The Berenstain Bears in the Freaky Funhouse

By Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

When the carnival comes to town to raise money for Bear Country Hospital, everyone is excited to ride the rides and play some games. But when the rides don't work and the game prizes aren't good, Brother and Sister Bear suspect something fishy is in the works. Can the cubs get to the bottom of it before the carnival is ruined?

This chapter book story is the perfect next step for Berenstain Bears fans!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Sep 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062188625

Stan Berenstain

Stan and Jan Berenstain were already successful cartoonists for magazines and adult humor books when they began writing children's books. The first story starring the bear family, The Big Honey Hunt, appeared in 1962. Since then, more than 250 Berenstain Bears books have been published, and more than 260 million copies have been sold. What began as an idea sparked by their young sons' interest in children's books has become over the years arguably the best-selling children's book series ever. Since their inception, the Berenstain Bears stories have expanded to include picture books, beginning readers, and chapter books—even a hit TV show on PBS. Writing and illustrating the books has become a Berenstain family affair. Mike joined with his parents as a creative team in the late 1980s. The Bear family has expanded over the years as well. Sister Bear arrived in 1974, and baby Honey joined the family in 2000. Since Stan's death at age eighty-two in 2005, Jan and Mike have continued to write and illustrate wonderful new adventures for Mama, Papa, Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear. They live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which looks a lot like Bear Country.

Book preview

Chapter 1

A Gruesome Twosome?

Most of the Bear Country cubs loved summer more than any other season. Summer meant fun. It meant warm weather, games, summer camp—and, best of all, no school.

Not that school was all bad. It could be very interesting. But it could also be boring. And when it was boring, all you could do was wait for it to get interesting again.

It was different being bored in the summer, especially before summer camp started. Instead of sitting in the school cafeteria at lunch staring at your shepherd’s pie, you could get together with your friends for burgers and shakes at the Burger Bear. You could even plan something fun for after lunch.

And that’s exactly what Brother and Sister Bear, Cousin Fred, and Queenie McBear did one bright summer day. They sat in their favorite booth at the Burger Bear and traded ideas.

Brother wanted to get teams together for a softball game. Sister wanted to fly kites. Queenie was so set on spending the afternoon playing video games at the mall that Brother and Sister finally agreed on that. But Fred was against all video games.

They just rot your brain, he said. Even softball is better for the mind.

Oh, yeah? said Queenie. How?

The machine keeps score for you in a video game, said Fred. In softball, at least, you have to keep count of balls and strikes all by yourself.

Oh, gimme a break! moaned Queenie. She turned away from Fred in disgust and looked out the window. Hey, look, she said, pointing across the street at the front entrance of Bear Country Hospital. Isn’t that Mama and Papa Bear coming out of the hospital? What’s wrong, Brother? Is Grizzly Gramps or Gran sick?

No, they’re fine, said Brother. Mama and Papa are on the hospital building-fund committee. They just had a meeting.

Brother explained that Dr. Gert Grizzly, president of the hospital, was trying to raise money to build a new wing for the hospital. He pointed to a sign on the hospital lawn. It showed a big thermometer with the red mercury inside shooting up through a dollar sign.

Nice sign, said Cousin Fred. Clever, isn’t it, Queenie?

But Queenie wasn’t looking at the sign. She had her eye on the hospital entrance. Hey, there’s Dr. Gert, she said. And look who she’s with!

Ralph Ripoff! said Sister with a gasp. Ralph was the town’s biggest small-time crook.

The cubs just stared for a moment. There was Dr. Gert Grizzly, one of Bear Country’s most honest and respected citizens, talking with the famous swindler. It was indeed a strange sight. And they weren’t just talking. Ralph was all smiles and chuckles, and Gert was smiling back. She was even giggling.

Do you think they’re a twosome? Fred asked Queenie.

"A gruesome twosome, if you ask me," said Queenie.

Maybe Ralph has eyes for Dr. Gert, said Sister.

Brother shook his head. The only thing Ralph has eyes for, Sis, is other bears’ money.

But Dr. Gert is hanging on Ralph’s every word, said Queenie. "That kind of worries

Reviews for The Berenstain Bears in the Freaky Funhouse

[sopoforic · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's summer, and Brother and Sister Bear, Cousin Fred, and Queenie McBear can't agree on what to do. Luckily for them, the circus comes to town. In order to raise money for a new hospital wing, Ralph Ripoff has asked his friend, Captain Billy, to bring his circus to town, and share the profits with Dr. Gert Grizzly, for the hospital. But something seems crooked about this circus. Will the cubs uncover the truth about the circus and save the new hospital wing, or will they be sleeping with the fishes?

The Berenstain Bears in the Freaky Funhouse by Stan and Jan Berenstain is a children's chapter book starring the Berenstain Bears. Unlike the picture books, which feature full-page, full-color illustrations, this book features mostly smaller, black-and-white illustrations, plus a few full-page, black-and-white illustrations.

The art is pretty good, even without any color. The expressions on the bears' faces are, as usual for a Berenstain Bears book, odd, but this time the strange expressions are evil grins on the bad guys' faces, so that's fine. There are plenty of great illustrations of the circus, including the crooked games. Seeing Cousin Fred struggle to lift the weighted bottle is great.

The story is pretty good. The mystery of exactly who is cheating whom, and how the cubs will save the hospital wing, is very nice, for a children's book, but the bears' acting as the authors' voices is, as usual, annoying. It's inconsistent, too: here, Cousin Fred insists that video games will rot your brain, and he'd rather do anything than play games, but in The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings, we learn that Cousin Fred has a large video game collection, which Brother Bear is jealous of. Of course, in that book, Mama complains about Brother's desire for video games, so we get an anti-gaming message, either way.

It's also a bit irritating when Mama insists that she will not tolerate cubs gossiping about grown-ups, and then she and Papa immediately proceed to do exactly that. I'd initially thought that it was going to be a lesson for Papa, that grown-ups, too, shouldn't talk about others behind their backs, but, no, it was just a lesson that kids should never question adults. Later, when a whole group of the adults are gossiping about Dr. Gert and Ralph, and Sister interjects with a comment, Mama again scolds her for gossiping. It's just hypocrisy, frankly.

But there are some good lessons in there, too. Always read things before you sign them, for one. Be wary of anyone that claims they're doing evil for good reasons, for another. Don't trust carnival games, too.

The Berenstain Bears in the Freaky Funhouse is a fun book. I spent about twenty minutes reading it, so it might provide an hour or two of good entertainment for a child, especially given the interesting illustrations. Definitely a good book for fans of the Berenstain Bears.

This review also appears on my blog.