The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room

The Berenstain Bears

by Stan Berenstain, Jan

Stories about this funny family and the everyday adventures they encounter.

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

32 pages, Library Binding

First published April 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

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was one of my favorites as a child. it made me feel that anything was possible. and now, living as i do, crammed into my tiny apartment with several thousand books and an alarming number of stuffed animals and knickknacks for a woman my age...well - i could stand to re-learn the lesson. i long for tidiness, but i need more square footage.

[Jennelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the Berenstain Bears since my boys were little. Now I get to enjoy them all over again with my Grandson. This one was a great lesson on staying tidy. He loved it.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha, read this to the kids and they both said that I need to clean my room. It is a mess. There are books piled on everything and notebooks and papers and mail. Boxes. This is a nice little message to myself that a clean space does fill good. Maybe I can clean it this weekend. The kids enjoyed this book. These books from the 70s and 80s are the best of the Berenstain Bears.

Brings back much nostalgia reading them. Brings back feelings of coziness and safety.

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bears' tree house is always clean from inside and outside except for the kids' messy room. Usually, mama bear does all the cleaning and picking up until she loses her temper and starts throwing all the toys (both of brother and sister's) into a box to throw away. Then papa bear comes up with a solution to organize everything and label things and even give the room a new look.

This was such a delightful story that seems like a page out of my own childhood.

4 stars

[Nakia's Hideaway]

So fun to revisit this childhood favorite! I think this one spoke to my neat freak heart. 😊

[angrykitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

i remember that my dad bought me this book b/c my room was always a mess. i just ended up shoving everything in my closet and under my bed. now though, i have learned the lesson of the bears, and my apt is pretty neat....but i still have tons of crap.

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

It made my child-heart blissfully happy when the Berenstain Bears cleaned up their room, put shelves in the closet, and labeled all their boxes. I’ve been trying to live up to that ideal ever since.

[Vichida · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book is a very good book,because it teaches us to clean up our room. The Berenstain bears' house was very neat and very tidy.Then one day brother bear and sister bear's room was very untidy,because they didn't clean up their toys.Then when mother bear came in to their room she was so angry,because there was a big mess.Then when papa bear came to their room papa bear said,"I think you should keep your toys in boxes,I will make the boxes for you."Then after papa bear finished making the boxes he said,"Lets clean up together."So they all cleaned up.I Liked this book because all of the Berenstain family helped to clean up the room.I didn't like it because brother bear and sister bear made a mess.

[Hal Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just looking at the title of this, and other Berenstain books of similar vintage, such as The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners, The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV, The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food, or The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers, you know you're in for a lecture. How the gleeful anarchy of Bears in the Night became a propaganda mill for bourgeois Standards and Practices is a sad story that indicts us all. Even the deaths of the original cartoonists can't stop their shop from oozing out more treacle. Unendurable.

[J.T. IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re a parent and your kiddos are having a tough time keeping their room clean … I suppose I could have simply said if you are a parent, this might be a good addition to the ole library. Sister and Brother are good cubs the vast majority of the time. They do their homework and their chores and are polite, but they seem to have a bit of trouble keeping their room clean. Actually it is more of a deserted landfill at the moment … but all will come out alright and they will learn a few lessons in lightening the load of material possessions. Lord knows I still need that lesson even today. At any rate, if you get a chance, and need a little boost for your kiddos to pick up their room, this is a good place to start. I highly recommend The Messy Room and the Berenstain Bears series as a whole.

[Audryaunna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Organization does a lot for this bear family. Brother and Sister bear argue about cleaning their room. Mama Bear is always cleaning their room, until Papa Bear comes up with a great idea to keep his cubs room clean.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

good life lessons. i wish it was thia easy to keep things clean, lol.

[Gladimore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again the bears, especially mama, has put my life into their story. We are in the same situation at the moment. Granted our son is not old enough yet to take on as big of a responsibility of cleaning everything up by himself, but he is learning. We have such a tiny space for all the things.

The lost temper; the box gathering of things that are crowding a space; the one parent with a cool head while the other fumes; the junk; the organization; and the peace that comes from everything having a place.

Also the junk being thrown out.

This is life, is it not?!

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trigger warning: this books might not be for those struggling housekeepers.

The cubs have an issue with a messy room (and I've seen way worse...) and Mama Bear is fed up. I love how she grabs a box and intends to throw out everything. Wow, have I ever been there. This is such a common parent frustration, that it's good to see that frustration on the face of a character that (hopefully) the child can identify with.

