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The Berenstain Bears
The Berenstain Bears and the Substitute Teacher
A substitute teacher means only one thing—it’s time to play some tricks!
Brother Bear is just starting to get nervous about tomorrow’s big history test when Teacher Bob announces that the students will have a substitute teacher for the next three days. According to mischievous Too-Tall Grizzly, there’s only one way to deal with a grouch-puss old sub: pranks! Instead of studying, Too-Tall, Brother Bear, and Cousin Freddy stay up all night coming up with wacky jokes. They get a trick book and some fake spiders—they even put a frog in the teacher’s desk! But when the sub turns out to be more fun than they imagined, the boys realize they may have made a terrible mistake. Will they have time to undo the jokes before the test? Or are they about to become history?
This is a fixed-format ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book.
Brother Bear is just starting to get nervous about tomorrow’s big history test when Teacher Bob announces that the students will have a substitute teacher for the next three days. According to mischievous Too-Tall Grizzly, there’s only one way to deal with a grouch-puss old sub: pranks! Instead of studying, Too-Tall, Brother Bear, and Cousin Freddy stay up all night coming up with wacky jokes. They get a trick book and some fake spiders—they even put a frog in the teacher’s desk! But when the sub turns out to be more fun than they imagined, the boys realize they may have made a terrible mistake. Will they have time to undo the jokes before the test? Or are they about to become history?
This is a fixed-format ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book.
24 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Stan Berenstain
972 books716 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 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 20, 2024
Brother and others set up pranks for the substitute teacher, and choose not to study for a test not thinking she'd make them take it. Both backfired!
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January 7, 2022I have really enjoyed reading The Berenstain Bears books with our daughter. These were some of my favorites growing up and she has really been enjoying them.
January 2, 2018
cute story about the importance of being nice to the substitute teacher and doing what you know to be right.
June 16, 2026
Berenstains, why you gotta be weird nearly all the time.
Brother Bear's class, it's announced, is going to have a substitute teacher for a bit. Cool, great, love that for the teacher getting to have a life elsewhere. Too Tall and gang pressure Freddy and Brother into joining their decision to put in pranks and honestly, who does that? What kid plans ahead to prank the substitute? Maybe I did school wrong, but a substitute teacher was a chance to watch movies and zone out. Why would I want to interrupt that?
Then, when the sub shows up and isn't old (and I'm not even going to touch how wild it is that the narrative is like "she's hip so don't be mean to her but if she had been an old crone that would have been a different story") then the boys (and it's only boys, let's be clear on that because in Bear Country, only boys gets to do physically harmful things) try to pull their pranks back but miss one. Yet they still get in what seems to be the same amount of trouble.
Should you put a frog in a teacher's drawer? No. But does it count that they undid everything else? I think so, yeah. Not to the narrative, though.
The peer pressure book (in which Brother Bear was goaded to steal watermelons) was a much better lesson on "don't screw with adults because they are sometimes paying attention." This was just punitive.
Brother Bear's class, it's announced, is going to have a substitute teacher for a bit. Cool, great, love that for the teacher getting to have a life elsewhere. Too Tall and gang pressure Freddy and Brother into joining their decision to put in pranks and honestly, who does that? What kid plans ahead to prank the substitute? Maybe I did school wrong, but a substitute teacher was a chance to watch movies and zone out. Why would I want to interrupt that?
Then, when the sub shows up and isn't old (and I'm not even going to touch how wild it is that the narrative is like "she's hip so don't be mean to her but if she had been an old crone that would have been a different story") then the boys (and it's only boys, let's be clear on that because in Bear Country, only boys gets to do physically harmful things) try to pull their pranks back but miss one. Yet they still get in what seems to be the same amount of trouble.
Should you put a frog in a teacher's drawer? No. But does it count that they undid everything else? I think so, yeah. Not to the narrative, though.
The peer pressure book (in which Brother Bear was goaded to steal watermelons) was a much better lesson on "don't screw with adults because they are sometimes paying attention." This was just punitive.
May 22, 2022
I ended up ordering this book as a potential gap filler since I am working as a substitute teacher. I was pretty disappointed by this. It's not all that much fun and almost feels like it's just scolding kids or trying to intimidate kids into getting in line when there is a sub. There is hardly a story here at all and it's not an exciting book when you compare it to all the great children's picture books out there. I can see why its recommended for subs given the subject matter, but its honestly just not that great and I do not think kids will enjoy it. I think I agree with many of the modern critiques of the Berenstain Bears. The books are more-or-less harsh lectures with pictures of bears in them. There's no fun, whimsy, or creativity here. It doesn't feel like it comes from a place of joy or feel like they consider kids to be likable.
October 15, 2024
Brother bear gets tempted by the boys in class to help with pranking the substitute teacher.
He skipped studying for the test and caught a frog.
The teacher was nothing they had expected.
They rushed to make all right in the classroom again, except they forgot one trick--the frog!
Needless to say, the boys learned their lesson.
I read The Berenstain Bears as a child and to this day, still enjoy the stories told.
He skipped studying for the test and caught a frog.
The teacher was nothing they had expected.
They rushed to make all right in the classroom again, except they forgot one trick--the frog!
Needless to say, the boys learned their lesson.
I read The Berenstain Bears as a child and to this day, still enjoy the stories told.
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May 3, 2023So the bears wouldn't have tried to remove their pranks had the substitute been a kindly old lady who would have fallen for their tricks instead of a young one wearing 'designer jeans and tinted glasses'?
I didn't like this... but I don't think I like most books in this series.. I used to think well of it
I didn't like this... but I don't think I like most books in this series.. I used to think well of it
March 15, 2020
The Berenstain Bears are always good for a likeable story.
November 19, 2022
Read this book for nostalgia. I used to love The Berenstain Bears books. It was nice to read one again. It reminded me of my childhood. 😊📚🌈
Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 1:11 PM
Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 1:11 PM
September 21, 2025
Brother learns to respect his substitute teachers and not follow the wrong crowd.
June 13, 2012
When Teacher Bob plans to leave for a few days he leaves detailed notes for the substitute and lets the class know of his pending absence. Too Tall and his gang pressure Brother into setting some pranks for the substitute.
January 21, 2013
This book could be used to show kids how they should not act when there is a substitute teacher in the classroom. It could also be used to show kids not to let someone talk you into something that you don't want to do. It would show them how much trouble they can get into by following the crowd.
May 29, 2014
Sabrina (age = almost 4) picked this book out during our reading time in Austin in May, 2014.
Cute story about how some kids bent on misbehavior with a substitute teacher reel Brother Bear in on their actions. They all learn a lesson when the sub turns out to be a cool gal they want to impress.
Cute story about how some kids bent on misbehavior with a substitute teacher reel Brother Bear in on their actions. They all learn a lesson when the sub turns out to be a cool gal they want to impress.
August 13, 2015
A plqn to trick a substitute teacher goes wrong when To Tall & Brother bear realise the substitute is a young hip teacher resistant to their tricks. This was a sweet read with a nice little lesson for kids
February 21, 2013
Great book for teaching kids why it is important to listen to the substitute teacher. Also good for talking about not giving into peer pressure. Cute little story!
June 11, 2013
Cute story
May 22, 2015
i thought this book was Qwerty (pretty cool).
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews