The Berenstain Bears Save Christmas

The Berenstain Bears

by Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain, Mike Berenstain

Happy Holidays! Well, maybe not so happy as far as Mama Bear is concerned. She misses Christmas past, when her family gathered together around a little tree, with feelings of love and goodwill. But this year it seems as if everybody in Bear Country has gone Christmas-crazy -- fighting for the last toy on the shelf, jamming the roadways with honking cars, and covering Bear homes with enough Christmas lights to blot out the stars. Mama Bear isn't the only one who thinks this Christmas lacks the true holiday spirit. Someone is watching the Bears on his scanner-machine -- someone who knows more about Christmas than anyone and doesn't like what he sees one bit. It is Santa Bear, of course, and he's ready to take drastic action! Only the Berenstain Bears can change his mind, but will they be in time to save Christmas? Like the Bear family, Stan, Jan, and Mike Berenstain have the true Christmas spirit in their hearts, and they prove it with this merry holiday story.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday, Fiction, Animals, Juvenile

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 2003

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

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mama Bear and Santa Bear are disgusted with the commercialization of Christmas, the frantic consumers, and the gaudy decorations. Santa goes nuclear and cancels Christmas while Mama harangues her family to simplify and get back to the Christmas spirit she knew as a kid.

There is still a chance to save Christmas, though, as Santa goes the Diogenes route, looking for one good bear with the right heart. And a penis.

The book is preachy and ham-fisted and told in rhyme, and I always worry when I see people stuck in a blindered nostalgia spiral. I mean, they all but make hats saying, "Make Christmas Great Again."

Still, I do enjoy the musical of the same name that grew out of this book a few years after it was published. But that show does add Rip-Off Ralph to spice things up.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bear family helps restore Santa's faith in "the true spirit of Christmas."

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is very different.
They're going all out for their house!
It shows Toys "R" Bears. 'Now it seemed Christmas meant let's push and shove!' 
I like the scene of Santa's sleigh in the sky over Bear Country covered in snow.
'Now Santa got e-mail, 
Which he read with alarm,
All asking for toys
Fully lacking in charm.'
-'a virtual pet that up and bites 
If you fail to feed it.'
Haha
Little Doggie Dooty.
Electronic pooper-scooper.
I noticed this in another book too. The Bears' treehouse was never that close to town. And they didn't have neighbors that close either!
Sister looks evil at the bottom of the page with their Christmas lists.
I just read a book, the Berenstain bears meet Santa, where sister wrote a large Christmas list, and brother told her not to. U can't do this again.
Bearal and Crate.
I love the writing in Santa's letter to his wife.
How did santa's disappearance make the news?
Of course Mama knows better, and they take all their decorations down besides some lights around the door.
It said Santa looked in the countryside. Now all of a sudden they're out in the country with no neighbors.
'He could always feel it coming in his left big toe.' In another book it said Papa Bear could feel the snow coming in his big toe. You can't be so repetitive!!
It's ridiculous that it's 86 below. & Pa goes out to feed a bird.
Papa Bear is talking so different. 
"Little birdies gotta eat on Christmas, too. But if you don't mind my asking, who the heck are you?"
-"well, whoever you are, 'tain't fit out for bear or beast."
The page with the Bear family in the sleigh and the town aglow with snow falling is pretty.!
That's impressive for them to write that song.
Pretty page with them all in the sleigh going down the drive.
I also like the page of Santa flying away in the blue sky. I didn't think he'd reveal himself!

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

We really love the Berenstain Bears so I feel bad about this rating but this book was awful. The first depiction of angry Santa Bear was
just scary. We really love decorating for Christmas and do it for fun not "to compete." One of our favorite things to do at Christmas is drive around town and look at all the pretty decorations and lights. This book complained about them on every page. I feel like Scrooge himself wrote this book. I almost went to throw this book in the trash instead of putting it on the kid's book shelf. So glad I only paid 25 cents for this book.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though secular, this is a good book about concentrating on the things (other than religious worship) that truly matter at Christmas - helping others, appreciating the simple things, spending time with family. We have read this one annually for several years now and it really does keep us more intentional with our traditions, decorations, and celebrations. Berenstain clever rhyming text throughout the book.

[Lauren Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 7 year old daughter adores this series and we are trying to read them all. I checked this one out from the library and it was an absolute delightful book. I appreciate the message about the less is more approach to Christmas. It’s written in verse and the illustrations are extra cute in this one.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Christmas only a month away, everyone is caught up in the season, but for all the wrong reasons. Mama Bear tries to get the family to refocus on the real reason, but she's not the only one, Santa has become disgruntled at what he sees, and decides to cancel Christmas unless he can find the true spirit of it among the bears.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in rhyme, the Berenstain Bear family revert back to a simpler Christmas and concern themselves more about others than being greedy themselves, and convince Santa not to cancel Christmas after all.

[Gen L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technology is not the devil

[Cheryl Gladfelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

We listened to this over and over and over, and now Carl has parts of it memorized. It's long but entertaining.

[Kaitlyn O · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really sweet and a good reminder that gifts aren’t the true meaning of Christmas 🥰

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The inside cover page was cute. It had the whole Bear family standing framed in a wreath, with a full moon in the sky and the outline of Santa and his reindeer with the sleigh. It's amazing how the bears look different in almost every book. Here they were bigger, their faced broader, and their fur such a dark brown.

