The Bears' Picnic

by Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain

With the forces of nature conspiring against them, Papa Bear perseveres and finds the perfect spot for the Bear family picnic.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Animals, Poetry, Classics

72 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 1966

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

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is very different in this one. It is not the bears we love and sister bear is not in this one. Still, it is a fun little story. There are some zany moments like when they are on the mountain top and the lightening storms.

Both the kids really enjoyed this and laughed out loud. They both gave it a loud 5 stars. They even clapped at the end of the book. It was very popular in our house. A good and fun read for the kids.

[Mariah Roze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book to my students as part of our Dr. Seuss collection. They didn't care for it too much.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my brother’s favorite audio books to listen to on tape when we were kids. It had been my book (my name had been written in it in my block-child handwriting), only to be scribbled over in crayon, with my brother’s name written in that same crayon on the opposite page, lol.

I vaguely remember the tape reading the book out loud and I think it was yellow. I wonder whatever happened to it? Probably stolen by my brother!

Memory Lane aside, this is super cute, if not the Berenstain Bears we know. There is no Sister Bear for one and the artwork is different, but that doesn’t detract from the silly story. Poor Mama Bear! As the story progresses, she looks more and more disgruntled until she decided enough was enough.

Definitely one I would recommend to be read out loud to little ones. They will giggle over the pictures in it for sure!

4, nostalgic, stars.

[Nakia's Hideaway]

Loved it!

More shenanigans with Papa Bear leading his family on an unwanted adventure. Oh, the situations he gets them into!

A good one to read to the children in your life.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea why the Berenstains gave up these funny early readers for moralizing tales!

Modern day Berenstain bear books aren't as good as the older ones, that's for sure. Go on too long, and they all have a treacly moral at the end, and they're just not funny.

This is one of the original. Now, the cover there shows the newer, cutesified bears, but inside it has the old illustrations - with claws!

Anyway, the story progresses just about how you'd expect. Papa Bear wants to go on a picnic, every place is perfect right up until it's NOT, and eventually he ends up back home. It's funny, it rhymes, and there's no moral gumming the story up.

Interestingly, not all the characters are bears. We've got some rabbits and monkeys and others in the mix as well.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so funny! Father Bear keeps picking out the "perfect" picnic spot, and something always goes wrong. Mother Bear has the same expression on her face that I get when my husband spends half an hour picking out the "perfect" place to eat lunch.

My son immediately realized something was wrong with this book: "Where's Sister Bear?" "This was before she was born," I said. Then I showed him the copyright date--1966. "That was before I was born!" I told him. So this is indeed one of the classics.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Berenstain Bears with Brother Bear being only "Small Bear". It is a typical early book of theirs, and my problems with the book's portrayal of fathers, doesn't change the fact that I like it. (Possibly balanced out by the portrayal of a child's obliviousness to their parents' shortcomings.) Fun to read, a good choice of words to flow smoothly and comical situations. I appreciate this book for it's style. It's not an epic adventure, but rather, some things just happened to them while they were trying to have a picnic.

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! This story was so funny.

What I Loved:

Papa Bear was so well-intentioned, but things always seemed to go haywire.

Mama Bear's expressions were priceless. (Hahaha...)

Brother Bear was so encouraging; he totally believed his dad could do no wrong, even as he was subjected to all of the boggled attempts at finding the perfect picnic spot.

This book was a hoot and a half! Seriously.

I secured this title from my local library.

[Lady reading under the Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with my niece and nephew. ❤ They thought it was pretty funny.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like papa bear in this book….. or how he was portrayed.

[katherine (winnie) 🏹 · Rating 5 out of 5]

this isn't the book, the one i read etc is the same title but by andy ellis - and is a collins toddler edition. a book from the 90s. another childhood favourite!

[Karah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Papa Bear presents ineptitude. Mama Bear demonstrates reasonable patience. Brother Bear persists in curiosity. Where is the picnic spot? Papa Bear knows all the wrong places. The miserable search for a picnic spot would have continued if Mama Bear had not left Papa Bear to head home. Combative assertion can be a marvel!!! Upon their return to their sweet home, the Berenstain Bears enjoy their tasty lunch.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot how the bears looked in the older books. I enjoyed reading this to my son.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My five-year-old son picked this book out from the library this week.

I've never been a fan of Berenstain Bear book. They tend to be so saccharine that my stomach hurts, and they usually thump me over the head with a moral so hard they I end up with a headache. So why did this book make me laugh?

The answer is in the copyright date -- 1966. I am so sorry that the Berenstains did not stick to writing their stories like this one, and drawing their bears not like the ones on the cover but like the ones inside this book. These bears can bite! And what big claws they have -- I liked it!

[Cassandra Gelvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Papa Bear fails at being entertaining.

It's inane. Another older Berenstain Bears book with the older style of illustrations and an updated, misleading cover. Papa is taking Small Bear and Mother Bear out on a picnic. He keeps looking for the perfect spot and failing miserably every time. This is Papa Bear being an idiot again. It's really not that interesting to watch Papa Bear fail repeatedly. At the end they just go home again and eat there.

The best part: When they're at the top of a mountain, the mountain gets struck by lightning and splits in half like a tree.

For more children's book reviews, visit my website at http://www.drttmk.com.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one of Stan and Jan Berenstains early reader books Papa Bear keeps trying to find the “perfect spot” for a picnic. Every time the family settles in to eat some kind of disaster happens whether it’s too many people invading the picnic spot or an army of mosquitoes flying in to picnic on the bears! Papa keeps his “can do” attitude, however, and even under a deluge of rain he still has a plan to find the “perfect spot”. The “perfect read” for beginning readers who are reading 2-4 sentences per page.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

06.26.1995 Alissa sat on the rug in her room looking through her bookcase and at an occasional book. I sat on her bed and read these 2 stories. Wow! What a liberating feeling!

The early Berenstain bears sure are scrawny. Petunia's great. She's so adventurous.

05.18.1997 Weird drawings. Were these the first drawings of Mama & Papa?

01.29.1998 People who say they know best often don't.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I read this book to our girls, I had a flashback to reading it as a young child. I remember it quite vividly and I am sure that I read it several times. It's a funny story, and Father Bear, as usual, is stubborn and always picking the wrong place to go for the family picnic. Our girls really enjoyed this story too; it's a classic that has aged well.

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book my son read completely on his own, after Hop on Pop. He judged the book by the cover, and wasn't interested at first. But as we started to read, he loved the silly story and we've read it several times now. Very good for early readers, I only helped with a couple of words such as "ought".

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read this book to my four-year-old and almost-two-year-old daughters, and I could tell they loved it as much as I did as a kid! This was one of my favorites growing up. How could one picnic go so wrong? I love the expressions on Mother and Brother Bear as things progress from bad to worse. This is a fun read for all kids!

[Lauren Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Bears' Picnic is labeled to be a Beginner Book that can be read by the young student all by themselves, however I definitely feel that this book needs to be more towards the end of 1st grade. It is a very cute book with funny illustrations and cute rhyming text. It has a really nice flow to it, so it would be a great book to work on fluency with students.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

One disaster after another strikes in each of the picnic spots that Father chooses (much like The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Vacation). Eventually he finds the perfect spot.

This one is pre-sister bear- I like the old style illustrations

[Megan Ekins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book full of rhyming and it is just a fun story about an adventure the family goes on to find the perfect picnic spot. The only thing I didn't like is how unhappy the Mom seemed on the adventure. I wanted her to be enjoying it too!

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

While browsing my library's Overdrive site I noticed that many of the Berenstain Bears books are now in ebook format. I was thrilled to check out and read this lovely book all over again, reminding me of how much fun this series can be!

[Catarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everytime I researched children books these bears appeared do I decided to check a book or two to see what all the fuzz was about.
I found the book cute and funny, and I liked it that it rhymed. It's a cute children's book.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the rhyming adventure in this story, and how the mom gets sick of the dad's shananigans at the end, and they end up picnicing in the kitchen - and HE takes credit for it. Really enjoyed rereading this one!!

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who can't sympathize with this book. The Dad of the family has a great idea for a fun outing for his family. And then one thing after another gets in the way. I think we have all been there and can all relate.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving five stars to this one just for the various expressions on Mama Bear's face. Goodness, when is Papa Bear going to get a clue? Great fun all the way around! I know I was smiling as I read through this book.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book has a special place in my heart when I read it to my son. I LOVED it as a child and remember wearing it into the ground!

[Stephanie]

good book