What do you think?
Rate this book
The Berenstain Bears Bright & Early
Inside, Outside, Upside Down
Brother Bear gets into a box. Papa Bear turns the box upside down, takes it outside, and puts it on a truck. The simple art and rhyming text make this a perfect choice for teaching spatial concepts.
20 pages, Board Book
First published January 1, 1968
76 people are currently reading
3357 people want to read
About the author
Stan Berenstain
879 books696 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews
December 31, 2015
A kid classic. Perfect for little kids (Six months - three years old).
There's just a few words on each page. Nice clear pictures. Clear action. (Also, it helps kids get a grip on prepositions, which are actually a really tricky part of the English language, and not intuitive at all.)
Little Cutie really likes this one. He'll point at the pictures and name things, talking about what's going on.
There's just a few words on each page. Nice clear pictures. Clear action. (Also, it helps kids get a grip on prepositions, which are actually a really tricky part of the English language, and not intuitive at all.)
Little Cutie really likes this one. He'll point at the pictures and name things, talking about what's going on.
November 6, 2021
Great beginner reader with fun to read and easy to understand text and entertaining illustrations. I remember this one clearly from the school library, this was a lovely series and one my own children learnt to read with too.
Read on open library.
Read on open library.
April 5, 2009
Alright, this book has been a bit boring for me to read to my kiddos, but they've asked for it over and over as toddlers.
July 16, 2021
For decades I have been quietly haunted by this book's dream-logic images of a mysteriously empty furniture box with two near-bulging eyes peeping out (as seen here). Now, as a father, I have been granted the opportunity to ensure that another generation is haunted by them, too.
September 1, 2022
Simple and repetitive, this is nevertheless fun to read aloud (for awhile...). Seems to be a hit with the under-two crowd. Requested five times in a row (funny enough, also my threshold). 🙄😄
October 26, 2017
Excellent book for teaching children prepositions in a fun and entertaining way.
June 14, 2019
First sentence: Going in/ Inside/ Inside a box/ Upside down/
Premise/plot: A young bear cub (whom would later be named "Brother Bear") will have quite an adventure to tell his Mama at the end of the day. His adventure begins when he gets INSIDE a box...
My thoughts: This is an early book in the "series" of the Berenstain Bears. The story it tells--if indeed it tells an actual story--is told SIMPLY with a few words. This was one of the books I had growing up. I never "bonded" with it like I did The Big Honey Hunt.
Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10
Premise/plot: A young bear cub (whom would later be named "Brother Bear") will have quite an adventure to tell his Mama at the end of the day. His adventure begins when he gets INSIDE a box...
My thoughts: This is an early book in the "series" of the Berenstain Bears. The story it tells--if indeed it tells an actual story--is told SIMPLY with a few words. This was one of the books I had growing up. I never "bonded" with it like I did The Big Honey Hunt.
Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10
May 16, 2018
A quirky children’s book. It reminded me of a shorter version of a Dr. Seuss book.
February 17, 2019
Kids can only learn rhyming words through this..That's it 😒
March 15, 2023
Nostalgia for me. Kids liked it too.
Read
December 22, 2015The target for The Berenstain Bears Bright & Early series is the beginning of the beginningest early readers.
My Take
Just like little kids or the cat as this little bear explores a box using very easy words to describe the child bear's actions and introduces the concepts of inside, outside, and upside down. There are some nice bits of humor that I suspect were tucked in for Mom and Dad to enjoy.
It also provides some fun for the kids with that arrow on the box — be sure to point that arrow out to the kids. They'll love what it means, lol.
The illustrations are sweet pastels and quite explicit about the title words.
It's also sweet as the Berenstains build on a few words until they put them together and then start again. A great opportunity for kids to learn concept words and for Mom and Dad to discuss them.
A short adventure that I'll hope no one emulates!
The Story
It's an adventure of exploration as a bear explores a carton that gets carried away!
The Characters
Young bear who explores. Moving man who transports and provides all sorts of action. Mother waiting at the door.
The Cover and Title
The cover is has a plain white background a pants- and shirt-wearing bear demonstrating that he's Inside, Outside, Upside Down.
January 23, 2016
My 18-month old loves this book. The rhymes are short and fun and the book is full of starter words that early learners easily identify and shout out during the reading ("Box!" "Mama!""Outside!") A terrific learning tool. This book actually comes from my childhood collection. I am so pleased I kept and can share the classic book with my daughter. The paper in the hardcover is thick, substantial and a bit harder to rip apart than new edition paperbacks of other authors. I find these older classics to be essential starter books for beginning readers.