When I realized this was a rewording of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas I was dismayed because that is so overdone. It's been done so many times, for other holidays even, that I never wanted to read it again.

There's a certain charm to these. "The shoppers were busy to-ing and fro-ing." And "for directions just ask any chipmunk or toad."

Coming off of one where getting a Christmas tree was like the worst thing Papa could ever do for Christmas, I was instantly annoyed that Know it All Mama had such a problem with all of the directions. There is nothing wrong with decorating your house as much as you want to. And the authors were being irresponsible by implying people are wrong by putting out decorations. She thought only a tree was enough, and that it was supposed to be about caring and families and giving and sharing.

Santa looked scary with those dark, severe eyebrows drawn down as he angrily watched the bears fighting each other for sales. It was funny though how he was alarmed when he read emails from kids wanting toys lacking in charm.

"This cub wants a video game, and I hate to say it, but this game is so complicated it's easier not to play it!
And here is one that's even worse--
cubs simply do not need it--
a virtual pet that up and bites
if you fail to feed it.
And worst of all,
this cub wants this innovative cutie,
a miniature canine named
Little Doggie Dooty,
with an item purchased extra
that's positively super,
a high-tech battery-operated
electronic pooper-scooper."

I liked the scene of him thinking back on how Christmas used to be, flying over the town with snow falling. It was cute how two elves and a reindeer peeked into his room after he went to bed and pulled the covers over his head.

Having such a big deal made over the bears putting up lights and trying to compete and outdo each other was annoying. Just because someone puts up a lot of lights doesn't mean they're trying to beat someone with them.

When showing the bears looking greedy, Sister looked maniacal, like a killer. They took it too far.
It was weird how everyone knew Santa disappeared. Thought no one knew anything about him, so it threw me that everyone knew his location and kept up with him, enough to have him on the news.
Saying that Santa knew it was going to snow, he always felt it in his left toe was such a problem. The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree had the exact same thing in it. Papa could always tell it was going to snow because he felt it in his left big toe. Idk if they forgot they'd written that and subconsciously used it again, or if they thought they could use it in two books, but that was a terrible idea.

[Rachel Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

As others have said, I agree with the message of the book but found the execution terrible. Not only was it overly preachy, but it verse was clunky and tiresome. The book was also unnecessarily, painfully long. I quickly found myself hoping after each long paragraph on every page that it would be over, like "yes, okay okay we get it, everyone is greedy and only cares about the trappings of the holiday...jeeze." This is one of the very few books I did not enjoy reading to my 5 year old.

[Karlyn Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book for Seth and for myself. The ONLY thing that could have made it better is if it had included the true meaning of Christmas in terms of Christianity. However, I was able to take the important messages from this book and have a great discussion with him about the importance of why we really celebrate Christmas. I plan to read this book to him at least once a week from now until Christmas is over. I had picked it up from the library today, but I am planning on purchasing a copy of it so that I can have it from year to year to serve as a reminder when the "greedies" get bad!

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a longer story than normal for a Berenstain Bears book, HOWEVERY it is such a joy to read! All lines are rhyming with one another and the storyline is heart warming and you can get a bit teary eyed as you read it. The illustrations as always are great! Although a bit long my 2 year old granddaughter still sat as still as ever while she watched the pictures and listened as I read. A wonderful book to read any time of the year but especially at Christmas as it was meant to be. You won't be disappointed....

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excerpt from the book:
"Mama Bear missed how it all used to be,
when all Christmas needed was a small Christmas tree.
Christmastime once was a time just for caring,
a time for all families to be giving and sharing.
But now it seemed Christmas no longer meant love.
Now it seemed Christmas meant let's push and shove!
Let's fight for that very last toy on the shelf!
Let's look out for that fellow known as yourself!"

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've generally enjoyed the Berenstain Bears books, but this story came off to me as self-righteous and judgmental. I agree with the message -- that we should be less concerned with "getting", the huge to-do lists, and the over-the-top decor, but the execution was terrible. Having Santa play judge & jury -- on everything from the size of lighting displays to the types of service rendered made me feel awkward as a reader. I can't recommend this book to children.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the message of this story about avoiding the consumerism and greediness of Christmas. It's also told in a similar verse to the Night Before Christmas, which is fun. It is a little over the head of my 3 yr old, but I will definitely get this one out each year as he gets older.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly standard Berenstain Bears book; while this one is about Christmas, it has common themes of kindness, goodwill toward others, and generosity, as do many of their stories. It's a nice tale to read at Christmastime and our girls enjoyed it.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

How many books can one person write about the true meaning of Christmas? At least four. This one has less to do about religion and includes Santa, but has a weirdly anti-technology message. There is also a song at the end.

[Katherine | readbykatherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of negative reviews about this book. However, I think this book was good. I didn’t find the Santa to be evil, but discouraged. As the authors are Christian it made sense for them to focus less on the hubbub of the holiday rush and more on the meaning of Christmas.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I doubt many people really got the message or if they did, they didn't change.

[Collin Katrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not so sure about Santa's little break down and why does his beard look like a mustache? Other than that, it's a pretty classic Berenstain tale.

[Kandise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touch preachy but I like the verse.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! I used to love this series so much!

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally don't like to read anything Christmas before December but my daughter picked it so we read it. Very cute story!

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reread was so sweet and heartwarming❤️💚❤️

[Michelle Cropper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells a great story about the true meaning of Christmas.