The solution - here comes the triggering part - is a super duper organizing system that is so great in theory, but that the kids will rip apart in no time flat. And who has the space / time / energy / money to organize like this? I STILL want to do that, but let's face it, there's just TOO MUCH STUFF (to be addressed in another book).

Still it's a good book, and one to be followed at storytime by maybe some clean-up time? Just thinking out loud here...

[Alexander Polsky]

I loathe the Berenstain bears, i really do, and if you like them, well I loathe you too.

Two decades past bedtime reading, the trauma lingers still, and awful nights spent reading insipid rhymes are a cerebral scar that won't heal, like a tune from 1975 by The Captain and Tenille.

So, new parents, when one of these grim tomes finds its way into your house, you must shred it, stomp it like you would a louse, poison it, kick it like you would a mouse

[Eirene Ang]

Well sometimes, when we were kid or became adult
We just can't clean our room
Some people probably do the same thing
Neither do I, sometimes I do that
If ours room messy
Ours parents telling us to clean it up
But some reason their room messy because they need to work, busy, and more
After you clean your room, try seen from far distance fitting you can see the rooms are clean and nice views
Hope you like it!!
Thanks..

[Ashley Klausmeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very relatable book for children. More times than not, kids do not like to keep their rooms clean. This book can teach them that it is much more fun to be organized and live in a clean room instead of a dirty one. It has very good illustrations that get the point across as well.

[Barb · Rating 1 out of 5]

I despise the Berenstain Bears. Hate the drawings and stories are thinly disguised (& idiotic) lessons.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a very young age, I have always wanted things to have homes. Must be why I reread this one a gazillion times.

If your child is fascinated by The Container Store, this is the book for them.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely remember this one from childhood--probably because my room rivaled Brother and Sister's room. Still does, actually...

[Monica Gearhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading these books as a kid. 😄

[Kelly Kosinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

My children loved these books! They taught valuable lessons and we had fun while reading them.

[Matthew S. Zielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a kid. It stuck with me the lessons about fighting with siblings, leaving house work to parents, and organizing your room. It was great to pass this down to my own kids.

[Jaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't help but feel that this book is lacking in complexity. For me, the characters are generally shallow and the conflicts are fairly simple. While I enjoy the classic "good versus evil" story, I would like more depth. The simplicity of the conflict and strong emotional reactions of the characters cause this book to be almost melodramatic, and sometimes the courses of action Papa Bear takes simply don't make sense.
Despite the flaws, I still enjoyed this story. It has good lessons to teach, and a creative and somewhat entertaining story line. If you are a fan of bear books, I would definitely recommend it. If not, it's a decent read, just not the best.

[Cassandra Gelvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mama flips out.

Sigh. It's kind of dumb because it implies that the reason people's rooms are a mess is because they don't have any containers to put things away in, which is not true in most circumstances.

Brother and Sister share a room in the tree house. It's messy. Whenever Mama tells them to clean it up, they sit there and argue instead of cleaning up. So Mama just gets fed up and puts things away herself, and eventually gets so angry that she brings a big box in and threatens to throw everything away. The kids start crying, then Papa comes up, screams at people, and holds a family meeting right then and there. They decide that maybe they need some toy boxes and organizational tools, and then everybody organizes everything, and then it looks perfect. And it's "a neat, clean, well-organized room-- and so much more relaxing!" "[A]nd a lot more fun!"

And of course you know that Mama's still going to end up putting stuff away, because just having rules about not arguing doesn't mean the kids aren't going to argue. Seriously. It doesn't even detail what those rules could be. It also says, "It wasn't that Brother and Sister were naturally messy. They tried to keep their room straight." Just because somebody has a mess doesn't imply that they are messy, but there's nothing wrong with being messy. Cleaning is important, and maybe the kids need to understand the importance of cleaning in some way other than their mother flipping out and threatening to throw everything away. It's kind of like the neatness of the room is an afterthought. But it's not fair to their mother. And they need to understand that, and maybe they could have a more natural consequence, like not being able to find what they're looking for, or falling over things that have been left in the middle of the floor. That happens too, and that could be a realistic consequence instead of Mama making threats because she's being taking advantage of as a parent. You need to teach your kids how to clean up. There are right ways and wrong ways to clean up. Obviously, arguing is not cleaning up, but sharing the job and working as a team may be difficult, so maybe they could each clean up their own side of the room. Maybe they need to draw a line down the middle. Maybe they each need their own room. But this doesn't seem like it's going to solve the problem in a long term way.

The best part: "'Pleistocene schmeistocene!' shouted Sister." Say that five times fast.

Message: Keep your room clean.

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

[Leslie Nunez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the majority of the Berenstain Bears books I read as a child, but this one was always my special favorite. I'm quite sure it was bought to teach me the virtues of having a clean room. I've always liked cleaning up. It looked nice and felt like an accomplishment when the bears had everything put away. This book teaches children lessons while they enjoy reading it. Also a part of the Berenstain Bears series, The Messy Room is a great book for parents at home and for the classroom. These books are about a family of bears. The Berenstains have received many awards and honors for their books over the years. The book teaches a lesson using the little bear cubs and the parent bears. The cubs do as they please and then Papa and Mama Bear teach them a lesson. The lesson they learn is something kids should read so that they'll learn also and understand if they ever come to being taught a lesson. I would recommend this to a first grader or someone who is near that age group because the book was written for kids learning to read.

The illustrations are so bright and fun to look at. The pictures are what gets the most attention out of a kid. The illustrations are just wonderful in this book. They show a puzzle half finished and covered with cobwebs, spilled cups and drinks and dust and dirt all over everything. It's just very clear how nasty a room can get when it's not kept in order. Papa bear comes to the rescue and makes the cubs their very own organization.

[Lydia Erakare · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. This book has not received any awards.

2. This book is appropriate for K-1st grade.

3. In this story Brother and Sister bear learn an important lesson about keeping their room clean. When Mama bear realizes how messy their room is the two are tasked with cleaning it up before they can play or relax. The two cubs argue instead of work and their wasted time brings Mama bear upstairs to lend a hand. As Mama bear throws all of their things in a box for the trash the cubs learn a lesson about treating their possessions with respect and keeping their room clean.

4. My mother used to read this book to me and my brother when we shared a room. It taught a very valuable lesson and one that I need to be reminded of every once in a while now in my adult life. I love these stories by Stan Berenstain they are engaging and funny with a strong moral.

5. A) This story could be used when talking about our classroom environment. After reading, a conversation circle could be had about respecting our classroom materials and keeping our classroom clean.

B) Another use for this story could be to target a messy student. If a teacher notices that a student is not cleaning their desk or putting their materials away the teacher could assign them to read this story during quiet reading time.

[Ashley Boris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the famous Bernstein Bear books and specifically deals with the lesson of organization and keeping everything clean. These stories are always so relatable to many children and what they are experiencing in their lives as they grow up. I always have a messy room and my mother would yell at me to clean it up every weekend when I was a child, so I remember this story relating a lot to me when I read it at that time. Since this and the other books like these all have a life lesson in them I would recommend parents read them to their children before bedtime or whenever, but I am not sure it is appropriate to place these in a classroom. This one in particular might not be the best one for a class, but there are other stories written by these author's that could do well in a classroom setting and help children learn valuable lessons about things such as sharing and the importance of education.

[Daniele Merrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also a part of the Berenstain Bears series, The Messy Room is a great book for parents at home and for the classroom. It’s about the two siblings and how they need to clean their room, but instead of working together, they try to do just their part. I’m sure parents really enjoy reading this book to their kids because it is so difficult to get them to clean their room, especially when it is as messy as the siblings! I feel like it would be a motivator to their chores in that aspect. On the other hand, the book provides reasons as to why working together is a lot easier than trying to do things on your own, especially when you’re working on the same task. When it comes to using this book as a teaching opportunity, I feel like it would be very useful for group projects or assignments where the students need to work together. These are skills that everyone needs to have and learn throughout their entire life, and this book is a good way of teaching them.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response: The Berenstain Bears books are great! I love how the characters are bears but they act like a human family. The books also have great moral value to them and are relatable to real life.

Purposes: This is a fun and enjoyable read aloud for Kindergarten to 2nd grade. This book could be pulled out and read to the class if students were having trouble getting along or working together. This would also be a great book to pull out in the classroom if the students were having trouble keeping the room clean and following their delegated jobs. The Berenstin Bears and the Messy Room shows that the things you do can also have an affect on others, like the messy room had an affect on Mama and eventually on Papa too. This would be a great reminder to the class to work together and clean up and we will be a much happier classroom where the students can be relaxed and ready to learn.