History Literature / TheBerenstainBears

** Thankfully, there was another moment where, after the Slumber Party goes a little too out of hand, Papa mentions that maybe it was ''their'' fault too, since they didn't ask if Lizzie's parents would be home.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Many of the Big Chapter Books.

** While the book version of ''Get the Gimmies'' simply dealt with the cubs' greed and tantrums, the cartoon inserted a "let's think of others in need" variation that changed the whole moral (probably because the original storyline would have been [[{Narm} narmy]] and unfitting with the slow-paced tone of the show).

** RealityIsUnrealistic: Under super-strict zero-tolerance (read zero-thinking) rules, kids ''can'' and ''have'' been suspended or even expelled simply for bringing squirt guns to schools, even if it was only by mistake.

'''''The Berenstain Bears''''' is a long-running children's book series created by Stan and Jan Berenstain in 1962. It centers on a family of bears composed of Mama and Papa Bear, and their children, Brother (formerly Small), Sister, and Honey Bear. Yes, those are their real names. It started out as series of simple picture books in the line of DrSeuss, but soon evolved into a series of story picture books for children. Starting in 1993, the Berenstains (that's the authors) began writing Big Chapter Books, which put the characters into more serious situations in much longer (but still kid-oriented) books. The picture books have also taken several formats as well, ranging from small hardcovers written in rhyme, to square picture books. Almost all of the books take the title ''"[[CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase The Berenstain Bears and __________]]"''

* AbsenteeActor: In the 2003 series, Mama was missing from "On the Job", "Big Road Race" and " White Water Adventure", Papa was missing from "The Giddy Grandma", "On the Job", "Big Road Race" and "White Water Adventure", Brother was missing from "The Giddy Grandma", and Sister was missing from "On the Job".

** While the book version of ''Get the Gimmies'' simply dealt with the cubs' greed and tantrums, the cartoon inserted a "let's think of others in need" variation that changed the whole moral.

** In fact, this series provides ''lots'' of them. Among them are [[SantaClaus Santa Bear]], [[AmeliaEarhart Amelia]] [[PunnyName "Bearhart"]][[note]]Which isn't a new one either.[[/note]], the [[BurgerFool Burger Bear]], the Dairy Bear, and the [[GameBoy Game Bear]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Aside from Brother Bear being called Small Bear, anything that was written before ''The Berenstain Bears New Baby'' (the first "First Time Book"). Later entries in those previous lines (e.g., Beginner Books) were written to reflect the First Time Books.[[note]]Which are generally considered to be the "main continuity" of the series.[[/note]] Moreover, the Bears themselves had similar, but nonetheless different designs from the First Time Books.

** Lampshaded with Paps's full name: Papa Q. Bear.

* BumblingDad: Papa Bear, though he is the voice of reason in ''Messy Room''.

** The cartoon version of ''The Sitter'' actually shows Mama & Papa Bear at the community meeting - apparently, their whole reason for going in the first place was because Papa was frustrated with the fact that the gas stations no longer served free coffee & donuts.

* AesopAmnesia: Papa Bear manages to forget one aesop ''in the very same book about it''. He calmly tells Mama to not throw a fit because the cubs accidentally broke a vase...but when they break a window, BerserkButton.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Aside from Brother Bear being called Small Bear, anything that was written before ''The Berenstain Bears New Baby'' (the first "First Time Book"). Later entries in those previous lines (e.g., Beginner Books) were written to reflect the First Time Books.[[note]]Which are generally considered to be the "main continuity" of the series.[[/note]] Moreover, the Bears themsevles had similar, but nonetheless different designs from the First Time Books.

* {{Hypocrite}}: In the chapter book about the dress code, one of the teachers turns up at the Bear family's house to drum up support for a scheduled meeting for a debate about the dress code. Brother happens to be present and asks about the band concert that was previously scheduled at that time. When the teacher brushes off his concerns by claiming the debate is more important and the concert will be rescheduled, Brother storms up to his room in a fit of temper. The narration tells us Brother and the rest of the band want the concert (a school-sponsored event) to be over soon so they can move on; the hypocrisy of the teachers disrupting school events for their own desires (which they had claimed the cubs' fashion choices had been doing) so angers Brother that he goes from being a mildly annoyed but overall neutral party to [[LetsGetDangerous a ringleader of the kids' side of the debate who is ultimately indirectly for their win]].

* RecursiveAdaptation: Some episodes of the TV series were eventually turned into books themselves - twice. Some were rewritten as ''Berenstain Bear Scouts'' chapter books, which of course led to some AdaptationExpansion.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Aside from Brother Bear being called Small Bear, anything that was written before ''The Berenstain Bears New Baby'' (the first "First Time Book"). Later entries in those previous lines (e.g., Beginner Books) were written to reflect the First Time Books.[[/note]]Which are generally considered to be the "main continuity" of the series.[[/note]] Moreover, the Bears themsevles had similar, but nonetheless different designs from the First Time Books.

*** The cartoon version of "The Trouble with Grown Ups gives an explanation as to Mama & Papa's bad tempers - Papa's jigsaw breaks down, so he needs to use the "for sale" section of the paper (which is why he gets mad at Brother for taking it without asking), and Mama has been expecting an important call, which is why she gets mad at Sister for hogging the phone. Also, Mama and Papa apologize for being hard on the cubs, and point out that while they agree that it isn't always easy being a cub, being a parent isn't easy either, leading to the role reversal when Brother and Sister disagree.

** Of note is the fact that, before Sister Bear was born, Brother Bear was originally called Small Bear.

** In fact, this series provides ''lots'' of them. Among them are [[SantaClaus Santa Bear]], Amelia [[strike:Earhart]] Bearhart, [[strike:Burger King]] the Burger Bear, [[strike:Dairy Queen]] the Dairy Bear, and the [[GameBoy Game Bear]].

* FictionalCounterpart: "[[{{Barbie}} Bearbie]]" dolls, present in the books and cartoon. Also [[Toys/BeanieBabies Beary Bubbies]].

* WomenAreWiser: Except for that incident in Messy Room where she lost her temper and started throwing out all the cubs' toys out and Papa got to be the voice of reason, Mama is always right and Papa is always wrong.

** And the theme song in 2003, whre Papa Bear is riding a unicycle, but runs into the screen.