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The Berenstain Bear Scouts #9
The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Sinister Smoke Ring
The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Sinister Smoke Ring by Stan and Jan Berenstain Scholastic 1st printing 1997
122 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1997
3 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Stan Berenstain
905 books701 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.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 23, 2022
I reread this book because, by sheer happenstance, I knew two friends besides me that read this book as a kid so I had to report back and read "The Berenstain Bears Book where they fight Joe Camel" just to see if it contained any buried treasure.
At first glance, this book's contents seem easy to guess. It's a chapter book about the Berenstain Bears, and their lesson for the day is "smoking will destroy you mind body and soul". It's not a book you would read for fun, oh no. This is a book that's given to you by a parent or a teacher to teach you a hard life lesson before you ruin your tender developing lungs in a middle school bathroom after the cool kid with all the piercings dares you to.
For the most part, the book is exactly that. We get the peer pressure from the gang of cool kids (named the Too-Tall Gang, and their clubhouse is made out of stolen car parts because they're COOL) and we even learn that Brother Bear has been hanging out with them and smoking for a bit (which, sadly, is never seen in any of the illustrations, probably to preserve the branding) and doing things like hiding his smoke-smelling clothes from his parents, all while his sister watches on in mute horror. He even gets to visit a cemetery while an old grandpa bear tells him that his loved ones smoked themselves to death and look at graphic images of a smoker's lungs.
See, that part is fine. That is a fine lesson to learn. If this book just kinda kept to that tone of storytelling - maybe have Brother Bear's health start to be negatively affected by this, maybe deal with the psychological effects that smoking does to the brain - then maybe it wouldn't be the absolutely bonkers product that I subjected myself to.
Oh no, instead this book slides off the rails by making the Bear Scouts deal with all levels of tobacco production, and the cracks really begin to show during the part in the beginning where we have to spend time with Farmer Ben, who called the police on some protesters marching on his farm because he decided to grow a bunch of tobacco plants on a completely random whim.
Okay. We need to slow down. This book, this children's book designed to tell children that smoking is bad and will kill you, felt the need to spend some time with a tobacco farmer and let everyone know that it's well within Farmer Ben's right to grow a bunch of tobacco plants because tobacco is a legal plant to grow and that golly, he sure does feels upset that these people are yelling at him. Nevermind the fact that it's established that Farmer Ben is the only farmer in Bear Country and, due to the nature of these books and how these lessons are taught, a large portion of the schoolchildren only started smoking AFTER the only farmer within the area decided to start growing it.
And before you ask "well maybe they present the moral quandary of 'just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right' using Farmer Ben as a framework?", they don't. This is the last we see of Farmer Ben. Not once does anyone talk to Farmer Ben and ask him why he decided to grow a bunch of tobacco plants in the community. Cigarettes are purely terrible death sticks but Farmer Ben is a pillar to the community even though he's making the key ingredient.
Honestly Farmer Ben should count his blessings that no one torches his crops in the middle of the night. Why don't you ask one of the parents of the Too-Tall Gang kids how they feel about this, Farmer Ben.
Speaking of late night shady dealings, there is also a chainsmoking con artist bear named Ralph Ripoff, who manages to convince several tobacco CEOs to start doing their business in Bear Country, probably on account of all those locally-grown tobacco plants that Farmer Ben helpfully planted and is within his legal right to plant. The CEOs are named Mr. Wheeze, Mr. Tar, and Mr. McSnuff, and their cigarette mascot is named Moe Moose. Ralph Ripoff tells that, sure, selling cigarettes directly to children is illegal, but there's nothing illegal about making your mascot really cool and marketable to children.
As you can tell, this book is a direct commentary of the Joe Camel controversy of the 90's, and just when you think the book has reached Peak Wacky the moment it has a high school parade dedicated to this cigarette mascot complete with someone in a moose costume blowing smoke rings while wearing stilts, it goes the extra mile and Ralph Ripoff reveals a giant state-of-the-art billboard of a massive Moe Moose that can move its giant mechanical arm and smoke real smoke rings.
Don't worry, though. Ralph Ripoff doesn't get the same gentle treatment that Farmer Ben gets, for the Bear Scouts first lightly and legally protest smoking by making a bunch of anti-smoking buttons and flyers (uh huh, seems like something normal kids would do, I'm with you so far, book) and then they get one of the protesters from Farmer Ben's farm to hack and reprogram the robotic billboard so that the massive forty foot tall Moe Moose spells out "Smoking Kills" in front of a bunch of tobacco industry representatives and seemingly nearly asphyxiate Ralph Ripoff in a cloud of black smoke in the process. (WHAT)
Listen. I know Ralph Ripoff is named "Ralph Ripoff" but we can't apply the "what he was doing was technically legal" logic to Farmer Ben and then try to kill Mr. Ripoff for creating a dystopian robot billboard that somehow has the ability to spit out tobacco smoke. Ain't no rule says a dog can't play basketball.
