The Berenstain Bears Chapter Book: The Phenom in the Family

By Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

When Sister Bear tries out for the Bear Country School swim team, she washes away the competition! Racing past the other swimmers, Sister Bear makes Papa proud. In fact, Papa Bear is so proud that he decides to train Sister into a Bearlympic competitor! Papa pushes his star swimmer to practice, practice, practice—but will Sister Bear enjoy swimming when the pressure is on?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jul 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062188687

Stan Berenstain

Stan and Jan Berenstain were already successful cartoonists for magazines and adult humor books when they began writing children's books. The first story starring the bear family, The Big Honey Hunt, appeared in 1962. Since then, more than 250 Berenstain Bears books have been published, and more than 260 million copies have been sold. What began as an idea sparked by their young sons' interest in children's books has become over the years arguably the best-selling children's book series ever. Since their inception, the Berenstain Bears stories have expanded to include picture books, beginning readers, and chapter books—even a hit TV show on PBS. Writing and illustrating the books has become a Berenstain family affair. Mike joined with his parents as a creative team in the late 1980s. The Bear family has expanded over the years as well. Sister Bear arrived in 1974, and baby Honey joined the family in 2000. Since Stan's death at age eighty-two in 2005, Jan and Mike have continued to write and illustrate wonderful new adventures for Mama, Papa, Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear. They live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which looks a lot like Bear Country.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Rumor

A rumor’s going around that there’s gonna be a special announcement before classes start today, said Barry Bruin.

It ain’t no rumor, it’s a fact, said Too-Tall Grizzly. And I know what the announcement’s about.

The cubs were gathered in the schoolyard, waiting for the morning bell to ring. Barry was right: a rumor had indeed been going around about an announcement. But it had been started by Too-Tall himself. That way, once everyone was buzzing about the upcoming announcement, Too-Tall could step in and make his own dramatic announcement about the announcement. Nobody was sure how he found out about these things. Did he sneak around the school offices, listening in on conversations? Not likely. Did he have a ring of spies in the school administration? Even less likely. But somehow he always knew what was going to happen before it happened.

So, tell us, Big Guy, said Queenie McBear, poking her on-again, off-again boyfriend in the stomach, what’s it about?

Swimming pool, said Too-Tall matter-of-factly.

A swimming pool? said Queenie. You mean here at school?

Too-Tall nodded.

They’re gonna build a swimming pool? said Barry.

Too-Tall nodded again. And you know what that means, he said.

Swimming classes! said Brother Bear.

"Maybe even a swimming team!" added Sister Bear.

Oh, my …, said Ferdy Factual, putting a hand to his mouth. He looked worried.

That made Too-Tall chuckle. He had guessed that the new pool would cause great excitement among the student body—and great anxiety among the students about their bodies. Especially students like Nerdy Ferdy. There was a school joke that Ferdy was a thirty-eight-pound weakling, and twenty pounds of that was his brain.

Skuzz couldn’t wait to add to Ferdy’s anxiety. And the classes are gonna be code! he said.

Of course they’ll be cold, said Barry. Unless they give us a heated pool, that is.

Don’t pay no attention to Skuzz, said Too-Tall. He’s an idiot. He popped his deputy on the shoulder with a big fist. "You don’t say it code, moron! It’s coed. Co-ed. It means boys and girls together. Get it?"

"I know what it means, said Skuzz. I just don’t know how to say it."

If I had a nickel for every thing you don’t know, said Too-Tall, I’d be richer than Squire Grizzly.

Gee, I’d better get a bathing suit, said Ferdy to no one in particular.

Now, don’t panic, little guy, said Too-Tall. Everybody’s gotta wear school-issue black bathing suits.

Oh, no! gasped Queenie. I wouldn’t be caught dead in a school-issue black bathing suit!

Whaddya mean? said Too-Tall. You’d look good in a black bathing suit.

Queenie blushed in spite of herself. Gee, thanks, she said. But school-issue? They probably look like the suits my mother wears.

Too-Tall shrugged. I’ve seen your mother in a bathing suit, he said, and she don’t look half bad.

That’s enough, you big oaf! snapped Queenie. "You can flirt with me all you like, but how dare you flirt with my mother!"

Reviews for The Berenstain Bears Chapter Book

[nmhale_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this installment in the Berenstain Bears series, Brother Bear borrows a spooky story from the library, and reads part of it to Sister Bear that afternoon. When night falls on the Bear home, Sister starts to see strange shadows and hear noises ... and the Bears are in for a long night.This is classic Berenstain Bears, one of my favorites because I was so afraid of the dark myself as a child. I can relate to poor Sister's fear, and it's encouraging to children that she learns to overcome that fear so quickly. The cartoon illustrations, as in the rest of the series, are detailed and expressive, and the colors are nice and bright, despite the title. A good book in a good series, and an especially apt choice if you have a child that is struggling with being afraid of the dark.

[conuly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the earlier Berenstain Bear books, and it shows. As you can see on the the cover, the bears are less stylized and cutesy than the bears in the newer books, and the story is an early reader instead of a longer read-aloud.It's a cute little story about several cubs (sharing a bed - cosleepers take note!) who sneak out of home one night to investigate a mysterious WHOOOOOOO.There are only a few words per page, with a basic vocabulary, so this one is perfect little-little ones learning to talk as well as for early readers. The vocabulary is largely prepositions of direction - up, down, in, out, that sort of thing. And the illustrations really sell it, very cute.

[quaintlittlehead · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is not the most creative Berenstain Bears story, but deals with a topic that a lot of young children have issues with. The pictures are very nice and manage to show how there's usually a logical explanation behind everything that seems frightening, as does the resolution of the story-within-the-story. It also portrays how older siblings may think they're above being scared of things and then find out they're not. The text could use a little more panache, but this is a decent book.