Review: Throughout this book the father was constantly making poor decisions in regards to the "proper" camping/wilderness techniques. However, the moral of the story was clear at the end when the children claimed they learned a lot about what were smart choices and what were not smart choices. The message of the book was clear that the children should be following directions from a source that had the correct answers (a book) rather than a source that did not quite know the correct answers (the father). I thought this book taught a good moral lesson because the children were able to pick up on what was right and what was wrong. For example, they knew that they should build a canoe instead of just using a log. They also discovered proper first aid techniques when their father fell. The father even acknowledged that the book was helpful at the end when he was hurt and told the children to use the book in order to help him. Therefore, I think that the story line was thought out and showed a clear connection between what was right and what was wrong.

Summary: In this story, a young bear and his fellow bear scouts decide to go camping with just a guidebook to show them the way. When the bear's father discovers that his son is going camping with just a guidebook, he decides to tag along in order to show the bear scouts that he knows more than the guidebook. However, throughout the book the father makes poor decisions while the bear scouts follow the guidebook. It is clear that the guidebook was more helpful than the father who was constantly getting in difficult situations. However, by the end of the book the father realized that the guidebook had a lot of useful information in it and was able to use it to his advantage. ( )

I can see why some people really hate these books because it is clear that poor Papa Bear is the butt of all the jokes and just seems to do the opposite of what is considered wise. He likes to do things the quick and easy way, which ends up causing him more problems than not. However I can't help but agree with him that you have not camped out until you've slept in a cave (though I cannot remember if I've ever slept in a cave in my many adventures out bush).
What appeals to me is that I used to be a cub-scout when I was much younger and as such I liked any book (and movie) that involved the scouts. Mind you, I ended up being a pretty shocking scout (I didn't even get my Campcraft badge) and ended up dropping out, which is a bit of a shame because you can actually learn quite a lot of survival skills which you generally do not learn all that much any more (though from what I can remember, most, if not all, of my survival skills were learnt from scouts).
The interesting thing about the scouts is that the founder, Baden Powell, was a soldier in the Boar War. I remember when I was a kid that I believed that by joining the scouts one is preparing themselves for a job in the military. Okay, thanks the the plethora of Hollywood movies involving special forces operatives, a life in the military can seem quite sexy. In reality it is not, as some soldiers have attested to. What scouts teaches you is discipline and the respect for authority. The problem with the military is that respect for authority means that you jump up and say 'yes sir' whenever you are given a command, whether that command be right or wrong. As such you may end up being forced into an act that is not only wrong, but is also quite possibly a breach of human rights.
As for this book: I loved this book as a kid (probably because it involved scouts). Some people seem to be put off by the way that Papa Bear is always the but of the jokes, and acts like such a buffoon, but I guess that is a part of the fun. As a kid I never looked at my father as a buffoon (though I did rebel against him, as us teenagers are prone to do – though I would not say that it was because I read Berenstain Bears books). I guess I have more problems with Mister Dog than I have with this book. ( )

The Bear Scouts is a great Berenstain Bears book--my favorite, in fact. Like the other early books, The Bear Scouts features Papa Bear getting into all sorts of trouble, trying to show off and do things his way.

I've always liked the story in this book best. The troubles Papa Bear finds himself in are much more amusing, to me. And once again, Papa Bear tries to pass off his failures as being intentional ("On second thought--/I'll stay with you./So I can show you/What to do."), and the bear scouts put up with it. Of course, by the end, Papa Bear has learned his lesson, and he's reading the Bear Scout Guidebook, looking a bit sheepish.

(The rest of this review is posted on my blog.) ( )

Independent Reading Level: Grades 2nd-3rd
Awards: N/A