History Literature / TheBerenstainBears

** In ''The Ghost from the Forest'' (adapted into the 80s TV series as "Bust a Ghost"), Papa Bear, Scout Leader Jane, and Mama Bear set these up. Subverted in that none of them had malicious intent; it was just a prank by Papa Bear to scare the cubs during a camping trip, and by Scout Leader Jane and Mama Bear to get back at Papa Bear.
** In the 80s TV episode "The Great Grizzly Comet," Bear Country is abuzz with the news of the Great Grizzly Comet, which only passes by Earth's atmosphere once every hundred years, will be visible one night. Papa Bear believes it will be a CometOfDoom, and then Little Green Bear aliens land in a flying saucer to warn them that [[ColonyDrop the Great Grizzly Comet will collide with Bear Country]], and as this news spreads around town, Raffish Ralph offers to buy the area while everyone evacuates the area. Brother and Sister Bear are suspicious about this (especially since Actual Factual had stated a few times there is no danger from the comet), and so they investigate and find out that the "Little Green Bears" are actually Weasel [=McGreed=] and three other henchweasels [[FullBodyDisguise disguised in full-body alien suits]] (albeit with their true hands visible) flying in an inflatable saucer, in a scheme Ralph had cooked up to take advantage of the comet hype. Luckily Bigpaw is able to help Brother and Sister in foiling Ralph and the weasels' plan.

* SlowAndSteadyWinsTheRace: "The Big Road Race". See LastSecondShowoff above.
* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: Look at Brother in The New Baby. Kayaking, snorkeling, and all sorts of activities. The New School Year is post-Honey's birth (to the point where she's walking). Brother is in 3rd grade and Sister is in 1st. No way is Brother 2 in the first book, and no way is Sister 4 in the Bear Scout books.

* TemptingFate: In ''The Berenstain Bears' Show'' episode "The Trojan Pumpkin", Papa Bear says "What possible harm could come from one tiny pumpkin seed?" Naturally, it turns out that the seed grows into a giant pumpkin made to house a war machine built by the weasels.

* SeverelySpecializedStore: One book features the "Honey Store".

* BlandNameProduct: Brother has a handheld console called a [[UsefulNotes/GameBoy Game Bear]].

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

** Bigpaw’s “prototype”, Great Natural Bear from the 70s ''Almanac'' and ''Science Fair'' books, also goes naked (and lives in a cave, hibernates, and eats raw fish), because he was created to illustrate “natural” bear behavior in contrast to the [[CivilizedAnimal “civilized” residents of Bear Country]].

* MindlessSheep: In "The Double Dare", Brother Bear keeps getting dared to do bad things like stealing by [[TheBully Too-Tall, Scuzz, and Smirk]], with the bullies saying, "What are you, chicken?" when he refuses. Farmer Ben tells Brother Bear that he doesn't need to follow the bad dares to prove he's not chicken, because "following along like a sheep" is just as bad. In the book version of the episode, he even calls them a "buncha sheep".

* AnAesop: Most every book tries to teach a lesson[[note]] Moreover, each book begins with a simple four-line rhyme explaining it[[/note]].
** In ''Get In A Fight'' Papa Bear tells them that fights happen all the time and they come and go like the weather. He uses the stormclouds clearing outside to illustrate. Since Brother and Sister can't even remember why they started fighting in the first place, they agree to make up.

* LighterAndSofter: The 2002 series. The adaption of "Get the Gimmies", along with the moral expansion, takes out the tantrum scene, for one example. In fact, as a whole the series seemed to tone down a lot of the quarreling and screaming that was commonplace in the 1985 series; this is easiest to notice with Mama, who would scream at the cubs for doing something as small as not cleaning their room, yet in the 2002 series her tone is only mildly stern following Sister and all the other girls trashing Lizzie's house in "The Slumber Party".

** Happens to Sister Bear and her friend Lizzie in ''The Big Blooper'' with the a bad word after they watch a video owned by Lizzie's brother -- [[ShowWithinAShow ''Trouble At Big Bear High.'']] In the book, Sister just learns a few insults like "phooey" and "fudge" while an offensive word uses SymbolSwearing, while in the episode, word Sister learns in question if "furball", a word that is apparently offensive bears.

* GoToYourRoom: In ''Get the Gimmies'', Papa Bear sends both Brother Bear and Sister Bear to their room after they greet their grandparents by asking them what they brought them. As they're headed up there, he also declares that they're getting no treats for a week... a month... a year. Grandpa Bear then asks him if he's having a bad day and tells a tale of when Papa Bear had the gimmies just as badly.

* AdaptationExpansion: One of the Big Chapter Books, ''Accept No Substitutes'', is an expanded version of ''And the Substitute Teacher''.

* IntroducedSpeciesCalamity: Variant in the Big Chapter Book ''And the Great Ant Attack'' -- the plot revolves around an escaped ant hybrid that threatens to wreak havoc on the local ecosystem.

[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Note that the name is spelled Beren]]''[[SpellMyNameWithAnS stain]]''[[SpellMyNameWithAnS . Spelling it Beren]]''[[SpellMyNameWithAnS stein]]'' [[SpellMyNameWithAnS is a]] ''[[SpellMyNameWithAnS very]]'' [[SpellMyNameWithAnS common error, to the point that even official materials have (mis)spelled it that way occasionally.]]

** Happens to Sister Bear and her friend Lizzie in ''The Big Blooper'' with the word "furball" after they watch a video owned by Lizzie's brother -- [[ShowWithinAShow ''Trouble At Big Bear High.'']] In the book, Sister just learns a few insults like "phooey" and "fudge" while an offensive word uses SymbolSwearing, while in the episode, word Sister learns in question if "furball", a word that is apparently offensive bears.

** Happens to Sister Bear and her friend Lizzie in the 2002 episode "The Big Blooper" with the word "furball" after they watch a video owned by Lizzie's brother -- [[ShowWithinAShow ''Trouble At Big Bear High.'']] In the book it's based on, the same plot occurs but Sister just uses SymbolSwearing.

** Of note is the fact that, before Sister Bear was born (and as previously mentioned), Brother Bear was originally called Small Bear.