The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV -...

Summary: Concerned that the family is spending too much time in front ofthe television and neglecting other activities, Mama Bear decides that therewill be no television watching for one week. [1. Television—Fiction. 2.Bears—Fiction.] I. Berenstain, Jan. II. Title. III. Series. PZ7.B4483Bem1984 [E] 83-22887 eISBN: 978-0-375-98941-4

Copyright © 1984 by Berenstains, Inc. All rights reserved underInternational and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in theUnited States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously inCanada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Library of CongressCataloging in Publication Data: Berenstain, Stan. The Berenstain bears andtoo much tv. (First time books)

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It was a ne spring day in Bear Country. Thebluebirds were singing. The trout wereleaping. And except for one small cloud ofdust billowing behind the school bus as itcame over the hill, the air was sparkling clean.

Mama Bear was inside the family’s treehouse xing Brother and Sister Bear’s after-school snack.

Brother and Sister Bear got o the schoolbus and came into the kitchen with hardly ahello. Then they did what they did every day:They took their milk and cookies into theliving room and switched on the TV.

“There’s no question about it,” thoughtMama. “Those cubs are watching too muchTV!”

Later, when Papa Bear came in from hisshop and joined Brother and Sister, Mamabecame even more convinced .…

“There’s absolutely no question about it. Thewhole Bear family is watching too much TV!”

She wasn’t quite sure how it had happened.Maybe it began when the old fuzzy-picturedblack and white set broke down and they got abig new color set.

Or maybe it started when Papa put the bigantenna up on top of the tree house andbrought in pictures from all over Bear Country.

But however it had happened, one thing wassure—the Bear family was spending more andmore time watching television and less andless time with all the other things they mightbe doing instead.

The Bear family had always had livelyconversations around the dinner table—

—but not lately. Lately they just sat aroundand chewed.

The cubs had all kinds of fun playingoutdoors. But not anymore.

They were too busy watching Nutty Bearand The Bear Stooges.

That evening after dinner, when Brother andSister scampered in to turn on the TV, Mamastopped them and said her piece: “We’ve beenwatching altogether too much televisionaround here!”

“But, Mama,” said Brother. “Nutty Bear iscoming on and we miss’ll it!”

“And The Bear Stooges!” added Sister.

“Well, you’ll just have to miss them!” saidMama firmly.

“And furthermore,” she added, “you may aswell get used to the idea because there’s notgoing to be any television around here for awhole week!”

“No TV for a week!?” said the shocked cubs.“But, Mama … ”

“Never mind the buts,” said Papa. “Yourmother is absolutely right. There’s a lot moreto life than TV—like homework, for instance.And fresh air and sunshine. And exercise. NoTV for a week is an excellent idea … .

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a sportsshow I want to watch.”

“Just a moment, Papa,” said Mama. “No TVfor a week means you, too.”

“What?!” said Papa. “You can’t be serious!”

But Mama was very serious.“What about the news?” protested Papa. “I

won’t know what’s going on in the world if Idon’t watch the TV news!”

“Here, try this,” said Mama. “It’s called thenewspaper.”

“And the weather!” continued Papa. “Howwill we know what the weather will be?”

“Try this,” said Mama. “It’s called puttingyour hand out the window to see if it’sraining.”

“What are we supposed to do—just sitaround and talk?” asked Brother.

“That’ll be ne for starters,” said Mama,settling comfortably into her rocker.

But it had been so long since the Bear familysat around and talked that they had sort offorgotten how.

It really didn’t matter, because pretty soonPapa fell asleep and snored so loudly that theywouldn’t have heard each other anyway.

After school the next day, the cubs lookedlongingly at the TV but Mama shooed themout to play.

Brother’s bike had a tire that neededpumping up and Sister’s trike needed a littleoil—and while it seemed strange not watchingtelevision, it was fun riding bikes and trikesagain. Sort of.

That evening the cubs worked on theirhomework. But it wasn’t easy with that blankTV just sitting there staring.

Then Sister noticed an ad in Papa’snewspaper—an ad for a TV special.

“Oh, Mama!” she said. “Look! A special!”

“No TV for a week means no TV for aweek,” answered Mama. “And besides, MotherNature has a much bigger special waiting forus. We’re going to sit outside and watch thestars come out.”

“Watch the stars come out?!” complainedSister.

“I don’t know if I can stand the excitement,”said Brother.

But as they sat out under the great sky, aspell came over the bears. It was all so big andbeautiful. The bears stared at the sky. So far,not a single star.

“Look!” cried Sister. “Something flying!”“Bats,” said Papa. “Out for their breakfast of

insects.”“Breakfast?” asked Brother.“That’s right,” answered Papa. “Bats sleep

during the day, so this is their breakfast time.”

“I see a star!” cried Sister. She had found thefirst tiny star.

Soon there were others.

And after a while the whole sky was full ofstars.

And it was very special—more special thananything they’d ever seen on TV. It was asharper picture, too—and a much, much, muchbigger screen.

The Bear family did all sorts of interestingthings over the next few days—so interestingthat they hardly thought about TV.

They went on a nature walk and watchedtadpoles hatch out of eggs.

They watched an orb spider spin amagnificent web.

They went shopping at the Bear CountryMall. Sister used some of her savings to buy aknitting spool and some yarn. Brother boughta cube puzzle.

They did have to keep an eye on Papa,though.

When they were at the mall, the cubs caughtPapa in the TV store sneaking a look at agame show.

Another time he went downstairs in themiddle of the night for a peek at the late-latemovie, but Mama and the cubs stopped himjust in time.

The next evening—it was the last day oftheir no-TV week—the Bear family was havinga lively conversation at the dinner table. Theyall agreed that the week had been a success,but Brother had a question.

“Mama,” he asked, “what is it you don’t likeabout TV? What do you have against it?”

“Goodness,” said Mama. “I don’t haveanything against TV. I like it. What I’m againstis the TV habit—sitting in front of it day afterday like old stumps waiting for dry rot to setin.”

“Well,” said Brother, “tomorrow I’m going toget a whole bunch of snacks and watch TV allday!”

“Me, too!” said Sister.“Me, too!” said Papa.

But the only one who did watch it all daywas Papa. Brother got interested in his cubepuzzle and nally solved it. Sister startedknitting a rug on her knitting spool.

Finally even Papa had enough, and decidedto bait his hook for a couple of those leapingtrout.