“Blessed are the Peacemakers” by
Mike Berenstain is another happy, satisfying story from Bear Country.
Not surprisingly, the antagonists in
this tale are Too-Tall and his gang, who target cubs unlike them – especially Ferdy
Factual and his friends. Surprisingly, Queenie McBear (of Too-Tall’s gang) and
Ferdy earn the main roles in the school’s play of Romeo and Grizzliet . . . and
love’s magic takes its toll. When the two stars profess their love on the
balcony, Too-tall sheds his role and disrupts the play, and all bears start to
push and yell – even Mamas and Papas. At the end, all bears learn a lesson, and
the play and the story finish peacefully.
Opening this book after a 20-year
hiatus from the Bear Family made me feel as though I was sitting on the couch
again curled up next to my mom as she read. I remember also as a kid looking at
the titles listed on the back of the books and wishing that I could read all of
them, and I found myself doing the same with this book. This is the first book
of Mike’s I’ve read, and while I was happy to infer that his books have
religious undertones, I was concerned that they might be cheesy. But they weren’t.
The peacemaker message was appropriate, concise, and direct, and I appreciated
the intentional mention of the Bible. I want to read more of Mike’s books, and
I definitely recommend this book to others.
The
publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through
BookSneeze®. I was not required to write a positive review.
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