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* DidntThinkThisThrough: Played for laughs -- when [=BTV=] goes from an in-school station to an over-the-air station for an hour a day, they pay for it by selling commercial time. While several businesses (including Papa Bear, Farmer Ben and Biff Bruin's pharmacy) get more customers as a result, it's mentioned that Dr. Gert Grizzly's commercial ''doesn't'' get her any additional business... because everyone in town is already her patient.
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* ThatWasNotADream: When Squire Grizzly's cook Maisie sees Bad Bart Grizzly and his gang carrying a piece of furniture, Squire Grizzly checks out the room where the sighting took place and finds nothing missing, so he comes to the conclusion that she was just imagining it. It's ultimately revealed that Masie ''wasn't'' imagining things -- she'd seen the actual thieves, but they were [[ScoobyDooHoax dressed up as Bad Bart and his gang members]] to fool any witnesses.
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* ThatWasNotADream: When Squire Grizzly's cook Maisie sees Bad Bart Grizzly and his gang carrying a piece of furniture, Squire Grizzly checks out the room where the sighting took place and finds nothing missing, so he comes to the conclusion that she was just imagining it. It's ultimately revealed that Masie Maisie ''wasn't'' imagining things -- she'd seen the actual thieves, but they were [[ScoobyDooHoax dressed up as Bad Bart and his gang members]] to fool any witnesses.
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* NoSell: When she sees Ronald Grizzington III arriving, Queenie immediately goes over to flirt with him. He proves completely immune to her charms, as he's only got his eye on Bonnie.
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* NoSell: When Non-power example -- when she sees Ronald Grizzington III arriving, Queenie immediately goes over to flirt with him. He proves completely immune to her charms, as he's only got his eye on Bonnie.
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* MistakenForRomance: When Queenie's first art project of the year involves a portrait of a heart and the inscription "Q & S", Too-Tall gets mad and starts thinking she's secretly seeing his gang member Skuzz behind his back, or Smirk after it's pointed out that his name ''also'' starts with "S". Both of them truthfully deny it though.
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* MistakenForRomance: When Queenie's first art project of the year involves a portrait of a heart and the inscription "Q & S", Too-Tall gets mad and starts thinking it means she's secretly seeing his gang member Skuzz behind his back, or Smirk after it's pointed out that his name ''also'' starts with "S". Both of them truthfully deny it though.
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* DarkerAndEdgier: The chapter books handle more mature topics than the picture books and cartoon episodes, ranging from drugs to students bringing guns to school.
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* DarkerAndEdgier: The chapter books handle more mature topics than the picture books and cartoon episodes, ranging from drugs to shoplifting, friendships going sour, political controversy, the destruction of natural habitats and students bringing guns to school.
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* TheBusCameBack: After his previous role in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief'', Mr. Dweebish returns to the series to lend a hand to the rad students and their battle against the dress code when Brother and Queenie come to visit him and ask for advice, playing a significant role in the resolution by coming up with a plan that lets the cubs win the official debate over the matter without even saying a word.
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* TheBusCameBack: After his previous role in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief'', Thief'' (which ended with his leaving Bear Country School and returning to the university he'd worked at previously), Mr. Dweebish returns to the series to lend a hand to the rad students and their battle against the dress code when Brother and Queenie come to visit him and ask for advice, playing a significant role in the resolution by coming up with a plan that lets the cubs win the official debate over the matter without even saying a word.
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''The Berenstain Bears Big Chapter Books'' is a spinoff of [[Literature/TheBerenstainBears the long-running children's book series]] created by Stan and Jan Berenstain (the books themselves are based on outlines by Stan Berenstain, but the actual writing and illustrating duties have been respectively handed off to their sons Leo and Mike Berenstain[[note]][[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/05/13/the-bear-essentials/45a54d0c-2176-48de-b42d-da65cbb60ca2/ Source]][[/note]]), running for thirty-three books from 1993 to 2000. The series, as the title suggests, consists of longer (but still kid-oriented) books with more serious situations than in the original picture books. Many of them prompt the cubs to take more direct action, sometimes as the Bear Detectives, and often pit them against more dangerous criminals.
The series also expands on the picture books' supporting cast, adding a number of characters who would subsequently be brought over into the parent series and[=/=]or the 2002 Nelvana cartoon.
----
!!This series contains examples of:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:General]]
* AdaptationNameChange: The 1985 Southern Star cartoon series introduced Raffish Ralph, a recurring con artist character. This series changes his name to Ralph Ripoff, which would carry over to ''Literature/TheBerenstainBearScouts'' series of chapter books.
* AlliterativeName: This series introduces the Bogg Brothers, whose first and last names all start with B -- Bert, Bart and Billy Bogg.
* BadMoodRetreat: In the Big Chapter Books, Brother often retreats to his Thinking Place (introduced in ''The Berenstain Bears and the New Girl in Town'' but not specifically named until ''The Berenstain Bears Gotta Dance!''), a pile of rocks in the woods not far from Bear Country School, when he's unhappy in order to try and think of a solution for whatever problem he's dealing with. Its effectiveness varies, but he usually manages to either come up with a solution or have someone else show up to talk to him and work things out.
* CallBack: Multiple books feature references to past events, with the cubs' remembering of said events influencing their behavior in the present day.
