The Berenstain Bears and the Drug-Free Zone

The Berenstain Bears

by Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain

Illus. in black-and-white. Sister and Brother uncover a drug problem in Bear Country, and they're determined to track down the culprits. But just when they're sure they've solved the case, they learn that jumping to conclusions is not the best way to solve a problem.  

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult, Juvenile, Middle Grade

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 1993

About the author

Stan 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.

Reviews

[Austin Smith]

2.75⭐ rounded up.

[Anna]

It was great, but I didn't know what drugs were when I first read it. This is how I learned.

[Rosie Brown]

Now we can learn why Papa Bear is so forgetful and slow witted. He was smoking Johnnyknockers, which burn his brain. Why does the chief of police let known criminal like Ralph keep committing fraud of Bear town citizens. He actually thinks they are suckers, particularly Papa who is his favorite.

[Partridge Public]

Berenstain , Stan and Jan PB

[Shoshana]

"The real drug-free zone is in our hearts and minds." -Sister Bear

[Katja Labonté]

3 stars & 3/10 hearts. The best way to sum up my feelings on this is “eh, it was okay.” It was fun to see the Berenstain Bears in book format; but the story was much too middle-grade for me. I figured out the “mystery” pretty fast (it was way too obvious), although the ending was a big surprise—the baddies came out of nowhere… but I’ve been told that they’re often the bad guys in this series, so maybe it wasn’t out of thin air after all, as far as the series are concerned. Overall, it was okay, and maybe even a good first warning for kids about drugs?????

[Gumbs1gmail.com]

its cool but how do I read it

[LILLIAN SO LUV'S BOBBY JACK]

don't do drugs

[Katt Hansen]

Drugs in Bear Country!

Wow, I didn't see this one coming. First of all, to introduce this topic to these books feels somehow wrong. Bear Country has always felt something like a 'safe place' and now...it's not. Kind of like with the "Stranger Danger" book we had, it's jarring and unsettling to see our world transposed over theirs. And honestly, I don't like it.

Taking that aside, this book addresses a serious topic - and the cubs take what I think is a terrible approach to it. They try to find out who the drug dealers are so that they can turn them in and stop the drug problem. Wow, this could have gone so bad on so many levels. Even though they're scolded at the end of the book, that doesn't take away from the fact that what they were doing could have gotten them killed. And in the real world, it most assuredly would have.

So no. no. no. no.

I'm giving this an extra star or two because it was well written and engaging and I wanted to see what happened next. But I can't approve of this book for what it represents. The authorities need to handle the drug problem. While there's some great commentary in here from Sister Bear (who is wise beyond her years) there's still a little too much of judging by appearances (known bad guys are bad, but 'good' people never try drugs which certainly isn't always true).

But in the end, I really wasn't comfortable by this approach.

[Kat]

I was going through my second grade reading log and saw I had read this book. I couldn't remember it at all, so I looked it up online. I was absolutely shocked by what I found. This book has CHILDREN looking for a DRUG LORD!!!! Why on earth would anyone think that it would be appropriate to encourage children to look for drug dealers, drug lords, and drug stashes? DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

[Kevin Sweeney]

You're average, run of the mill anti-drug story. Wasn't bad, wasn't great. This one gets 4 stars simply because it's now canon that Papa Bear smoked the Bear Country equivalent of marijuana behind the barn when he was a teen.

[Christina Mages]

The cubs learned why not to do drugs.

[Stasia]

I thought this was really well done and on a level that kids are able to grasp.

[Cathy]

I wondered about how serious this chapter book would be with the cartoon characters, but it did a good job presenting material in a non-threatening way. It is a great thing to read together before the kids go to school. I was afraid the older children would think they were too big for the cartoons, but they never complained and I think that just made it more interesting for the younger kids. They mystery part of the story kept the kids interested in reading more. I read it three years ago when the kids were 2, 5, and 8, (the 2 year old didn't pay too much attention, understandably,) and my husband is reading it to them now, as they are 5, 8, and 11, since the younger two don't remember it. It opens the door for further discussions. Before I bought the book, I read Amazon reviews, and the only complaint was that it was "too anti-drug," but that was perfect for us, because that is exactly the message we want them to get.

[Jerome Otte]

An interesting, mysterious, and relatively edgy Berenstein Bears tale. The people of Bear Country are shocked to find that a new drug kingpin has come to town. Everyone immediately jumps to conclusions as to who it is, and the strange, shifty character in the trench coat and fedora who keeps meeting with the Too-Tall gang (the school bullies) seems like the logical suspect. The setting is basically the same as the older books, albeit with the inclusion of a local crook who cheats people, really bad traffic, and a gang of poachers who live in a swamp.

Mysterious, serious, yet humorous. A fine, age-appropriate introduction to a serious issue. Humorously, the book even seems to include social commentary since the mayor is portrayed as so obviously inept and clumsy. And one of the dogs is named Snuff? Seriously? Did that make anyone else snicker?

[Amara Tanith]

Wow. I started this expecting mild indoctrination and extreme oversimplification of a complex social issue. Instead, nearly every sentence of this drivel is either determined to offend someone or a downright lie. If you don't want your children to take recreational drugs, don't try to instill this lesson in them with this book; once they're a few years older, they'll hardly appreciate being condescended and lied to, and that certainly won't do anything to help your case.

[Kristal]

Not a bad intro to a complex problem for kids. But once again, the only time Papa bear is in the story, he is made to look like a raging hypocrite.