January 5, 2016
Just read this one to my 3 year old based on a recommendation from author Patrick Rothfuss, and he was immediately captivated. I haven't read a new book to my kid that had him so captivated in a very long time. As soon as the book was over, my kid wanted to read it again. He even sat with it by himself later and was repeating the sentences he remembered as he flipped through the pictures. An awesome, fun, and simple book that will help kids understand some prepositions. Highly recommend.
December 15, 2025
Oh, the Berensteins ... they tell a great kid's tale!
May 19, 2015
4 stars!
September 18, 2021
Outside, Inside, written and illustrated by LeUyen Pham, portrays life during the pandemic, not only as to what is happening inside and outside of our homes but also looking at humanity towards others during this time. When the pandemic began, the author started jotting down details about how the world was changing and eventually decided to turn these notes into a documentation of the events in the form of a children’s picture book. The paintings and descriptions throughout the story are based on real people and real happenings.
Early in the story, her repetitive use of the words “Everyone/ everywhere” gave this story a global feel. At the midpoint of the story, a great question is posed “So why did we all go inside?”
Her pictures show that nature slowly took over outside during the pandemic. People painstakingly began to keep a distance from others and to wear masks. Inside, we baked, played, read, sang, watched movies. As the story progresses, people are waiting, laughing, crying, hoping, praying and wishing. As the story progresses, outside our plants are growing and growing. Inside, we mark our heights on a wall, and we too are growing!
Beautiful two-page picture spreads show how we all look different (different faces and nationalities), yet the next two-page spread shows how we are the same on the inside, with potential to have and share love. To end the story, there is a four-page open spread that takes a positive look at how our lives have progressed through the pandemic, both inside and outside of our homes.
The author has a very important message at the book’s closing. It is helpful to read this to create some good talking and questioning points for the listeners. After the first reading of the story, it works to go back through the book and treat it as a wordless book. The pictures on every page have so much to say about how the coronavirus has affected our lives in 2020.
This is a great documentation of the pandemic. A younger child will look at the story and see it as a picture book of people doing things inside and outside of the home. It is fun to follow the neighborhood black cat through the story. First graders and older can appreciate the story as a look at the pandemic and how it changed everything!
Early in the story, her repetitive use of the words “Everyone/ everywhere” gave this story a global feel. At the midpoint of the story, a great question is posed “So why did we all go inside?”
Her pictures show that nature slowly took over outside during the pandemic. People painstakingly began to keep a distance from others and to wear masks. Inside, we baked, played, read, sang, watched movies. As the story progresses, people are waiting, laughing, crying, hoping, praying and wishing. As the story progresses, outside our plants are growing and growing. Inside, we mark our heights on a wall, and we too are growing!
Beautiful two-page picture spreads show how we all look different (different faces and nationalities), yet the next two-page spread shows how we are the same on the inside, with potential to have and share love. To end the story, there is a four-page open spread that takes a positive look at how our lives have progressed through the pandemic, both inside and outside of our homes.
The author has a very important message at the book’s closing. It is helpful to read this to create some good talking and questioning points for the listeners. After the first reading of the story, it works to go back through the book and treat it as a wordless book. The pictures on every page have so much to say about how the coronavirus has affected our lives in 2020.
This is a great documentation of the pandemic. A younger child will look at the story and see it as a picture book of people doing things inside and outside of the home. It is fun to follow the neighborhood black cat through the story. First graders and older can appreciate the story as a look at the pandemic and how it changed everything!
Read
May 20, 2025Part of the "Bright & Early" series for beginning readers, *Inside, Outside, Upside Down* is a charming early reader book by the beloved duo Stan and Jan Berenstain. Known for their long-running *Berenstain Bears* series, the authors here use simple language and playful illustrations to help children develop basic prepositional vocabulary in a fun and engaging way.
Overview
The story follows Small Bear (also known as Brother Bear) as he climbs into a box that ends up on a journey from inside the house to outside, and ultimately upside down. The repetitive and rhythmic text makes it ideal for emergent readers, and the spatial concepts are clearly illustrated through the bear’s movement.
Strengths
* **Language Development:** With its focus on prepositions and positional words, the book is an excellent tool for introducing early literacy and spatial awareness.
* **Repetition:** The repeated sentence structures support reading fluency and word recognition.
* **Illustrations:** The familiar and gentle illustrations by the Berenstains enhance comprehension and keep young readers visually engaged.
* **Pacing:** The short length and simple plot make it perfect for young children with short attention spans.
Considerations
* **Simplicity:** While the book is wonderfully suited for toddlers and early readers, older children may find the narrative too basic.
* **Plot Depth:** The story is more educational than plot-driven, focusing on concept learning rather than character development or a moral lesson.
Conclusion
*Inside, Outside, Upside Down* is a delightful and effective early reader book that delivers foundational language skills in a playful, memorable format. It's a must-have for preschool and kindergarten classrooms, or for parents looking to support their child’s first steps into reading.
