THE BEARS' NATURE GUIDE

by Stan & Jan Berenstain ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 1975

Didactic doggerel in goofy clothing, presumptiously subtitled ""Almost everything small bears and kids need to know about the animals the plants the earth itself with actual facts about frogs, possums, birds, fish, trees, rocks, ladybugs, earthquakes. . . and lots more."" With the Berenstains' lowbrow action cartoons the closest thing here to a hint of life, the traditional criteria for classifying animals, mammals and insects are trotted past, along with curious facts about individual birds, fish and plants and some geology in the same vein, at an impatient tour guide's pace--so that before a six-year-old can figure out whether he's an animal (the answer is yes ""if you're ALIVE/and MOVE AROUND/if you NEED FOOD/and REPRODUCE""--does he?) he's hit with ""When an orange/gets all yucky/because it's very old,/ a plant is growing on it./That yucky plant/is mold."" If we didn't know better we'd call it a parody of those thought-quenching methods that even the most stupefied teachers have learned to laugh at.

Pub Date: Oct. 27, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 72

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1975

Categories: CHILDREN'S