The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin (First Time Books)

Rating:
Summary: Ahh, Thanksgiving...
Review: It's Thanksgiving again, and time for the Pumpkin Contest!!! Papa is determined to beat Farmer Ben with his "Giant" pumpkin, although Thanksgiving isn't about contests, prizes, movies, TV specials, parades, etc.

After hearing about Ben's "Monster" pumpkin, Papa and the cubs go spying on it, but Ben catches them in the act, thinking they're "prowlers in the pumpkin feild!", so they don't get a chance of seeing it.

Papa loses again (I think Ben cheated!), until Mama tells him about the spirit of Thanksgiving. Where's the jazz about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans!?

Rating:
Summary: Not Enough Substance.
Review: Sandwiched between the mass marketing of Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving is often looked upon as being nothing more than the day Christmas shopping begins. The whole reason behind Thanksgiving (taking one day out of the year to give thanks to God for all the blessing we have in our lives), just like Christmas, Halloween, and most other holidays is often lost in the superficialities of the day, e.g. parades and football games.

Those petty events are summed up in THE BERENSTAIN BEARS AND THE PRIZE PUMPKIN as Papa Bear gets caught up in growing the biggest pumpkin in Bear Country for a pumpkin contest the weekend before Thanksgiving. In the process, Papa totally forgets the true meaning of the holiday, but is reminded at the end by Mama and Sister Bear.

The book is a nice little story. However, for a book about Thanksgiving, it doesn't talk about giving thanks enough.

Rating:
Summary: A Thanksgiving Lesson
Review: This book was a wonderful book. In it Papa Bear loses sight of what's important around Thanksgiving when he tries to beat out Farmer Ben in the Pumpkin Contest. After Farmer Ben tells Papa Bear that he has a "nice little" pumpkin patch Papa Bear does everything in his power to nuture his largest Pumpkin he calls, "Giant." Mama Bear tries to get him to realize that there are other things that are more important around this time of year than winning a silly contest. That is why this book would be helpful to little children it tries to help them to realize that they should be thankful everyday for what they have and not be competitive about things that in the long run won't matter anyway.It tells kids that they have a lot to be thankful for and that they should remember those things everyday.
I would recommend it to any child who needs to learn the value of day to day life and how to respect and love everything about it.