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Berenstain Bears Lift the Flap Books
The Berenstain Bears Trim the Tree
Christmas is just around the corner, and everyone in the Bear family wants to help decorate the tree! Includes thirteen flaps that open to reveal hidden holiday surprises.
16 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2007
About the author
Jan Berenstain
891 books229 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
December 11, 2022
A simplistic story of the Bear family decorating their Christmas trees. Little ones will enjoy lifting the flaps, I'm sure.
December 25, 2021
A family of bears find missing things and decorate their Christmas tree. The lift-the-flap feature is cool, tho the story itself is simplistic.
December 22, 2016
I didn’t know this was a pop-up book, which immediately brought the age level down to a younger audience than I had expected. I guess young kids would enjoy being surprised by what was under the flaps, but I didn’t find it necessary. I thought it was odd that Honey as hiding under a wreath, because the wreath didn’t fit in with the scene. It was just there randomly in the middle of the space, in a way that didn’t make sense. The wreath wouldn’t have stood up like that in front of boxes and this object. Mama Bear was cute though, with her mouth to the side as she held the tangled strand of lights.
I was surprised they had a kitten and a puppy. I see the author was just making things up and adding more characters to the story to get more out of the series.
More attention needed to be given to the illustrations. It wasn’t clear that the Christmas tree was too tall and was hitting the roof, because the yellow “wall” stopped before the tree did. The tree was bent over to the side, but the branches at the top went out into the white space above the yellow wall. It made no sense. A roof should have been drawn. And the position of Papa’s hat made no sense at all. It was at such an angle that it couldn’t have been at. It was upside down with the brim over the top of his head, and the shape of the hat was weird: it had this round ball, above a small trim and an oval brim.
Most of the writing completely gave away what was under the flaps. “Honey Bear finds out that pine sap is sticky!” And she sat there holding a strand of sap..what a surprise. At least we didn’t know what was behind the tree: Papa Bear holding the saw with little clumps of needles all over him. Mama Bear, annoyingly, stood looking wise and smug with her arms crossed..yeah, that needs to be stopped. Sister wanted to find her silver angel ornament. Guess what was hidden under the flap? Her silver angel ornament. Then, Brother points to a “Snoozer Dog,” which was hidden under a flap. Why was it hidden if you’re going to just tell us what it is before we even look? It went on to have Sister find her old dollhouse-surprise!-and Brother his airplane, so we knew just what would be under the flap. I don’t think the authors understood the purpose of the flap. It gave the reader nothing to do.
The story incredibly-stupidly-ended with Sister having trouble finding her angel ornament. Exciting stuff. And-stupidly-Honey Bear found it and shook the box, then she had it on top of her head for some reason. And the next page the whole book ends with a “Merry Christmas!” No transition or wrap-up. No story at all. There’s no lesson to be learned, no humor, no charm, nothing to learn. Basically, there was no point for this story whatsoever. The flaps made no sense; they had no purpose whatsoever other than just being a “lift-the-flap book.” Trimming the tree wasn’t even the issue. That didn’t even matter to the story. It wasn’t even commented on. At least it was so short, but that was because it had no point. I don’t even know why this was written.
I was surprised they had a kitten and a puppy. I see the author was just making things up and adding more characters to the story to get more out of the series.
More attention needed to be given to the illustrations. It wasn’t clear that the Christmas tree was too tall and was hitting the roof, because the yellow “wall” stopped before the tree did. The tree was bent over to the side, but the branches at the top went out into the white space above the yellow wall. It made no sense. A roof should have been drawn. And the position of Papa’s hat made no sense at all. It was at such an angle that it couldn’t have been at. It was upside down with the brim over the top of his head, and the shape of the hat was weird: it had this round ball, above a small trim and an oval brim.
Most of the writing completely gave away what was under the flaps. “Honey Bear finds out that pine sap is sticky!” And she sat there holding a strand of sap..what a surprise. At least we didn’t know what was behind the tree: Papa Bear holding the saw with little clumps of needles all over him. Mama Bear, annoyingly, stood looking wise and smug with her arms crossed..yeah, that needs to be stopped. Sister wanted to find her silver angel ornament. Guess what was hidden under the flap? Her silver angel ornament. Then, Brother points to a “Snoozer Dog,” which was hidden under a flap. Why was it hidden if you’re going to just tell us what it is before we even look? It went on to have Sister find her old dollhouse-surprise!-and Brother his airplane, so we knew just what would be under the flap. I don’t think the authors understood the purpose of the flap. It gave the reader nothing to do.
