Friday, March 13, 2015

Review - The Berenstain Bears: God Made You Special



Pretty much everyone has heard of The Berenstain Bears, as the popular picture book franchise was first debuted back in the early 1960s by the late Stan & Jan Berenstain. With over 300 titles in print, along with several spinoffs (Chapter Big Books, etc.), the franchise has sold over 260 million copies in 23 languages. There have been two animated series based on the books.  After the death of the authors, their son Mike Berenstain took over writing and illustrating of the newest installments, which have now taken in Christian themes.

The Berenstain Bears: God Made You Special is part of the Living Lights: A Faith Story series and was published right before Christmas. Brother, Sister and Honey are excited that their family is having a backyard cookout. When Sister's best friend, Lizzy Bruin, her brother Barry and their parents arrive for the cookout, the cubs notice that they have brought another family member with them - cousin Tommy.

Tommy isn't like Brother, though they are the same age. Actually, he has more in common with Honey, whom is a lot younger. While Brother, Sister, Lizzy & Barry are playing baseball, Tommy would rather chase a butterfly with Honey. The cubs quickly learn that "God Makes All Of Us Special In Our Own Way."

There is way too much bullying in schools and with the use of the social networking, it has become even worse. I was bullied all through my junior high and high school; though I did survive, the experience has scarred me for life. The most recent releases of The Berentsain Bears have taken on Christian themes and God Made You Special takes on a heavy topic that every kid needs to understand - God Makes Every Person Unique and Not Everyone is the Same, which basically means just because a kid doesn't like sports or whatever kids are into these days, doesn't mean the kids needs to be treated any different. In this story, it is pretty obvious that Tommy has some sort of special needs, but the author never mentions what exactly he has, which is probably a good thing. It doesn't matter why he is different as Tommy is a child of God just as everyone else and deserves to be treated the same. Overall, The Berenstain Bears: God Made You Special is beautifully written & illustrated and gives a great lesson to readers of all ages.



*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. 


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 their studio in Pennsylvania, in an area that looks much like the sunny dirt road deep in Bear Country.

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