Overview
The story follows Small Bear (also known as Brother Bear) as he climbs into a box that ends up on a journey from inside the house to outside, and ultimately upside down. The repetitive and rhythmic text makes it ideal for emergent readers, and the spatial concepts are clearly illustrated through the bear’s movement.
Strengths
* **Language Development:** With its focus on prepositions and positional words, the book is an excellent tool for introducing early literacy and spatial awareness.
* **Repetition:** The repeated sentence structures support reading fluency and word recognition.
* **Illustrations:** The familiar and gentle illustrations by the Berenstains enhance comprehension and keep young readers visually engaged.
* **Pacing:** The short length and simple plot make it perfect for young children with short attention spans.
Considerations
* **Simplicity:** While the book is wonderfully suited for toddlers and early readers, older children may find the narrative too basic.
* **Plot Depth:** The story is more educational than plot-driven, focusing on concept learning rather than character development or a moral lesson.
Conclusion
*Inside, Outside, Upside Down* is a delightful and effective early reader book that delivers foundational language skills in a playful, memorable format. It's a must-have for preschool and kindergarten classrooms, or for parents looking to support their child’s first steps into reading.
August 7, 2020
Since I don't remember much about books I read in Kindergarten other than some of the titles I remember reading I've been picking up copies to read with my daughter's boyfriend's four-year-old so that I can read them again and comment, plus I'm helping to create a new reader.
The illustrations on this are simple and it arrived as a rather small board book, making it durable for a younger reader. The repetitive words and simple sentences might help with learning to read because it would be easy to memorize, but Eli wasn't as engaged in this book as he was the previous one we read together. When we finished he kept turning back to pages and asking if we read that one and when I told him we had he'd turn to another page and repeat the process, there was just not enough to this book for a four-year-old listener. It might work well for a one or two-year-old, but it just wasn't enough to keep his attention and he felt it couldn't possibly be done when it was.
I remember enjoying every Berenstain Bear book I could get my hands on as a kid, but I imagine this one was probably one I took read before kindergarten even though I marked that as the year read. It's just too simple for a child that age.
Overall it was okay, but just not right for the audience I'd purchased it for.
The illustrations on this are simple and it arrived as a rather small board book, making it durable for a younger reader. The repetitive words and simple sentences might help with learning to read because it would be easy to memorize, but Eli wasn't as engaged in this book as he was the previous one we read together. When we finished he kept turning back to pages and asking if we read that one and when I told him we had he'd turn to another page and repeat the process, there was just not enough to this book for a four-year-old listener. It might work well for a one or two-year-old, but it just wasn't enough to keep his attention and he felt it couldn't possibly be done when it was.
I remember enjoying every Berenstain Bear book I could get my hands on as a kid, but I imagine this one was probably one I took read before kindergarten even though I marked that as the year read. It's just too simple for a child that age.
Overall it was okay, but just not right for the audience I'd purchased it for.
October 3, 2017
This book is about a bear being delivered to his mom’s house in a box. During the ride he describes how he is in the box, upside Down, inside, outside, etc. Other than the ride in the back of the truck the book does not have much of a plot. The bear is just in a box the whole time, he get into silly situation throughout the book and then it end happily.
I mostly liked the pictures in the book. They are familiar characters and i like how the bears are drawn. I also liked the colors is this book. The plot was not interesting for me to read but a young child would have probably been amused by the bear in the box because he went through some funny situations.
This book would be perfect to teach students concepts about inside, outside, and upside down. There are clear actions happening in the book so students would not be confused on what was happening. You could even have students use the phrases to describe what they see happening to the bear
I mostly liked the pictures in the book. They are familiar characters and i like how the bears are drawn. I also liked the colors is this book. The plot was not interesting for me to read but a young child would have probably been amused by the bear in the box because he went through some funny situations.
This book would be perfect to teach students concepts about inside, outside, and upside down. There are clear actions happening in the book so students would not be confused on what was happening. You could even have students use the phrases to describe what they see happening to the bear
July 25, 2022
EASY READER
I pick from the shelf by closing my eyes and grabbing something, which is important because I've never liked the Berenstain Bears. I find them to be a rather mean-spirited family. So I was primed to see a smirk on the bear climbing into the box, and he is saved from a dreadful fate by happenstance. Think of his poor worried mother!
If this book had been in Greek I would have loved it -- this is exactly the kind of help with prepositions that I need. I'm still mixing up on and below for example. So sorry book, I read the wrong edition to really enjoy you! Small children and proud new readers would not have my baggage.
I pick from the shelf by closing my eyes and grabbing something, which is important because I've never liked the Berenstain Bears. I find them to be a rather mean-spirited family. So I was primed to see a smirk on the bear climbing into the box, and he is saved from a dreadful fate by happenstance. Think of his poor worried mother!