* CanonImmigrant: [[HonestJohnsDealership Ralph Ripoff]] was introduced in the 1980s Southern Star[=/=]Hanna-Barbera Australia cartoon (as "Raffish Ralph") before making a cameo in the parent series (in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin'') and becoming a recurring character in this series.
* ComicBookTime: The series describes the passing of time, referring to events as happening "last spring" or "last summer", but none of the cubs ever actually get any older or move on to the next grade.
* ContinuityNod: The Big Chapter Books are chock-full of these. Events that took place in previous books get referred to in later books, and events from the parent series get referenced as well.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The chapter books handle more mature topics than the picture books and cartoon episodes, ranging from drugs to students bringing guns to school.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ralph Ripoff is established as a con man who constantly engages in [[GetRichQuickScheme Get-Rich-Quick Schemes]]. However, as in the 1985 cartoon, he's proven there are some lengths he will ''not'' go to -- see individual folders for book-specific examples.
* {{Nephewism}}: Two new supporting characters are introduced this way, coming to stay part-time with an uncle.
** ''The Berenstain Bears and the New Girl in Town'' introduces Bonnie Brown, a model and actress (mostly doing small parts in commercials and soap operas), who comes to live with her uncle Squire Grizzly and his wife part-time.
** ''The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew'' introduces Ferdinand "Ferdy" Factual, Professor Actual Factual's nephew (his brother's son), as a recurring character. Downplayed in that he lives with his parents too, but they have to travel to far-off places for archaeological and paleontological digs, and he can't always go with them.
* NewTransferStudent: Most of the new characters are introduced this way -- Bonnie Brown in ''The Berenstain Bears and the New Girl in Town'', Ferdy Factual in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew'', Bertha Broom in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback'', Harry [=McGill=] in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando'', Bermuda [=McBear=] in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle'', Ronald Grizzington III in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Big Date'', and Milton Chubb in ''The Berenstain Bears the Love Match''. Downplayed by Trudy Brunowitz in ''The Berenstain Bears At Camp Crush'', who's introduced ''after'' school gets out, but still goes through the usual routines of the trope when she attends the same summer camp as the other cubs and gets to know them there before she starts attending Bear Country School.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew'' introduces Ferdinand "Ferdy" Factual. Other than when Papa first mentions his full name, he's almost always referred to only as Ferdy.
* SeriesContinuityError: Cross-series example -- in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost'' the Bogg Brothers are named Billy, Bert and Bart. Yet in ''Literature/TheBerenstainBearScouts and the Ripoff Queen'', they are identified as Billy, Bert [[SuddenNameChange and Bobby]]. The former book also calls Billy the youngest brother, while the latter book says he's the eldest.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Brother Bear is repeatedly teased over his relationship with recurring character Bonnie Brown, the niece of Squire Grizzly. He just as repeatedly insists that despite the ShipTease, she isn't his girlfriend -- "She's my best friend, which is so much better than a girlfriend." Sister and the siblings' other friends don't buy it.
* ShellGame: Ralph Ripoff tends to set up shell games (using literal shells) around town as one of his normal schemes to swindle folks out of their money. The cops usually catch him and make him stop though.
* SiblingsInCrime: The Bogg brothers -- Bert, Bart and Billy Bogg -- who do all sorts of crimes together in the series, from shooting endangered species (which they attempt to justify with the remark "Varmints is varmints"), deliberately polluting the river, selling drugs (and trying to frame Ralph Ripoff for the same), shoplifting and reselling of the stolen items, and sabotage.
* {{Spoonerism}}: Mayor Horace J. Honeypot is prone to these in this series, such as once starting a speech with "Sellow fitizens!" in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Showdown at Chainsaw Gap''.
* SternTeacher: This series introduced Miss Glitch, who teaches the students two years above Teacher Bob's class and is well known for hating anything cubs would consider fun. She plays a villain role in several books, coming out against things the cubs enjoy out of what would seem to be sheer spite, though she ''does'' have occasional moments where it's shown she means well and simply values education over entertainment.
* SuddenNameChange: In ''The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost'', Brother is a fan of [[SherlockHomage Grizzlock Holmes]]. In the later book ''The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle'', Cousin Fred mentions ''Bearlock'' Holmes.
* SwornInByOath: A couple of times throughout the series, another character will be temporarily sworn into the Bear Detectives by using their oath -- "I, (name), do solemnly swear to work my hardest to solve every case." It's done by Bonnie Brown in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle'' and Ferdy Factual in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Perfect Crime (Almost)'', though it isn't always used (as seen with Bonnie in ''The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion'' and Barry Bruin in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Auto Graveyard'').
* VerySpecialEpisode: Many of the Big Chapter Books, which deal with subjects such as theft and even drug dealing.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Ralph Ripoff the ConArtist can be seen as this, much to the chagrin of the cubs -- despite repeatedly and dishonestly swindling other bears into investing their money into some scheme or another of his, most adults think of him as harmless, in part because he never does anything ''blatantly'' illegal that could get him sent to prison. Even the police (who don't like him either) can't actually do anything besides force him to take down the gambling tables he keeps trying to set up on public property. However, he occasionally puts his swindling talents to good purposes, as in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost'' (where he runs a ShellGame table for a fundraiser) and ''The Berenstain Bears and the Teen Rock Café'' (where he does a hypnotist's act for the opening night of the titular Café). The closest he ever comes to getting into real trouble is in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Perfect Crime (Almost)'', where he's taken in for possession of stolen property.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#01: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Drug Free Zone'' (1993)]]
* CallBack: The book makes references to ''The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone'' and ''The Bear Detectives: The Case of the Missing Pumpkin'' as times when the Bear Detectives solved crimes, inspiring them to try to catch drug dealers in Bear Country.
