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August 13, 2009

The Berenstain Bears' Mad, Mad, Mad Toy Craze


What's the worst book you've read recently? asks BTT.

Definitely Stan and Jan Berenstain's 1999 book about toy collecting gone awry. Whenever I take my little one to the library we each split off and search the stacks for a handful of books to read. Then we plop them down and negotiate. She always hits the "character" books first (Arthur, Clifford, Dora, etc.) so I set limits on how many of each one I'll read. This last time it was all Berenstain Bears.

No I could go off on the Berenstain's, but I won't. They have their place and there must be something to them for such enduring popularity. I even appreciated the one where they go to the dentist when I had to take my little one the first time.

But there is only so much of this didactic stuff you can take and after reading two or three, maybe it was me, but this one barely made sense.

The cubs go crazy for the equivalent of Beanie Babies and instead of the parents teaching them a lesson, like usual, they get swept up in the nonsense as well. It's a good subject for basic financial literacy because while some collections grow in value, you should never collect something just for that reason. If it's just money you want, there are much better investments than collecting toys, books, or teapots. But if toys, books, or teapots are your thing, then by all means go crazy.

Luckily, she didn't ask to check it out and we ended up taking home some Tedd Arnold books instead.