A great addition to any family with young children: My review of "Berenstain Bears Good Deed Scouts to the Rescue" by Jan & Mike Berenstain

The "Berenstain Bears Good Deed Scouts to the Rescue" is a collection of three popular stories about the Berenstain Bears, including "Kitten Rescue", "A Neighbour in Need" and "Little Lost Cub". The book is part of the "I Can Read Book" series, written in simple sentences to help developing readers practice sounding out words. All three stories provide valuable lessons about helping others in need, and in each Scout Fred points out a Bible verse that applies to their circumstances.

My children greatly enjoyed cuddling close and listening to these stories or practicing reading from the pages. The Berenstain Bears have long been favourites of theirs, following the antics of Mama and Papa Bear, or Sister Bear and Brother Bear. The stories are well-written and engaging, and my children said they especially loved the story about the kitten because they love animals so much! What I most appreciate about the stories is that they are not preachy, but instead naturally develop the morals and values throughout the story lines. The pictures are bright and entertaining, with lots of interesting details to hold the readers captive. I was impressed that not only did my three year old sit still and listen to all three stories, he begged to hear them over again! That, for me, is a sign of a good book.

I highly recommend this book for young readers, and award it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Book has been provided courtesy of the publisher, Zondervan (Zonderkidz) for the purposes of this unbiased review.

about the authors...

Stan and Jan Berenstain introduced the first Berenstain Bear books in 1962. Mike Berenstain grew up watching his parents work together to write about and draw these lovable bears. Eventually he started drawing and writing about them too. Though Stan died in 2005, and Jan in 2012, Mike continues to create the delightful Bear adventures from the family home and studio in Pennsylvania, in an area that looks much like the sunny dirt road deep in Bear Country.