The story incredibly-stupidly-ended with Sister having trouble finding her angel ornament. Exciting stuff. And-stupidly-Honey Bear found it and shook the box, then she had it on top of her head for some reason. And the next page the whole book ends with a “Merry Christmas!” No transition or wrap-up. No story at all. There’s no lesson to be learned, no humor, no charm, nothing to learn. Basically, there was no point for this story whatsoever. The flaps made no sense; they had no purpose whatsoever other than just being a “lift-the-flap book.” Trimming the tree wasn’t even the issue. That didn’t even matter to the story. It wasn’t even commented on. At least it was so short, but that was because it had no point. I don’t even know why this was written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2017
Kids will really enjoy these pop-ups.
It says Where is Honey? Obviously she's behind the wreath, but if she is, she would show through the hole in the wreath.
There was no inside cover for this book, so the librarians had to put the sticker on the second page.
I'm surprised to see they have a car and dog.
He says where is my saw, and it's behind his hat, but idk how the hat is on his head, when it's laying sideways. & he's only holding the saw, not the hat.
I wondered how he was going to trim the tree, and thought he was going to trim the bottom and just take limbs off. Not that he'd trim the top! Now there's this stump on the top. The texture of the tree isn't right.
There's this weird trail of what looks like yellow paper leading from the tree. I think it's supposed to be sap, but it def doesn't look like that.
It shows the excitement of finding your favorite ornaments, when sister wanted to find the silver angel.
And Brother finds an old childhood you in the attic.
Idk how the box with the angel in it got on top of Honey's head.
Then it just ends with Merry Christmas! On the inside cover, not even on a page.
Idk who designed this thing.
Idk the writing was so simple and for a younger audience when the other books were for a different age group. It's like they've backtracked. I guess the addition of a baby in the family allowed them to go young again.
It says Where is Honey? Obviously she's behind the wreath, but if she is, she would show through the hole in the wreath.
There was no inside cover for this book, so the librarians had to put the sticker on the second page.
I'm surprised to see they have a car and dog.
He says where is my saw, and it's behind his hat, but idk how the hat is on his head, when it's laying sideways. & he's only holding the saw, not the hat.
I wondered how he was going to trim the tree, and thought he was going to trim the bottom and just take limbs off. Not that he'd trim the top! Now there's this stump on the top. The texture of the tree isn't right.
There's this weird trail of what looks like yellow paper leading from the tree. I think it's supposed to be sap, but it def doesn't look like that.
It shows the excitement of finding your favorite ornaments, when sister wanted to find the silver angel.
And Brother finds an old childhood you in the attic.
Idk how the box with the angel in it got on top of Honey's head.
Then it just ends with Merry Christmas! On the inside cover, not even on a page.
Idk who designed this thing.
Idk the writing was so simple and for a younger audience when the other books were for a different age group. It's like they've backtracked. I guess the addition of a baby in the family allowed them to go young again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2017
I'll trim your tree, if you know what I mean. And I don't.
It's a pretty inane and simple lift-the-flap book. I feel children of an age where they would still be interested in lift-the-flap books would also be tearing the books apart. But maybe my kids are more destructive than average children.
The bears decorate their house for Christmas. Papa Bear comes home with a tree. It's too tall. He trims it. They go up in the attic to get all the Christmas ornaments. They see other stuff in the attic. They come down. They decorate the tree. The end.
The story is basically just a vehicle for the lift-the-flap gimmick. There's nothing to it; there's no message; nobody learns anything; nothing happens. Pretty boring. A weird thing that they keep doing is saying things like, "But where is Honey Bear?" and then you lift the flap and there she is, sitting under the wreath. The strangest one, I think, is, "'This tree is a little tall,' says Papa. 'I will trim it down. Where is my saw?'" And in the picture, his hat is in the process of falling off his head, and underneath the flap that is his hat, he is holding his arm, holding onto the saw. Why would he even be in that position? That's so bizarre. You don't put a saw under your hat.
Sister Bear is looking for her favorite Christmas ornament. They can't find it. Then Honey Bear has found it. It keeps saying things like, "'Look,' says Sister, 'Here is my old dollhouse.'" And she's standing next to a chest, and you can't actually see the dollhouse until you lift the flap of the chest. Maybe from her perspective, she can see it?
The best part: Papa cuts the tree (confusingly referred to as "trimming the tree"), and he does this by cutting the top of the tree off. Nobody cares. It just looks stupid, until they decorate it, and then it magically looks like a normal tree with a point at the top. It kind of morphs from having this really thick trunk at the top to having a magically tapered one. It looks like a Christmas tree with the top chopped off. If you're going to cut your tree shorter, you need to cut it from the bottom. And seriously, Papa Bear is a carpenter. He should know how tall their house (that he built) is. He should have measured it, and cut the tree accordingly. It's just dumb.
Message: Decorating Christmas trees is fun.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
It's a pretty inane and simple lift-the-flap book. I feel children of an age where they would still be interested in lift-the-flap books would also be tearing the books apart. But maybe my kids are more destructive than average children.
The bears decorate their house for Christmas. Papa Bear comes home with a tree. It's too tall. He trims it. They go up in the attic to get all the Christmas ornaments. They see other stuff in the attic. They come down. They decorate the tree. The end.
The story is basically just a vehicle for the lift-the-flap gimmick. There's nothing to it; there's no message; nobody learns anything; nothing happens. Pretty boring. A weird thing that they keep doing is saying things like, "But where is Honey Bear?" and then you lift the flap and there she is, sitting under the wreath. The strangest one, I think, is, "'This tree is a little tall,' says Papa. 'I will trim it down. Where is my saw?'" And in the picture, his hat is in the process of falling off his head, and underneath the flap that is his hat, he is holding his arm, holding onto the saw. Why would he even be in that position? That's so bizarre. You don't put a saw under your hat.
Sister Bear is looking for her favorite Christmas ornament. They can't find it. Then Honey Bear has found it. It keeps saying things like, "'Look,' says Sister, 'Here is my old dollhouse.'" And she's standing next to a chest, and you can't actually see the dollhouse until you lift the flap of the chest. Maybe from her perspective, she can see it?
The best part: Papa cuts the tree (confusingly referred to as "trimming the tree"), and he does this by cutting the top of the tree off. Nobody cares. It just looks stupid, until they decorate it, and then it magically looks like a normal tree with a point at the top. It kind of morphs from having this really thick trunk at the top to having a magically tapered one. It looks like a Christmas tree with the top chopped off. If you're going to cut your tree shorter, you need to cut it from the bottom. And seriously, Papa Bear is a carpenter. He should know how tall their house (that he built) is. He should have measured it, and cut the tree accordingly. It's just dumb.
Message: Decorating Christmas trees is fun.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
June 20, 2018
The Berenstain Bears celebrate the Christmas season by decorating their Christmass tree.
December 26, 2020
They did a nice job of incorporating the flaps into the story so you had a reason to look for them. Did even rather abruptly though.
December 14, 2021
A cute little lift the flap book which always adds that extra surprise. I think this is more of a nostalgic book for me than an actual fun read.
September 20, 2024
A fun lift-the-flap book, about decorating a tree together!
August 25, 2025
Cute little flap book to put kids in the Christmas spirit. The Christmas colors, decoration and fun peek a boo hidden figures are entertaining for young minds.
January 4, 2013
Ah, those devilish Berenstain Bears are back! Although, they don't really look like bears- they look more like what Donald Trump would look like if he was a bear (each member of the Berenstain tribe seems to have a weird combover). The book itself is ok- my son didn't seem to find any of the hiding pictures to be that interesting or surprising (and they are somewhat illogical- why would a saw be hiding underneath a hat for instance?). Warning: flap books are not best for 7 month old boys. They get angry when you do not let them chew on the flaps.
November 22, 2010
Super cute flap-book.
AR 1.6
AR 1.6
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews