious. How they described the bird and they changed the details of the feather and added the red feathers sticking out of the bird's head had me in tears. This is my favorite from the series.

5 stars

[Eric Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the recent past, half of humanity crossed over from Dimension E, where this series was known as the Berenstein Bears.

In our current dimension - 'Dimension A', the ripple effects of this dimensional shunting has made the truth somewhat subjective. This book is one of the only artifacts to have crossed over with us. This book on 'The Truth', cleverly disguised as a children's book, is actually a postcard from Dimension E, where Jan and Stan Berenstein are having their reality rewritten around them.

We must embrace the Truth of Dimension E, to return stability to the multiverse.

[Beth F · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister and I are both fully grown now but I am 2.5 years older than she is and when we were kids, I told her whoppers every chance I could. For example, one time I told her that the scientific word for your knee was the word anus. And gullible kid that she was, she believed me.

One day while we were riding our bikes, she wiped out and skinned her knee. It was just a surface scratch and nothing serious, but there was a little bit of blood and as anyone who’s been a kid on a bike before knows, skinned knees can hurt like the dickens sometimes. Well, she abandoned her bike and ran back to the house crying, looking for mom to fix the booboo.

I hopped off my bike and walked both our bikes home to the garage. By the time I got back, mom was standing outside waiting for me and she looked mad.

Mom: “Did you tell your sister the scientific word for her knee was the word anus?”

Me: “What?!?”

Mom: “You heard me.”

Me: ::silent::

Mom: “She looks up to you. It’s not nice to tell lies like that.”

So yes, apparently my poor bleeding sister had run home crying for mom and upon her arrival announced, “Mommy! I fell off my bike and skinned my anus!!!! It hurts!!!!”

More than likely it was a scenario like this that prompted the arrival of this book on my childhood bookshelf. I recently unpacked a box of old goodies and am glad this one survived the passage of time, just in case my unborn child takes after her mother.

And thank God my sister has forgiven me for all the bullshit I used to put her through.

[Nakia's Hideaway]

So nostalgic for me!

I remember watching this episode of The Berenstain Bears series as a child and all of the memories came back to me when I was reading this book.

Loved the analogy of comparing a broken lamp to trust being broken. Such great values were taught in these books.


Loved it!

[J.T. IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason this was also one of my favorites in the series as a kid growing up. Not sure if it was because I had a problem telling the truth as a young kid or if I just liked the pictures of the soccer ball turned into a bird. ;) The Berenstain’s do a wonderful job though of walking Brother and Sister bear through the process of fear of failure and disappointment leading to lying and then to disappointment and shame when the lie inevitably is found out in the end and must be owned up to. If you have little ones at home, this does a good job reinforcing how lying is unacceptable and how it can damage relationships in an easy simple way children can relate to. It also does a great job of reminding parents of the need to reconcile after the punishment, regardless of what that punishment is, is handed out. I highly recommend The Truth, as I do with most books in the Berenstain Bears series.

[Franci · Rating 4 out of 5]

#54 of 2020

"... trust is one thing you can’t put back together once it’s broken."

[↜ƈɦǟռ☂ɛℓℓɛ↝ · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan and Jan Berenstain
When left alone inside, there's no tellin' what Brother and Sister will do. They think for a bit, and can't agree, until they come to the conclusion, soccer in the house is a good idea. This can lead no where good, so when something gets broke, their solution, lie. But what starts as a little lie, grows very fast. The lesson learned is you can't have trust, when lies are involved.

[Pooja Banga · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Brother and Sister Bear accidentally break Mama's favorite lamp, their
little lie grows bigger and bigger, until Papa Bear helps them find the words
that set everything right again.
This story can just teach some moral values to kids as well as adults..
We can learn we should only tell truth in every situation no matter what..
Maybe you get a reward for your honesty..

[Tionna Dorsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Berenstain Bears and the Truth" by Stan and Jan Berenstain is part of the picture book collection. The married couple has won many awards in the area of children's literature, including the Ludington Award. The age recommended for this book is 4-7 years old (P)Primary.

"The Berenstain Bears and the Truth" is about a family of four bears, including a mama bear, papa bear, brother and sister bear. The brother and sister bear is disobeying the rules and starts playing soccer throughout the tree house. Mama bear lamp gets broken and they both lie about kicking the ball. Eventually the truth comes out and mama bear explains to them the importance of telling the truth and not to lie.

I rated this book with five stars. It is very nice rainbow colors throughout the book, with nice detail when it comes to the illustrations. The mama bear and papa bear's character seems to be very stern when it comes to the rules around the house. Brother and sister bear is playful, competitive and energetic. A theme for this story could be "house rules". The words and language in this story follows the pictures, to better understand the images. The texture throughout the book is a little rough, like it was made out of scrap paper.

I would recommend this book to young readers. It's fun to read, but it's also two lessons to be learned. One is not to lie to your parents, because they already know the truth. Two is to always obey your parents rules in their house.

[Merri Platt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Berenstain Bears and the Truth by Stan and Jan Berenstain

This book is about Brother and Sister Bear and a slow day when they believe nothing was going on around them. Sister Bear makes some good suggestions of things they can do but Brother Bear wants only to do one thing and that is play soccer inside. They know they aren't supposed to play with the ball inside, but they decided to do it anyway. This story is about the valuable lesson they learn about telling the truth when Mama Bears favorite lamp is broken. They first try to tell a fantastic lie but they soon learn that it is easier to tell the truth and makes you feel better when you tell the truth.
I enjoyed the colorful illustrations and that they fit perfectly with the story. I also liked that the words came and then the illustrations came after the words. It makes it easier for kids to read the story and then they can not only learn from the words but from the pictures also. It was very colorful and I liked how the authors explained what family life is like and what happens within a happy family. I also like that it had a very strong message about lying and how you should always tell the truth. It explains why you should always tell the truth and that if you do, you feel better. I also liked how this book wasn’t too long so you got the message in a short but very informative narrative. Children will realize why they should always tell the truth and it is an important thing for kids to learn.

[Gerardo Mendoza-Tovar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brother Bear and Sister Bear both are home alone and decide to play soccer against each other in the house. Brother Bear accidently hits the soccer ball and breaks his mom’s favorite lamp. When Mama Bear shows up the two children make up a lie to their mom about the lamp. The children end up feeling guilty about the situation. In the end the children tell the truth because Mama Bear explains the importance of being trustworthy.
This book is very good for young students to read because it provides them with a life long lesson. The main theme of the book is about trustworthy and honesty. Breaking things and lying about it is something almost every child has done, so this book can connect to a lot of students. I would have the students act out the situation that the children faced and ask them questions about it. An example of a question that I would ask the students is if they would have done what the children did or of they would have told the truth. This book is great for young readers because the vocabulary level is low and the illustrations keep the readers engaged. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book because it really showed the emotions of the children. I would recommend this book to students in K-4th grade.

Berenstain, Stan., Berenstain Jan. (1983). The Berenstain Bears and the Truth. New York, NY: Random House for Young Readers.

[Andrew Stockle · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Berenstain Bears and The Truth” is one of several books in The Berenstain Bears series. While Momma and Papa Bear are away the cubs are left alone to play. They come up with a “brilliant” idea to play soccer in the house. While Brother Bear is trying to slide past Sister Bear he kicks the ball and Sister Bear blocks it with her knee which inevitably breaks Momma Bear’s favorite lamp. When Momma Bear comes home Brother and Sister Bear make up a story about how the lamp got broken. The events that unfold help the cubs to learn a valuable lesson about the importance of being honest. 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 illustrate the importance of honesty.

[Sean Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book to read to a child who has trouble telling the truth. The setting is similar to what most of us experienced as a child. Breaking something in the house is one of the worst things to do and it definitely seems like the end of the world. It is even worse when it was something valuable or had sentimental value to your parents.
The more you lie about a situation, the harder it becomes to remember the lie to maintain your innocence. By showing a young reader how much of a hole you may dig yourself in if you continue to lie, the more and more it is clear to see how it is much easier to tell the truth. The book is a great and simple way to show young children how much better it is to tell the truth, no matter how bad it may seem.

[Chester Richmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book deals with the classic scenario that is created when children are left alone. Parents hope that there children will be obedient, safe, and considerate in their abscense. They often return home to find something broken. Once something is already broken a new dilemma forms: will your children lie to you or tell you the truth about what they did?

In a classroom this could promote trust and teach the class that telling the truth is always beneficial and lying will only make things worse.

[Kimbely Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Brother and Sister Bear accidentally break Mama's favorite lamp, their little lie grows bigger and bigger until Papa Bear helps them find the words that set everything right again.

I really enjoyed this book because it teaches a moral issue to the children I would use this book to teach about the importance of telling the truth in the classroom. I would use this book in a thematic unit about good choices.

[Lita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about the bear cubs that were playing ball in the house and broke Mama Bear's favorite lamp. The kids then try to lie to cover up their bad actions. When they had to repeat their lie to Papa Bear, they couldn't remember how the lie went the first time, so they got caught in the lie. The underlying theme is that if you lie, you will get caught. Also, once you have broken trust, it is difficult to rebuild that trust.

[Nivi Krishnakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to read for understanding sequencing. This book is also a great book to do a character study activity since there are a lot of Berenstain Bears books. I think students will enjoy these books because they are fun books to read and listen to. This is also a great book to explain why telling the truth is important. This concept is hard for kids to grasp, but this book does a good job explaining it in a fun way.

[Natalie Ulm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It teaches the importance of being honest. I think this is a great way to teach children a very important social skill. It is also very family oriented. It is very easy to understand and the pictures are great. I love Berenstain Bears. Good lessons for everyone, young and old!! I recommend this for teachers and parents. I read it to my almost 4 year old daughter, and she understood the "moral" of the story and wanted to read it over and over and over!!

[Elizabeth Mcdonough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a great job of showing the story through the illustrations. I think this book could be a used to teach children about making predictions. Brother and Sister Bear accidentally break their mom's favorite lamp. They tell a small lie that ends up getting out of hand. They finally realize that telling the truth will make everything write again. The book teaches the students a lesson and it can be used to teach students about the main idea of a fiction book.

[Rashanda Ravenel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another great book to share with students because the lesson will be important forever. I can connect right away because my mother and I are constantly telling my sister that it is hard to believe anything she says because she is caught in lies so much. There is a lot of body language that can be discussed with students as well as body parts. I would follow this book by reading The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

[Caroline Petty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Berenstain bears books are great because children can relate to them and they teach an endless amount of life lessons. The truth in particular is good, because when we can show our students that honesty is a big part of respecting everyone in our class, we have a much more unified school experience.

[Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glad lamp was glued together

Great book! Helped teach my son the importance of telling the truth. My girlfriend was also impressed with the moral.

[Slow Man · Rating 4 out of 5]

But they never, ever again told a whopper...
Because trust is one thing you can’t put back together once it’s broken.

How endearing.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! Live the moral of the story— lying is never the answer. I also love how Mother knows best . Can’t hide anything from her

[Chris Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was one of the better stories. I am not sure my son understands it quite yet.

[Robert Moushon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Berenstain, S., & Berenstain, J. (1983). The Berenstain bears and the truth. New York : Random House.

Characters: The Berenstain Bears - Brother Bear, Sister Bear, Papa Bear, Mama Bear. A voyeuristic mockingbird.

Setting: Bear Country, a big tree housing the Bear family on just an ordinary day.