* ContinuityNod:
** When Dr. Gert Grizzly is telling the cubs about peer pressure and how it can be used to manipulate people into trying drugs, Sister recalls the events of ''The Berenstain Bears and the In-Crowd'', when Queenie tried to make all the other girls feel bad about not wearing her style of clothes.
** Later, when he's told the Too-Tall gang are being rounded up for drug-dealing, Brother remembers the events of ''The Berenstain Bears and the Double Dare'', and how Too-Tall got in trouble with his dad for stealing from Farmer Ben.
* CreepyRedHerring: The cubs initially suspect a stranger in town of being a drug dealer simply because he looks like a TV criminal (or as Sister puts it, a "Prime-Time Suspect"). He turns out to be [[UndercoverCopReveal Detective O'Brunihan]], brought in to help the local police with the drug case.
* DrugsAreBad: One of the big aesops of the book. Dr. Gert Grizzly explains in depth to the Bear Detectives about how the illegal drugs being dealt in Beartown are ''poison'', which damage the heart and kidneys, and how they can alter your mind so you'll make bad decisions (as evidenced by Skuzz recklessly riding his bike in such a way that leads to his crashing into a police car).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In the climax of the book, Ralph Ripoff is furious when he finds a stash of drugs that have been planted in his houseboat, and immediately brings them to the police station for disposal.
* FrameUp: While investigating, the Bear Detectives discover a stash of drugs in Ralph Ripoff's houseboat and snap a photo of them... which, when blown up on a projector, shows the Bogg Brothers watching through the window, helping prove they'd planted the drugs to try and throw the police off their own track.
* HeyThatsMyLine: During the climax, the Bear Detectives have arrived at the police station to talk to Chief Bruno. Ralph Ripoff suddenly arrives as well, and Brother exclaims "What are YOU doing here?" Chief Bruno says he'll do the questioning around here, and then repeats the question: "Ralph, what are you doing here?"
* HypocriticalHumor: Early on, Papa starts ranting about what he'd do to any cub of his who tried illegal drugs. After a short back-and-forth between he and Brother (who knows full well about how cubs can be pressured into almost anything), Gramps reminds Papa that even good cubs can get caught up in this sort of thing, saying that Papa (not by name, but heavily implied, and Papa as good as admits it before the talk is done) was once caught smoking johnny-smokers (made from Catalpa seed pods, which really ''can'' be smoked and have hallucinogenic properties) out behind the barn. To his credit, Papa admits that Gramps is right and it's not as simple as he'd thought.
* KidDetective: Deconstructed in the climax. The Bear Detectives have helped expose drug dealing in Bear Country, and while the police thank them for their help, they also berate the cubs for getting involved in the first place because messing with drug dealers can be dangerous (especially since the gun-toting Bogg Brothers were involved), and is [[ContinuityNod not like finding a missing pumpkin]].
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Twice.
** During the Bear Detectives' investigation, Brother snaps a photo of the "Ugly Roomer" in a drug trade with Too-Tall. While they think he's the seller, it comes out that he's actually the ''buyer'', and the whole thing was a sting operation to catch the gang in the act of drug-dealing.
** The Bear Detectives also find a stash of drugs in Ralph Ripoff's houseboat, and think it's evidence of his being involved in the drug trade. It's actually a FrameUp by the ''real'' dealers -- the Bogg Brothers.
* PoliceAreUseless: Subverted -- the cubs try to investigate who is selling drugs nearby in the town. Chief Bruno, while he appreciates at least a bit of their detective work, rightly tells them that it was very dangerous of them to do so and they could have been killed. They should have come to the police immediately with what they had rather than endanger themselves. To be fair, they ''had'' tried to talk to the Chief earlier, but he'd brushed them off because he was busy and because they'd started off by accusing someone he knew was an undercover detective.
* RebuffTheAmateur: A variant in the climax. The Bear Detectives have helped expose the source of the drugs that have recently turned up in Bear Country, and while Chief Bruno thanks them for their help in cracking the case (and providing further evidence of the dealers' identities), he also sternly tells off the cubs for getting involved because of how dangerous drug dealers can be (especially since the real kingpins were known criminals who tended to wield guns), and for jumping to conclusions based on first impressions.
* SuspicionAesop: Part of the major lesson of the book. The cubs learn the hard way not to suspect a person of being a criminal simply because of their looks or past actions.
** They suspect a stranger in town of drug-dealing simply because he looks like a TV criminal (or as Sister puts it, a "Prime-Time Suspect"), and enforced when they see him with Too-Tall Grizzly and think he's their supplier, rather than the ''buyer'' in a sting operation. They also catch him heading away from Ralph Ripoff's houseboat, where they soon find a stash of drugs. He's actually [[UndercoverCopReveal Detective O'Brunihan from a nearby city]], brought in to help with the drug case.
** They also suspect Ralph Ripoff of being involved with the drugs because he's a known con artist (and because he'd earlier offered them money to help with something, which they think is helping with the drug trade). To be fair, they didn't ''want'' to believe he was a bad guy, until they found a stash of drugs in his houseboat (which turns out to be a FrameUp by the ''real'' dealers). Ralph is rather shocked at this, saying he has standards and wouldn't do anything to actually hurt the cubs -- he's a scammer, not a drug dealer, and the money he offered was for help in fixing up his houseboat.
* UndercoverCopReveal: The climax of the book has the cubs learning that one of their chief suspects, whom they'd assumed was a crook on the basis of his looks alone (such as his going around in a trenchcoat), is actually Detective O'Brunihan, brought in to help track down the source of the drugs in their town.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#02: ''The Berenstain Bears and the New Girl in Town'' (1993)]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Papa rushes out to tell the Bears to boycott all Grizzly goods, hopping in the car to do so... and forgetting that it's almost out of gas, while all the gas stations around are owned by Squire Grizzly, which Mama points out afterward. He considers the long walk to reach a phone (to call Farmer Ben for gas) to be WorthIt when he returns home though.
* FantasyConflictCounterpart: Part of the plot involves Papa Bear recalling Bear Country's equivalent of the real-world [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar American Civil War]]; ''The Berenstain Bears and the Perfect Crime (Almost)'' later names it as "The War Between the Clans", furthering the parallel by referencing the real-life war's alternate name "The War Between the States".
* FeudingFamilies: This book features the sudden revival of an old feud between the Grizzlys and the Bears, based on the in-universe equivalent of the American Civil War. Highlights include Brother being violently chased out of Squire Grizzly's manor and the cubs at school getting into so many brawls that the teachers can't focus on anything else, including potentially injured cubs who just got in the way (like Sister's friend Lizzy who, as a Bruin, probably isn't counted on either side but clearly got knocked head over heels for being there, to her obvious fright and confusion). Fortunately, when the school stages a performance of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', with Brother Bear and Squire Grizzly's niece Bonnie in the lead roles as a pair of star-crossed lovers from two other feuding families, everyone takes the hint and things go back to normal.
* HiMom: During the SchoolPlay at the end, when the curtain rises, it reveals Cousin Fred still out touching up the scenery, to everyone's surprise. All he can do is say "Hi, Mom... Hi, Dad!" before waving and rushing off the stage.
* NeverSayDie: Averted with the descriptions of what happens in the SchoolPlay of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'': the text plainly states that Mercutio is killed in a duel and that the play ends with Romeo and Juliet "dying in each other's arms." [[note]]Although that's a bit of a misstatement, since Juliet is only in an induced coma when Romeo dies and Romeo is already dead when Juliet dies.[[/note]] "Never Say Suicide" is in effect, though, since the book never mentions ''how'' Romeo and Juliet die.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: While Papa is explaining about the feud between Bears and Grizzlys, the illustrations show what's clearly meant to be events based on the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, with Papa mentioning that both sides had their heroes and namedropping "Stonewall Grizzly" and [[UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant Ulysses S. Bear]].
* OnSetInjury: Narrowly subverted InUniverse, when Bonnie Brown steps onto the balcony meant for a scene in the SchoolPlay of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' and it breaks under her, causing her to fall to the stage floor. Fortunately, Brother catches her and she's unhurt.
* PlayingBothSides: Downplayed -- Ralph Ripoff takes advantage of the old Bear[=/=]Grizzly feud springing back up to make money by selling "Feud buttons" to both sides, "Grizzly Pride" to the Grizzlys and "Bears Stand Tall" to the Bears.
* PracticeKiss: During rehearsal for his and Bonnie's performance in ''Romeo and Juliet'', Brother has one big problem -- he can't stop blushing during the two's big kiss scene. Bonnie suggests kissing for practice to get him used to it, and they try -- but Brother just keeps blushing (and the illustrations show Bonnie getting more and more visibly annoyed). Finally, Bonnie thinks of a solution and advises Brother to remember how angry he was at Too-Tall when the other boy was teasing him, then focus on that rather than the kiss. It works, and they pull off the scene without any further problems.
* SchoolPlay: The climax of the book is a school production of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', with Brother playing Romeo to the Juliet of his crush Bonnie Brown, whom he's been forbidden even to be friends with because of the feud between the Bear and Grizzly clans. The play's tragic ending convinces the adults in the audience to finally put their feud aside.
* SillyReasonForWar: Discussed -- there's been a long-running feud between the Bears and Grizzlys (which is ostensibly over with), which went to full-out war. Mama points out that she considers the whole thing to be silly because nobody on either side can even remember what ''started'' the feud.
* SinsOfOurFathers: Brother Bear gets chased away from Squire Grizzly's manor simply because he's related to Papa Bear, who'd insulted the Squire earlier in the book by calling him a "milk poisoner".
* SpitTake: Variant -- when Papa Bear takes a sip of milk and spits it back out, it's not from shock but because it tastes horrible, due to the cows it came from having been eating onion grass.
* TenMinutesInTheCloset: The party game version comes up in the last chapter, under the name "Mail Room". Bonnie and Brother, who've decided they'd rather be friends than dating, go in together and come out after several minutes of Bonnie making loud kissing sounds against her hand and Brother moaning and groaning like he's having a great time, all just to mess with their friends.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#03: ''The Berenstain Bears Gotta Dance!'' (1993)]]
* AccidentalDanceCraze: Downplayed -- during the big Spring Dance at the end, Brother starts performing a very ''wild'' dance, and the others stop to watch, clap and cheer him on (though unlike most cases, they don't start copying him), winning him a prize for Best Original Dance... "The Itch", so named because it was caused by Too-Tall putting itching powder in his shorts as revenge for Brother putting him in a dumpster.
* BalletEpisode: The book's plot revolves around Sister's love of ballet and Brother Bear, needing to learn how to dance in time for an upcoming school dance, joining her ballet class after having initially claimed it was too girly (in reality, he's mocking it because he's a klutz at dancing).
* FitnessNut: Downplayed -- after having to walk Sister to ballet class one afternoon and spending the day in the exercise room, Brother subsequently ''keeps'' walking her to class so he can continue using said exercise room and working out, in part to get stronger and in part because the exercise keeps his mind off his problems.
* InconvenientItch: Invoked by Too-Tall -- in retaliation for Brother putting him in a dumpster, he puts itching powder into Brother's shorts before the big school dance. It doesn't quite work out like he planned, because Brother ends up channeling that itchiness into a dance that wins him a trophy for "Most Original Dance".
* IrritationNightmare: Early on, Brother recalls a nightmare he'd had the night before, brought on by his irritation about dancing. It's less scary and more frustrating, featuring him being unable to dance because his feet are literally stuck to the floor, and when they finally break loose, the floor comes with them... and the whole time, his crush Bonnie Brown has gone off to dance with Too-Tall instead because of Brother's inability to dance.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: When Brother shows up at Sister's dance class and Madame Bearishnikov mistakes him for a new student (and the first boy to join), he corrects her... and, clearly disappointed, she starts taunting him by calling him "a puny chicken". He falls for it and agrees to try and do a ballet catch for Sister, resulting in his falling flat on his backside with the other cubs laughing at him.
* OperationJealousy: Bonnie Brown eventually admits that she started and spread the rumor that she'd invited Too-Tall Grizzly to the upcoming dance in the hopes that it would get Brother Bear jealous enough that he'd learn how to dance. That way, she could ask ''him'' instead.
* ProBonoBarter: Brother and Madame Bearishnikov end up making a deal of a service for a service -- Madame Bearishnikov will teach him how to perform ballet, including lifts, catches and carries, ''and'' pop dancing so that he can attend the school dance and not make a fool out of himself on the dance floor, and in return he uses what she teaches him to take part in their ballet recital and fill an important role in the finale, since she hasn't been able to find a cub to do that part yet. Brother agrees.
* RageBreakingPoint: After a day of Sister making fun of his hatred of dancing, Brother's finally had enough and loses his temper, chasing her around the room until Papa stops him.
* RealMenWearPink: Despite his mocking it before, Brother ends up taking ballet. He uses what he learned from it (along with the other exercise he's been doing lately) to his advantage to dump Too-Tall Grizzly into a dumpster when the latter is harassing Brother and his friends, including Bonnie Brown.
* SucksAtDancing: Brother Bear, who outright admits he has two left feet when he dances. He's rather embarrassed about this issue, and makes fun of dancing to cover for his lack of skill as a result. Eventually, he gets over his issues and becomes a talented dancer with Madame Bearishnikov's help (though in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando'', he ''still'' claims to be a klutzy dancer).
* StuffedIntoATrashcan: When Too-Tall is harassing Bonnie, hoping to get her to invite him to go to the upcoming school dance with her, Brother responds by using his newfound strength and ballet training to tie Too-Tall up in knots (literally), lift the older cub ''over his head'' and, via a perfect ballet carry, drop him into the mall dumpster.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#04: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew'' (1993)]]
* BadMoodRetreat: After being beaten up in a dodgeball game and having his crush Queenie [=McBear=] laughing at him during it, Ferdy flees the school grounds. He's later found in Forbidden Bog, where he was taking notes on a patch of quicksand, but it's not mentioned if he'd gone there on purpose or had just found it while looking for something scientific to study.
* CallingMeALogarithm: Ferdy's introduction to Too-Tall involves this -- Ferdy calmly asks "Who is this individual?", prompting Too-Tall (who clearly doesn't know the word) to ask "Who're you calling an ''individual''?"
* DodgeballIsHell: Invoked by Too-Tall and his gang, who go out of their way to target Ferdy during a game and ultimately cause him to run off the court and, subsequently, the school grounds.
* EmbarrassingNickname:
** Ferdy Factual gets dubbed "Nerdy Ferdy" early on by Too-Tall and his gang, out of nastiness.
** Papa Bear recalls his childhood classmate with a similar nickname, "Wimpy Walter".
* HomeschooledKids: Ferdy Factual was homeschooled by his parents until the events of this book. Unfortunately, the lack of interaction with cubs his own age has left him rather socially inept as a result.
* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: When Teacher Bob explains he was speaking in the vernacular, and Cousin Fred promptly defines it as "the plain language in daily use by ordinary people", Ferdy mutters something under his breath about "ordinary, stupid people". The narration's next line is "Teacher Bob pretended not to hear what Ferdy had said."
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Discussed -- after hearing about Ferdy's first day and being asked why he would act the way he did, Mama describes this trope and how she suspects Ferdy is a case, saying that some cubs are afraid others won't want to be friends with them, so they don't even ''try'' to make friends and, sometimes, act like a know-it-all to make up for their inferiority in other areas (social skills, in Ferdy's case).
* InsufferableGenius: Ferdy Factual, [[CharacterDevelopment at first]], who's intelligent and ''knows it'', and doesn't hesitate to show off his intelligence. He mocks Sister for not knowing what "paleontologist" means, corrects Teacher Bob's grammar on multiple occasions, goes looking for mistakes in his textbooks (including when he goes through the math book, finds all the mistakes and puts the list up on the bulletin board afterward), and corrects the names of two rivers on the classroom map. By the end of the morning, Brother is royally ticked off at him. However, as time goes by, it becomes clearer that Ferdy really ''does'' enjoy sharing his knowledge with others, not just to show off.
* KneelPushTrip: During recess of Ferdy's first day, Too-Tall pushes him backward over a kneeling Skuzz, and then does it ''again'' when Ferdy gets back up.
* LonerTurnedFriend: Papa tells the cubs about "Wimpy Walter", a classmate of his who moved to town in his youth and was smart but no good at sports, and pushed others away as a result. Papa himself, and some others, refused to give up on him and in the end he opened up and became friends with them.
* MistakenIdentity: While searching for Ferdy after he's run off, Mama and the cubs think they see him from a distance and run in his direction. When they get closer though, it turns out to be Actual Factual (who [[UncannyFamilyResemblance looks exactly like a grownup version of his nephew, outfit and all]]), who's surprised but glad to see them.
* MuckingInTheMud: Late in the book, Papa Bear rushes into Forbidden Bog to try and rescue Ferdy. He's in such a hurry that he runs straight past the cub he's looking for and into a patch of quicksand, which (realistically) just bogs him down rather than trying to ''suck'' him down, prompting Ferdy to have to save him with an improvised lever and fulcrum.
* NoSocialSkills: Ferdy has a serious problem with this due to limited interaction with other cubs prior to his introduction, as he acts like the world bores him and doesn't seem to get why others would be annoyed at his showing off his intelligence. The resulting superiority complex and stuck-up behavior doesn't help either. It also comes into play when he gets a crush on Queenie [=McBear=] and can't tell that she's just using him to make Too-Tall jealous and help with her homework rather than because she actually cares about him.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Benevolent example -- Mr. Grizzmeyer has a rule against being interrupted during locker-room meetings. However, when Ferdy Factual -- who'd gotten one of their best members back on the team ahead of an important game -- asks to speak with him, Mr. Grizzmeyer decides to break his own rule and let him talk. It's a good thing, because Ferdy's advice proves critical to helping the team win the game.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Ferdy tends to use longer words like "individual" and "opiate" as yet another sign of his intelligence and to show it off.
* ShamefulStrip: Mentioned when Papa recalls how his classmate, "Wimpy Walter", was once the victim of this when another cub snuck up behind him and yanked his swim trunks down. He ended up fleeing into the woods for two days.
* UncannyFamilyResemblance: When the cubs first see Ferdy, their first thought is "little Ferdy looked like a smaller version of his uncle." He even dresses exactly like Actual Factual, which is why they later mistake the Professor for Ferdy when they see him from a distance.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#05: ''The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes'' (1993)]]
* AdaptationExpansion: ''The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes'' is an expanded version of the 1990 [=McDonald's=] / "Family Time Book" ''The Berenstain Bears and the Substitute Teacher'' and ''its'' source material, the 1987 episode "The Substitute Teacher".
* AnimalGoesToSchool: Part of the plot involves Brother smuggling a frog into school and leaving it on Miss Barr's desk when she isn't looking as a prank.
* BucketBoobyTrap: Variant -- rather than rigging a bucket over a door, Too-Tall removes one of the ceiling tiles in the classroom and hides a bucket of water up there with a string attached, pulling on it to dump the water on Ms. Barr at the same time as Great Grizzly Falls appears on screen in the movie they're watching, causing her to fall to the ground. He intends this prank to "break" her, and indeed it seems he's broken her spirit in doing so.
* BullyingADragon: The book involves the Too-Tall gang harassing their substitute teacher Ms. Barr during the week she's in charge of the class, trying to push her to "break". They don't find out until almost the end of the week that she's a skilled martial artist who could break ''them'' if she really wanted to.
* CorrectiveLecture: During her demonstration at the end of the book, Ms. Barr calls Too-Tall up for a particular stage of it... but rather than attack him like he expected, she instead starts talking about bullies, mean pranks and other things. While he's still scared of her, her lecture really gets through to him, and he doesn't pull a single prank on her for the rest of the week.
* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Non-romantic variant -- at the very end of the book, Bertha Broom informs Too-Tall that as a grown-up, Ms. Barr wouldn't hurt him. Bertha herself, on the other hand, may only be a brown belt in karate, but if Too-Tall tries another prank on Ms. Barr, "I'll brown-belt you black-and-blue!"
* OhCrap: When Too-Tall discovers the truth about Ms. Barr being a skilled martial artist and realizes he was playing with fire by messing with her, he's truly scared.
* OperationBlank: Too-Tall refers to his plan to break Ms. Barr as "Operation Substitute".
* SpannerInTheWorks: When Brother Bear has learned that Too-Tall is planning a ''serious'' prank (to dump water on Ms. Barr's head during class), he plans to arrive at school early and warn her. Unfortunately, Papa turns out to be this trope when he insists Brother take a certain frog back to Frog Pond on the way, which leads to Brother and Freddy getting to class late (not helped by Too-Tall locking the door to the classroom) and unable to alert Ms. Barr before she gets soaked.
* SquirrelsInMyPants: As part of their plan to tease Ms. Barr, Brother catches a frog and puts it on Ms. Barr's desk while she isn't looking. The trope comes into play when Skuzz hits the frog with a massive spitball to get it to jump, and it hops straight into the back of Ms. Barr's shirt, causing a minor freak-out on her part.
* TeasingTheSubstituteTeacher: It's noted that Too-Tall and his gang have a habit of bugging substitute teachers. When they find that Ms. Barr is going to be around for a full week (and is supposed to be a real pushover), they decide to go a step further and ''break'' her, and even rope Brother, Cousin Fred and Barry Bruin (the former two of whom try to keep things from going too far) into helping. It backfires when they find out they've been [[BullyingADragon harassing a skilled martial artist]] who could, if she wanted, break ''them''.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: Too-Tall and his gang ''try'' to be this for Brother and Cousin Fred, convincing them to join the four bullies in teasing the substitute teacher Ms. Barr (though the two at least ''try'' to keep it down to a manageable level, suggesting ultimately harmless tricks like putting a frog on her desk and making frog calls in its presence). They're a little more successful with Barry Bruin, who comes up with the idea of throwing spitballs at her. Fortunately, Brother and Fred come to their senses and decide things have gone too far when they hear Too-Tall's plan for her second day, which involves dumping a bucket of water on her head, and try to warn her before it can go off.
* WouldntHurtAChild: Pointed out by Bertha Broom, who reminds Too-Tall that Ms. Barr may be a black belt in karate, but she's also a ''grownup'', and as such she wouldn't use her skills to hurt a cub, even a jerk like Too-Tall, no matter ''what'' he did to her.
* WrittenInAbsence: The whole plot is kicked off by one of these when the titular substitute teacher, Ms. Barr, takes over Teacher Bob's class for a week while he's away on his honeymoon.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#06: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback'' (1993)]]
* BreakingTheGlassCeiling: The plot revolves around Bertha Broom becoming the first girl to be on the school's football team, despite the initial opposition of Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer (who happens to be the coach) and a number of others who think a girl has no place on a football team.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Brother ends up doing this to Papa when the latter claims it's absurd for Queenie [=McBear=] to be running for student body president simply because she's a girl and her chief opponent isn't. Brother, the one whom Queenie is running ''against'', is embarrassed by this and calls him out on it by pointing out that Bear Country ''is'' a democracy, so anyone is free to run for a position regardless of gender.
* CheatersNeverProsper: At the start of the climactic football game, Bertha comes out with her uniform in knots, and reveals her pads have been stolen too. It turns out to be the doing of a few members of the opposing team, who did so in order to keep her from participating because they couldn't stand the idea of losing to a girl. Naturally, their plan fails: Too-Tall gives Bertha his own pads, and the uniform gets untied in time for her to take part. Beartown easily wins the match as a result.
* CurbStompBattle: Bertha Broom's tryout for the football team, after she's permitted to actually give it a try. Coach Grizzmeyer puts Bertha at linebacker just to see how good she is and she wrecks the team; she sacks Brother for a loss, Too-Tall rams into her and is blown off his feet, and finally she runs back an interception, leaving the entire team dazed and confused in her wake.
* DecidedByOneVote: Subverted -- the B-plot is Brother Bear running against Queenie [=McBear=] for school president. Queenie is quick to include the upheaval from Bertha Broom trying out for the boys football team in her campaign, turning the election into a boys vs girls affair, but there are an equal amount of boys and girls in the student body. Queenie is confident she'll win and at the end it's revealed why; Too-Tall Grizzly has a crush on her, and she was counting on his vote! However, the votes are still tied because Bertha, who doesn't care about women's lib, voted for Brother. In the end, Brother concedes to Queenie because he has too many responsibilities anyway.
* GirlsVsBoysPlot: The B-plot involves Brother Bear running against Queenie [=McBear=] for school president. Due to the upheaval from the A-plot of Bertha Broom trying out for the boys' football team, Queenie expects all the girls (and ''one'' boy, her on-again off-again boyfriend Too-Tall) will vote for her as a result, while all the other boys vote for Brother, which will still hand her the victory because there's an equal number of boys and girls voting. It doesn't work out that way because Bertha herself doesn't care about women's issues and votes for Brother instead, leaving the votes still tied.
* GracefulLoser: Too-Tall, in the end. Having lost his spot as fullback on the team in favor of Bertha and been moved to tight end instead (on grounds that his height makes him a natural pass-catching end), he doesn't take it well at first... but when the actual game comes around, he willingly gives up his own shoulder pads to Bertha after hers were stolen (despite Mr. Grizzmeyer's first reaction being to suspect ''him'' of the theft), and eventually tracks down the real thieves.
* IHaveBrothers: When she first attempts to try out for the team, Bertha Broom explains that she learned football from her older brothers. Unfortunately, it takes a ''lot'' more than that before Mr. Grizzmeyer will even consider letting her join.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: At one point, Papa claims that girls aren't "medically fit" to play football. Cue Dr. Gert Grizzly appearing on the news and reporting that according to her medical examination, Bertha ''is'' fit not only for football but wrestling and rugby too... and probably also for running through brick walls.
* OpposingSportsTeam: Part of the plot revolves around an upcoming football game between the Bear Country Cousins and the Beartown Bullies. In the very end, it's revealed that three of the Bullies' members had resorted to cheating, trying to make Bertha unable to play by tying her uniform in knots and stealing her pads.
