The Berenstain Bears are my secret weapon in my constant battle to instill good habits in my kids. My kids may not listen to me nagging them to clean up their rooms, but they will listen to Mama Bear. Since there's a Berenstain Bear book that covers just about any problem that crops up in our house, we know Mama, Papa, Brother and Sister Bear almost as well as we know our next door neighbors (and they're related to us!).

If you only know the Bear family though some of their more recent books, you might be surprised to learn that the first few Berenstain Bears books aren't about problem-solving at all. Instead, they are rhyming books about life in what later came to be know as "the tree house down a sunny dirt road in Bear Country."

In the very first book, an empty honey pot sends Papa Bear and Small Bear (later to be known as Brother Bear) on a quest for some honey. Mama tells them to get it at the honey store, conveniently located just outside the front door. Papa Bear, however, has grander plans.

"Not at the store. Oh, no, Small Bear. If a bear is smart, If a bear knows how, He goes on a honey hunt. Watch me now!" If you've read any of the Bears' adventures, you'll know that of course Papa's grand plans backfire. He and Small Bear end up hiding in a pond to escape a swarm of angry bees. On the last page, Mama watches with a knowing smile as Papa buys honey from the store.

There's one person in my family who cringes every time a new Bear book shows up on the night's list of requested reading. My husband doesn't like to see Papa always portrayed as a buffoon. Sometimes, just to make my husband feel better, I'll let Papa be the sensible one and Mama be the comic relief.

This story is a fun adventure with lots of expressive illustrations and easy-to-read words. With 61 pages, a child really feels like he's accomplished something when he finishes this book.

Small Bear and Dad Bear go in search of honey. Mother tells them to go to the honey store, but Dad Bear has a better idea. They go in search of a honey tree. One mishap after another, they finally find their honey - only, where a bear finds honey, he also finds BEES.

Dad is clever, though, and they manage to escape unscathed... and they come home with honey, too!

A fun book, and great for beginning readers.

This pleasant book I remembered from my childhood and have read it to my 3 children scores of time. With similar books (eg: 'The Bike Lesson', 'Sam and the Firefly', 'Danny and the Dinosaur')my kids learned to read by age 4 and had a tremendous time doing it. There is something pleasant in these simple adventures and the action, the humor, makes the repetition easy.