Review - The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree

The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree (The Berenstain Bears)
by Stan & Jan Berenstain
Date: 1978
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 48
Format: e-book
Source: library

Three brave little bears explore the inside of a mysterious old tree and go into, up, through, over, down, and out.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a bit different than most of the Berenstain Bears books I remember. The story is kind of detached, with no dialogue and little character exploration.

In this story, three little bears (Brother, Sister, and some random bear I don't recognize) go off to explore the Spooky Old Tree. Inside, rather surprisingly, is a mansion (well, I guess if their family lives inside a tree, it's possible...) and the little bears explore it, getting progressively more scared until they finally reach the homeowner's room. Then, thoroughly terrified, they all run home to Mama.

I'm not quite sure what the point of the story is, other than showing the little bears go on a spooky adventure. Surely Mama bear would've known what was in that tree, so I don't really understand why she would've let the kids go poking around in there (some of the situations they encountered were downright dangerous).

I think I prefer the Berenstain Bears stories that are more focused on character development and message.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 2.83 out of 5