The Berenstain Bears No Girls Allowed

Stan and Jan Berenstain's The Berenstain Bears No Girls Allowed is a funny picture book for 5 year olds about being left out, and about being a good winner.

What happens

Sister Bear has always tagged along after Brother and the other boys. When she was tiny, she was a bit of a nuisance. But now she's older, she's a BIG nuisance. She can outrun them, outclimb them and win all their marbles. She even hits a home run!

And every time she wins, she celebrates. There's a victory dance, cartwheels and very loud war whoops. You can probably imagine how the boys feel about that.

So one day they disappear. Sister searches everywhere and finally finds them on a little island in the middle of Frog Pond. They've built a secret clubhouse with peepholes, watchtowers and a drawbridge. And a sign that says NO GIRLS ALLOWED.

Then they wind up the drawbridge. Poor Sister runs home in tears.

Papa is furious and wants to go and tear the clubhouse apart (very Papa). But Mama has a better idea. Why not start her own club?

It turns out lots of other sisters don't like being left out either. Soon they've got a clubhouse up in the old climbing tree, with a rope ladder, a spyglass and a tin-can telephone. Sister's first plan is a big NO BOYS ALLOWED sign, of course.

What's lovely is that Mama is fair to everyone. She tells Sister that the boys were being unfair, and that it's the sort of person you are that counts, not whether you're a boy or a girl. But she also gently points out that there's such a thing as a bad winner. Sister knows exactly who she means!

That's what makes this one so good for little ones who are just starting to play in groups. Being left out really hurts. So does losing to someone who won't stop showing off. The book takes both feelings seriously without making anyone the baddie.

It all comes round in the end thanks to a barbecue (and the delicious smell of honeycomb and salmon drifting through the woods).

If your reader has a big sibling they're always chasing after, or a friend they keep falling out with, this one's likely to hit home.

What to read next

For another story about Sister learning to get along, try The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Friends, where a new cub moves in down the road and turns out to be just as bossy as Sister.