meh

Probably better than bacon-flavored ice cream.

It's just kind of a standard fairy tale type of story. The only reason to have the brothers and sisters coming to the rescue was to have the scene with the wolf riding the out of control ten-seater bicycle.

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Don't get into a stranger's van, even if they're selling ice cream.

Papa Bear is a hypocrite.

There's a "Do as I say, not as I do" thing happening here. It's not bad. It still definitely teaches good rules for the beach.

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Be careful when you're at the beach.

Papa Bear fails in the snow.

Another inane older Berenstain Bear book where Papa tries to teach Small Bear things and just fails miserably at everything.

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Be careful in the winter.

Meanders around Australia.

It reminds me of when my parents want to show me the slides of their vacation. No thanks, Mom. No thanks, Dad. It's not nearly as interesting to me as it was to you.

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Australia is awesome.

Biography in story-poem form.

It's not an amazing book, but it's pretty. It's kind of light and not heavy-handed about anything.

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Art is cool.

Idiosyncratic ABC book featuring mostly animals.

You would think that he could have thought of some kind of animal for V. This is just weird. It's a weird book. It's kind of arty. I don't know why it won a medal.

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Alphabet book.

Do we love soccer? Who knows.

Maybe she just wants them to play harder and isn't giving them any real advice? Do they even have a coach? It's unclear why they're not having fun at first.

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“Having fun is what playing a game is all about.”

The authors didn't care enough to write a story.

It feels like it should go somewhere as a story, but it doesn't. There's no story here. It's just a framing device for a lecture.

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Wash your hands, or you'll still be sick.

Hijinks stereotypically ensue.

We're supposed to get into trouble! Let's get into some super-stereotypical trouble right now!

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Go to sleep at a sleepover? Sleepovers are exhausting for parents?

Pointless story with wasted potential.

You would think that they could come up with some kind of message, but it's not even trying for a message. Maybe that's good.

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None.