If this book had been in Greek I would have loved it -- this is exactly the kind of help with prepositions that I need. I'm still mixing up on and below for example. So sorry book, I read the wrong edition to really enjoy you! Small children and proud new readers would not have my baggage.
October 29, 2023
We are proud that you read "Inside, Outside, Upside Down" by Stan Berenstain! This book is all about exploring the world from different perspectives.
You learned that looking at things differently can be exciting and enlightening. Just like the bear cub discovered the world by turning things inside, outside, and upside down, you, too, can learn so much by being curious and looking at things from different angles.
Always remember this lesson, sweetheart. Whether you're solving a problem in school or figuring out how to build the tallest tower with your blocks, try looking at it differently. You'll be amazed at what you can discover.
Love,
Dad & Mom
You learned that looking at things differently can be exciting and enlightening. Just like the bear cub discovered the world by turning things inside, outside, and upside down, you, too, can learn so much by being curious and looking at things from different angles.
Always remember this lesson, sweetheart. Whether you're solving a problem in school or figuring out how to build the tallest tower with your blocks, try looking at it differently. You'll be amazed at what you can discover.
Love,
Dad & Mom
Read
June 4, 2021While this book wasn't one of the series that I got to read before looking into it this time, its from a series that I greatly enjoyed as a child. Just from that alone, I believe this could help students to become more easily engaged with the lesson using this book as it is.
Spatial awareness skills may not be something we commonly associate with math, but it doesn't make it any less important overall. It brings up such a topic that may not be as common within the classroom in a fun to listen to and look at manner.
Spatial awareness skills may not be something we commonly associate with math, but it doesn't make it any less important overall. It brings up such a topic that may not be as common within the classroom in a fun to listen to and look at manner.
November 27, 2023
We love the Berenstain Bears in this house. I have read hundreds if not thousands of Berenstain Bears books with all 6 kids. It is sad that Marcos is the last one until, maybe, grandkids. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. This is a great book for learning to read those basic words such as "in", "out", "up", "down", and "side." Marcos and I read this several times until he was proficient at reading it independently. That proficiency gave him a feeling of accomplishment and success. That's the beauty of the Berenstain's Bears. Every time you read one, it feels like success!
January 18, 2018
This book is really great for young kids. When my son was a baby and toddler, I would read it to him. He loved the repetition, and it helped him to learn his prepositions. Then we set it aside for a few years--just long enough for him to forget how it goes. And now that he's starting to read on his own, he pulled it back out and read it to me, so excited that he could read a Berenstain Bears book himself! Highly recommend for 5/6 (early readers) and below.
May 7, 2018
Do not ask me why I love this book so much. Maybe it's the stark simplicity. Maybe it's the illustrations. Maybe it's a whole range of possible emotion conveyed in two eyeballs on the side of a box. Whatever the reason, this is a beautiful book for teaching a child to read because it's funny. And just fun to read. This one goes on the favorites shelf.
And I just don't know why.
And I just don't know why.
March 1, 2019
A classic first-concepts book that has a few simple words on each page. We've read it before and enjoyed reading it again.
Miss 4 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
Miss 4 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
March 5, 2019
Modern Fantasy
PreK-K
I like how much the story is showed throughout the pictures. I like how it has so much repetition to help get understanding of reading. A little repetitive for a higher skilled reader, but again, for a younger child, very good book that shows how much fun you can have with your imagination.
PreK-K
I like how much the story is showed throughout the pictures. I like how it has so much repetition to help get understanding of reading. A little repetitive for a higher skilled reader, but again, for a younger child, very good book that shows how much fun you can have with your imagination.
March 29, 2020
Modern fantasy
K-2nd grade reading level
I picked up this book because I love the Berenstain Bear books. This book is for very, very early readers, so I struggled to enjoy it personally, which is why I rated it a 3/5. It is a great book for early readers, but a challenge to enjoy to more advanced readers.
K-2nd grade reading level
I picked up this book because I love the Berenstain Bear books. This book is for very, very early readers, so I struggled to enjoy it personally, which is why I rated it a 3/5. It is a great book for early readers, but a challenge to enjoy to more advanced readers.
October 1, 2021
This book can be used in an early elementary classroom. It goes over the multiple directions that students may experience. For example, going inside or going outside. Also you may be upside down, outside. This can help students, learn directions in a fun and playful manner. Overall, I want to teach an older elementary level, but this book could be useful for a younger age.
December 8, 2022
This book is in the series of the Berenstein bears books. The book is about a boy who plays in a box that his dad loads onto a truck and then takes to the city and back home. I thought this book was really fun to read, and it was great for learning about directions. I plan to keep this book in my personal library because it teaches about directions and it was fun to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews