The Berenstain Bears and the Mama’s Day Surprise

Stan and Jan Berenstain's The Berenstain Bears and the Mama's Day Surprise is a cosy Mother's Day story for 5 year olds in which Mama knows exactly what's coming.

What happens

Papa and the cubs are planning a secret. Mama is pretty sure it's breakfast in bed. There's a marker in the cookbook at her favourite recipe (honeyed French toast with blueberries), and the cubs keep sneaking off to the card department.

The funny thing is that Mama spends the whole book quietly helping them. She digs out the old bed tray and scrapes off some dried oatmeal. She stocks up on cream and butter, and tracks down blueberries in Gran's freezer. Oh, and she buys extra scouring pads for the clean-up!

Then the big morning comes, with Papa's alarm going off at five o'clock. Mama lies in bed listening to bumps, thumps, an eggbeater and a big clunk. What's that burnt smell? How long can she possibly stay put?

Not very long! She creeps downstairs for a peek at the kitchen, and it's a total disaster. Broken crockery, egg all over the floor and sticky honey handprints on the walls.

Children LOVE being in on a secret, and here they're in on two. They know what Papa and the cubs are up to, and they know Mama knows. It's brilliant to read aloud, with a slightly worried Mama voice for every crash.

Mama's motto the whole way through is that it's the thought that counts. That's a lovely one to talk about. Why do we make a fuss of the people we love, even when it goes a bit wrong?

There's one more surprise waiting for her at the very end, and it's a really sweet one about a family looking after each other.

What to read next

For the other side of the coin, the Berenstain Bears' Father's Day story turns it all round. This time Papa insists he doesn't want any fuss at all, and the whole family pretends to take him at his word.