There's also a scene where Brother Bear challenges the Too-Tall Gang to a foot race and the cigarette-addicted teens are so winded and out of shape from their destructive habits that they have to be put on oxygen tanks by some nurses that are standing by. You know, great stuff.
In short, I almost can't rate this. This book trips over its own messages a couple times, and honestly, the whole tobacco industry subplot just makes this whole thing feel like a fever dream, but damn it all, it is an exhilarating read as an adult.
And remember, if you want to stop tobacco from taking over your small community of bears, maybe don't wait until there's a giant robot billboard blowing smoke into the skyline before doing something about it.
At first glance, this book's contents seem easy to guess. It's a chapter book about the Berenstain Bears, and their lesson for the day is "smoking will destroy you mind body and soul". It's not a book you would read for fun, oh no. This is a book that's given to you by a parent or a teacher to teach you a hard life lesson before you ruin your tender developing lungs in a middle school bathroom after the cool kid with all the piercings dares you to.
For the most part, the book is exactly that. We get the peer pressure from the gang of cool kids (named the Too-Tall Gang, and their clubhouse is made out of stolen car parts because they're COOL) and we even learn that Brother Bear has been hanging out with them and smoking for a bit (which, sadly, is never seen in any of the illustrations, probably to preserve the branding) and doing things like hiding his smoke-smelling clothes from his parents, all while his sister watches on in mute horror. He even gets to visit a cemetery while an old grandpa bear tells him that his loved ones smoked themselves to death and look at graphic images of a smoker's lungs.
See, that part is fine. That is a fine lesson to learn. If this book just kinda kept to that tone of storytelling - maybe have Brother Bear's health start to be negatively affected by this, maybe deal with the psychological effects that smoking does to the brain - then maybe it wouldn't be the absolutely bonkers product that I subjected myself to.
Oh no, instead this book slides off the rails by making the Bear Scouts deal with all levels of tobacco production, and the cracks really begin to show during the part in the beginning where we have to spend time with Farmer Ben, who called the police on some protesters marching on his farm because he decided to grow a bunch of tobacco plants on a completely random whim.
"Dang protesters!" he shouted. "Get off my property, you dang busybodies. Tobacco is a legal crop! What I grow on my own property is my business!"
(...)The scouts were in an awkward position. They knew that smoking was very bad for your health. But Farmer Ben was a friend of theirs. After all, it was Ben who let them convert his old chicken coop into a clubhouse.
(...)He turned to Ben. "Ben, you're right about one thing. They may not come onto your property. That's trespassing. But if they stay on the road, they can protest all they want. It's called Freedom of Speech." He turned to the protesters. "Miss Stickler, you and your protesters are right about tobacco and smoking. It causes death and disease. No question about it. But it's a legal crop, and Ben has every right to grow it if he chooses to!"
Okay. We need to slow down. This book, this children's book designed to tell children that smoking is bad and will kill you, felt the need to spend some time with a tobacco farmer and let everyone know that it's well within Farmer Ben's right to grow a bunch of tobacco plants because tobacco is a legal plant to grow and that golly, he sure does feels upset that these people are yelling at him. Nevermind the fact that it's established that Farmer Ben is the only farmer in Bear Country and, due to the nature of these books and how these lessons are taught, a large portion of the schoolchildren only started smoking AFTER the only farmer within the area decided to start growing it.
And before you ask "well maybe they present the moral quandary of 'just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right' using Farmer Ben as a framework?", they don't. This is the last we see of Farmer Ben. Not once does anyone talk to Farmer Ben and ask him why he decided to grow a bunch of tobacco plants in the community. Cigarettes are purely terrible death sticks but Farmer Ben is a pillar to the community even though he's making the key ingredient.
Honestly Farmer Ben should count his blessings that no one torches his crops in the middle of the night. Why don't you ask one of the parents of the Too-Tall Gang kids how they feel about this, Farmer Ben.
Speaking of late night shady dealings, there is also a chainsmoking con artist bear named Ralph Ripoff, who manages to convince several tobacco CEOs to start doing their business in Bear Country, probably on account of all those locally-grown tobacco plants that Farmer Ben helpfully planted and is within his legal right to plant. The CEOs are named Mr. Wheeze, Mr. Tar, and Mr. McSnuff, and their cigarette mascot is named Moe Moose. Ralph Ripoff tells that, sure, selling cigarettes directly to children is illegal, but there's nothing illegal about making your mascot really cool and marketable to children.
As you can tell, this book is a direct commentary of the Joe Camel controversy of the 90's, and just when you think the book has reached Peak Wacky the moment it has a high school parade dedicated to this cigarette mascot complete with someone in a moose costume blowing smoke rings while wearing stilts, it goes the extra mile and Ralph Ripoff reveals a giant state-of-the-art billboard of a massive Moe Moose that can move its giant mechanical arm and smoke real smoke rings.
Don't worry, though. Ralph Ripoff doesn't get the same gentle treatment that Farmer Ben gets, for the Bear Scouts first lightly and legally protest smoking by making a bunch of anti-smoking buttons and flyers (uh huh, seems like something normal kids would do, I'm with you so far, book) and then they get one of the protesters from Farmer Ben's farm to hack and reprogram the robotic billboard so that the massive forty foot tall Moe Moose spells out "Smoking Kills" in front of a bunch of tobacco industry representatives and seemingly nearly asphyxiate Ralph Ripoff in a cloud of black smoke in the process. (WHAT)
Listen. I know Ralph Ripoff is named "Ralph Ripoff" but we can't apply the "what he was doing was technically legal" logic to Farmer Ben and then try to kill Mr. Ripoff for creating a dystopian robot billboard that somehow has the ability to spit out tobacco smoke. Ain't no rule says a dog can't play basketball.
There's also a scene where Brother Bear challenges the Too-Tall Gang to a foot race and the cigarette-addicted teens are so winded and out of shape from their destructive habits that they have to be put on oxygen tanks by some nurses that are standing by. You know, great stuff.
In short, I almost can't rate this. This book trips over its own messages a couple times, and honestly, the whole tobacco industry subplot just makes this whole thing feel like a fever dream, but damn it all, it is an exhilarating read as an adult.
And remember, if you want to stop tobacco from taking over your small community of bears, maybe don't wait until there's a giant robot billboard blowing smoke into the skyline before doing something about it.
November 12, 2008
I read this book at a very young age and it is a great book. In this book i learned that i should always have pride in myself and that i always need important people to help me out. I recommend this book to the ages of 8-10.
June 6, 2023
a true classic
November 9, 2013
Read this with my second grader. Having been rabidly anti-smoking since my childhood, I appreciate the message. I was also pleasantly surprised that there was richer vocabulary than I had expected. Of the BB chapter books that we've read together, I think I liked this one best.
January 29, 2010
This teaches you that you must not follow the wrong company.In this book, Brother Bear followed the wrong company and smoked and did many bad things.Be a leader, not a follower.
August 14, 2012
the scouts were trying to stop people from smoking and they did it.but it was hard.someone who is a friend made smoke rings to the words smoking kills.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2019
My daughter read this book with her third grade class; and she is afraid of smoking but also is very afraid of the physical effects. She was shown several videos to accompany the story and now is very scared by the images. This was very overwhelming for her. I think this book sounds like too much exposure at such a young age.
January 15, 2021
I am not sure where to rate this. It was for the kids (of course). They are cub scouts just like the book. I guess I am naïve or something, but I didn't really think 3rd or 4th graders would think about smoking... I am not sure the older kids would want to read this. I have no idea. So the book rating of 2 might seem harsh, but it was an OK book nothing more I guess?
October 14, 2019
A good book to teach kids about the dangers of smoking and peer pressure. I did get bored with it during the last quarter of the book though.
October 6, 2020
What a chore it was to finish this with my 6 yo. Very preachy and very boring.
October 25, 2016
Caitlin Nassani
Great book for 4-5 graders. This book has a lot of messages for students about smoking. The book can go along with programs for students to stand against drugs. The book is great for a read aloud. It is a story about how one bear gets involved with other bad bears that like to smoke. The good bear starts smoking too, his friends find a way to get them to all stop smoking. It shows students what can happen to their lungs in a friendly way. I think this book is really great and there is even parent pages to help the parents connect with their children.
Great book for 4-5 graders. This book has a lot of messages for students about smoking. The book can go along with programs for students to stand against drugs. The book is great for a read aloud. It is a story about how one bear gets involved with other bad bears that like to smoke. The good bear starts smoking too, his friends find a way to get them to all stop smoking. It shows students what can happen to their lungs in a friendly way. I think this book is really great and there is even parent pages to help the parents connect with their children.
September 5, 2020
A fun story for young people that exposes the hazards of smoking in a way that young people understand in their own lives.
Good re-read ... fun way to teach kids the dangers of smoking.
Good re-read ... fun way to teach kids the dangers of smoking.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews