Episode 287 – The Berenstain Bears and the Great Ant Attack!

Amazon.com: The Berenstain Bears and the Great Ant Attack (9780679889502):  Berenstain, Stan, Berenstain, Jan: Books

Here it is. The Berenstain Bears and the Great Ant Attack!

Episode 286 – The Berenstain Bears Lost In Cyberspace!

The Berenstain Bears Lost in Cyberspace: Berenstain, Stan, Berenstain, Jan:  9780679889465: Amazon.com: Books

Brandi Brown is back on the show to take us through the frightening world of late ’90s internettery! That’s right, the cubs are on the Information Superhighway and are about to get “Lost In Cyberspace!”

Episode 251 – The Berenstain Bears The Runamuck Dog Show!

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Hot Diggity Dog! Look who’s back! It’s the hosts of Hot Diggity Dog, Brian and Josh, and they’re here talk about “The Runamuck Dog Show!” It’s a book about dogs and cats and poop and… poop, actually. There’s a lot of poop. Don’t know what else to tell you.

Episode 235 – The Berenstain Bear and the Jump Rope Contest!

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This week, we’re taking a hard look at rope and the jumping over thereof! We’re also looking at Sister Bear and her bragging ways and how if you brag too much… nothing bad will happen. It’s “The Berenstain Bears and the Jump Rope Contest!”

Episode 157 – The Green-Eyed Monster!

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This week! My dear college friend, writer, director, performer, monologist, cartoonist Brad McEntire joins me to talk about “The Berenstain Bears and the Green-Eyed Monster!” And, boy do we ever talk about it! And, a lot of other things!

Check out Brad’s many projects at his website! He always has a dozen things going on.

Episode 151 – “Too Much Teasing” and “The Love Match!”

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Boy oh boy! Milton Chubb! Who is Milton Chubb, you ask? Only the strangest cub introduced in these here books. He’s introduced TWICE actually, in “Too Much Teasing” and in “The Love Match.” Two different formats that tell essentially the same story but in wildly different ways and for wildly different reasons.

To commemorate this event, I’ve brought John McCoy – host of the Sophomore Lit podcast and my co-host on Klickitcast: A Beverly Cleary Podcast – onto the show to try and suss out the point of these two books. Does the first one teach us anything about teasing? Why are Too-Tall and his gang so bad at it? Does Milton have parents, really? Do pigs have armpits? Who knows?! Not us!

Episode 148 – The Trouble with Grownups!

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This week I am joined by not one, not two, not three, but FOUR GUESTS! It’s a veritable ROUND TABLE as I welcome back Elana, Corinna, Andrew and Scott – from Episode 55(!!!) “The Berenstain Bears Get Stage Fright” – to talk about “The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble With Grownups!” And, seeing as how we all have kids and we all do theater, I think we’re more than qualified to discuss a thing or two!

Episode 147 – Go Platinum!

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This week, I’m joined by the delightful Drew Stewart to rock out to “The Berenstain Bears Go Platinum!” It’s the gripping tale of Stan and Jan Berenstain really wanting to stick it to the music of today!

Episode 146 – The Big Date

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This week, I’m joined by Emily Bennett of Best Acquaintances to talk about the insidious nature of young jealousy! Like, seriously, it’s a pretty solid book that deals with a pretty serious topic for adolescent kids. I know!

Episode 140 – The Berenstain Bears and Queenie’s Crazy Crush!

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Helen LaStar, one of the hosts of Falling In Love Montage, joins me this week to peel back the layers of “The Berenstain Bears and Queenie’s Crazy Crush!” What happens when a young girl cub falls in love with a grown man and plots to trick him into coming over to her house when her parents are – you know what? I’m going to just leave that right where I found it. Just . . . just walk away from that one.

Episode 139 – The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted Hayride!

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Gena Radcliffe – one half of the Kill By Kill Podcast duo – joins me to talk about the decidedly NON-SCARY “The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted Hayride!” There’s no haunting but there IS a hayride although it is very short and they don’t go into a lot of details about it. Still . . . there it is.

Also, you can find Gena’s writing on a ton of different subjects here and I strongly suggest that you do!

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Episode 138 – The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Auto Graveyard!

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This week, Meghan Griffin is BACK and this time we’re not talking dress codes or drama, we’re talking . . . classic cars. I mean, I guess Bear Country has cars. And, some of them are really old. So . . . classic cars.

You can find Meghan at any of her three podcasts: Judging Book Covers, Fabelulous Retellings and A Handbook for Handbook for Mortals.

Episode 137 – The Bermuda Triangle!

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This week, I’m joined by Kacie Galyon to talk about one of the most surprisingly enjoyable books I’ve read so far in the Big Chapter Book series, ‘The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle.” Kacie and I are taken somewhat aback by the mature handling of themes in this book, the twists in the plot and the revelation about Too-Tall’s age! Also, Bermuda . . . is that a good first name?

Episode 132 – The Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute (Anymore)!

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I’m joined this week by Master of Pollution, Mark Sweeney! He gets it! He KNOWS. Mark Sweeney understands the complicated nature of pollution in bear country and the gentle grace with which the topic is handled in “The Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute (Anymore)” parenthetical and all. Get to know us through the fine art of POLLUTION.

Episode 128 – At the Teen Rock Cafe!

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It’s ME again! I’m back at my desk and I’m chatting about things like MALLS and STONE-WASHED JEANS and BEARY MANILOW and NOT MURDER THIS TIME.

Episode 119 – Media Madness!

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Jon Biegen and Nick Wood slide on over from Stranger Still to talk about children successfully managing a television station. That’s . . . that’s really all that happens in this book, so – so, lesson learned, I guess.

Episode 116 – The Galloping Ghost!

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I’m alone! I’m scared! I’m surrounded by ghosts! It’s a spooktacular book about TRAUMA. That’s right! The Berenstains wrote a secret book about dealing with trauma and I didn’t figure it out until near the end of the episode. Keep on surprising me, Big Chapter Books!

Episode 115 – The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet!

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Ollie, my teen and co-host of It’s Del Toro Time! – A Guillermo del Toro Podcast, joins me this week to talk “The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet!” In which we discuss the terrible things the cubs accuse a teacher of and also divide the cubs into their Hogwarts Houses. IT’s kind of a discussion that goes all over the place. Also, we talk about the importance of owning up to your terrible terrible mistakes how if you’re a cub, you face no consequences for those terrible terrible mistakes.

Episode 112 – At Camp Crush!

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This week, I am joined by Michael M. Rader of We’ll Get It Right Next Year to talk about “The Berenstain Bears at Camp Crush!” This book gets WAY OFF TRACK and doesn’t really involve crushes and barely involves camping. It does involve the most loathsome of Bear Country characters, however, Mervyn Grizzmeyer. Ish.

Episode 111 – The Berenstain Bears and the Dress Code!

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Meghan Griffin of Judging Book Covers and Fableulous Retellings joins me to talk dress codes, law enforcement and a Berenstain Bears book that gets way more political than we were anticipating!

Episode 108 – The Red-Handed Thief!

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What a weird book. Kerry Nelson from Random Sampling joins me to talk about the gross violation of trust that occurs at Bear Country School! Also, democracy in action? Maybe?

Episode 106 – The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando!

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Today, I am joined by writer, musician, educator and Ninja Turtles Blogger Jamie Tyler to talk about wheelchairs, ableism and the way we approach people living with disabilities. Also, should you call a person in a wheelchair “Wheels?” Come on, people.

Episode 104 – The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes!

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It’s a live recording of a Facebook Live show! I’m talking about “Accept No Substitutes” and people are listening. So, that’s what’s going on.

Episode 103 – The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback!

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Shannon Campe of Stage of Fools: the Unofficial Royals Podcast joins me once again and this time we’re talking sexism! Things get downright creepy in Bear Country as the town erupts over the thought of a girl getting girl germs all over their precious football. Farmer Ben turns out to be a nightmare, Coach Grizzmeyer should be fired and Papa Bear . . . what a disappointment he turns out to be.

Episode 101 – Gotta Dance!

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Once again, I am joined by Jessie Cooper of Alphabet Flight, Turn to Page and Random Sampling. This time, we’re discussing the BIG CHAPTER BOOK “Gotta Dance!” Do they gotta? I think they gotta.