Themes: Family, Rules, Lying/Honesty

Genre: CSULB ETEC 545 Class 3, ETEC 545 Motif, Lying Motif, Picture Book

Summary: It’s a “nothing-exciting” day in Bear Country. Brother and Sister Bear are bored in the house, while Papa Bear is working and Mama Bear is out shopping. Sister wants to go pick some blackberries or go play on the swing, but Brother shoots her down. Sister grows irritated with Brother, and they wind up in an argument with Brother and Sister squabbling over a soccer ball. To get it away from her, Brother shoots the ball at Sister, she blocks it and after multiple ricochets, it hits Mama’s favorite vase. The kids were not allowed to play ball in the house and knew they were in trouble. Brother hides the ball, and when Mama asks what happened - they two lie about what went down - blaming the incident on a purple bird. They pass along the same story to Papa Bear, but couldn’t remember all their lies from the first story. Papa finds the soccer ball, and their dishonesty is called out. Both children take the blame, learn a valuable lesson and glue the lamp back together.

Target Audience: Early Elementary, K-2

Curriculum Ties: Honesty, Rules, Read-alongs

Personal response: A simple story contained with the Berenstain Bears family universe. Published in the 80s, it was interesting to see the differences in perspective on gender roles in both the young and adult roles of this and other stories about lying. Good at teaching about honesty, but not deep enough to derive more activities from in a modern classroom.

[Tracy Poff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Berenstain Bears and the Truth tells how Brother Bear and Sister Bear tell a lie, and come to learn that they should always tell the truth, because, as the book says, “trust is one thing you can’t put back together once it’s broken.”

The story opens with Brother and Sister Bear sitting at home, doing nothing, and bored. Sister Bear suggests some things they could do, but Brother dismisses her ideas. Annoyed, she accuses him of being in love with the soccer ball he’s been holding. Incensed, he challenges her to try to stop him from dribbling the ball past her. Of course, playing soccer in the house must end badly, and Mama’s favorite lamp is broken.

When Mama arrives back home, moments later, Brother and Sister insist that it was a bird that broke the lamp–a purple bird with yellow feet, green wing tips, and red feathers sticking out of its head, they embellish. But Mama and Papa, who arrives later, aren’t fooled by their story. Mama tells them that the lamp can be fixed, but she is sad that her cubs, who she’s always trusted, are lying to her, and that trust can’t be so easily repaired.

Hearing this, both Brother and Sister fall all over themselves to take the blame for breaking the lamp, and we are told that after this, they “never, ever again told a whopper.”

Like many of the later books, the story is just there to hang the moral lesson on, so it’s not that great. But the part with them describing the bird is a little amusing, and the lesson is good, even if it’s a bit unbelievable that they never lied again.

...

(The rest of this review is posted on my blog.)

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: This book from the Berenstain Bears series is very important. We see the Berenstain Bears dealing with the cubs lying. Every time they tell a lie, it seems to come back on them. Telling the truth is an important lesson for children to learn, and the young readers are able to see the Berenstain Bears learn that lesson.

Written by Stan Berenstain
Published in 1983 by Random House Books for Young Children

Recommendations/Awards: none

Audience: Read together or read alone: grades K-4

Genre: Picture Book series

Illustrations: The illustrations in this story are very colorful. I think that is what attracts the young readers to the Berenstain bears collection. Each character has a lot of detail and they are easy for young readers to identify with.

Uses: These books are great for a read aloud or independent reading. A read aloud would be great for the younger children, while the word choice is not too hard for children who are on this reading level. They are great books to read because they teach each child a valuable lesson that all should learn. Sometimes it's easier for them to relate to characters in a story, which is why they help teach lessons.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those of us sufficiently aged, you'll remember an episode of the Brady Bunch very much like this. ("Mom's favorite vase...")

Here the cubs do much the same only it's mom's favorite lamp (does anyone here want to admit to a favorite lamp? I had one once, until the dog chewed through the cord). The problem is they lie about it when it happens, and it breaks their mother's heart.

It felt like this book came together awfully fast, and they confessed to the crime almost within minutes. This doesn't feel natural as most children will stick to the lie much longer than that - which then leads to the problem of coming clean when you've been sitting on the truth. I would have liked to have seen the guilt grow perhaps and to address that issue as well.

So the story comes out feeling rushed. I do love how they decide to be honest in the end and apologize for the wrongdoing. I love how it's expressed that it's not the broken lamp which causes the disappointment, but the act of lying.

Not a bad story for the topic, but there are better choices out there I think.