* StayInTheKitchen:
** Mr. Grizzmeyer has this opinion towards girls and football, declaring that "Football's a ''boys''' game. It always has been and it always will be." and refusing to even let Bertha try out because of her gender. He only relents when Brother points out that the issue is "wrecking the whole season", and that if they let her actually try out, it'll prove one way or another if she's fit. Bertha quickly proves that she's ''more'' than capable.
** Papa Bear feels the same way as Mr. Grizzmeyer, claiming that girls aren't "medically fit" to play football (and making snide remarks when Dr. Gert Grizzly promptly appears on the news and says that per her medical exam, Bertha ''is'' fit not only for football but wrestling, rugby and probably running through brick walls).
* StrongerThanTheyLook: Bertha Broom doesn't ''look'' any tougher than any other student. However, when she's given a chance to show her skills and tackle the blocking frame, with Mr. Grizzmeyer on it, she drives it fifteen yards down the field before he can call for her to stop. Later, on the football field itself, she's able to plow through a number of bigger cubs with no problem.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#07: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief'' (1993)]]
* BlatantLies: When Sister and Fred are playing catch, Fred signals for a curveball at Brother's advice. Sister reads the sign, throws a fastball (which she's deadly with) instead, causing him a great deal of pain when the ball slams into his gloved hand, and when he yells at her, claims afterward that she misread his signal -- "I guess the sun was in my eyes" -- while grinning. It's pretty clearly her getting even with him for his delaying on letting her join in.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Name-only version -- when Too-Tall and his gang are called into Principal Honeycomb's office for a talk with he and Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer, Too-Tall namedrops Miss Glitch as part of an incident he ''wasn't'' the instigator for ("What about the time Gil Grizzwold dumped a can of trash all over Miss Glitch's car?"). Miss Glitch is later properly introduced in ''The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet'', and becomes a recurring character in the series.
* ExtremeDoormat: Subverted -- when Mr. Dweebish is introduced, he seems like a rather wimpy individual, and Brother and Freddy think he stands no chance against Too-Tall and his gang. As they expect, Too-Tall immediately starts giving him a hard time (and Fred too)... but then the subversion kicks in when, after Fred loses his temper and nearly attacks Too-Tall, Mr. Dweebish ends up bellowing at them to get back in their seats and proving that he's no pushover.
* GradeSkipper: Downplayed -- Sister and Lizzy are moved up to Brother's class for an hour each day, during their new social studies class, but otherwise spend the rest of the day with their normal classmates.
* GrammarNazi: Principal Honeycomb isn't normally one, but when he and Mr. Grizzmeyer have been questioning Too-Tall and his gang and Too-Tall says a very grammatically incorrect sentence, Principal Honeycomb ends up repeating that sentence and then, realizing what he's said, repeatedly corrects his ''own'' grammar -- one word at a time -- until it's right:
-->'''Principal Honeycomb''': "I'm afraid Too-Tall's right, Mr. Grizzmeyer. We ain't got no evidence. I mean, we ''don't'' got no evidence... I mean, we don't ''have'' no evidence... I mean, we don't have ''any'' evidence! ''Phew!''"
* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: The ''wrongness'' of this trope is one of the lessons Mr. Dweebish is trying to teach the class -- that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. By setting things up so the students would think Too-Tall is behind all the locker thefts, he shows them how jumping to conclusions is a bad thing, and how they need evidence to ''prove'' guilt rather than just assuming.
* HowAboutASmile: Early on, Brother and Freddy are playing catch. Sister later joins and asks to take Freddy's place, and he makes her say "Please", "Pretty please" and "Pretty please with sugar on top". In the last case, Sister retorts with "Pretty please with a baseball bat on top of your head."
* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: Not said out loud, but after Too-Tall makes a snide remark about Mr. Dweebish's name and his gang laughs, the narration says that "Mr. Dweebish pretended not to notice."
* JerkassHasAPoint: Acknowledged when Principal Honeycomb and Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer call Too-Tall and his gang into the office to discuss the locker thefts they're suspected of. When Too-Tall says they can't be suspended for the thefts because "You ain't got no ''evidence'' [that we committed the crimes]!", Principal Honeycomb concedes that he's got a point.
* LockedRoomMystery: A two-in-one example -- the school lockers are kept locked at all times, yet somebody's managed to get into them without leaving any trace. And the combinations themselves are kept under lock and key in Principal Honeycomb's office. The Bear Detectives later learn, during the summation, that the culprit had used an excuse to borrow the key and got access to the combinations that way.
* NeverTheObviousSuspect: When items start disappearing from students' lockers, the cubs naturally suspect Too-Tall, whose reputation for trouble-making is well known. He turns out to be innocent, and it's revealed that the ''real'' culprit was just trying to teach the students a lesson about jumping to conclusions.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Invoked -- the Bear Detectives believe that Too-Tall is behind the locker thefts, and as part of a sting operation, decide to spread a rumor that he hasn't robbed Brother's locker yet because he's too scared of Brother after the events of ''The Berenstain Bears Gotta Dance!''. They're hoping the rumor will goad him into breaking into the locker, which will expose him as the thief because they've rigged it with a special paint bomb. It doesn't work out like they planned because Too-Tall ''isn't'' the thief, but Brother's locker still ''does'' get broken into.
* SpannerInTheWorks: The titular "red-handed thief" turns out to just be trying to teach the cubs a lesson about wrongfully jumping to conclusions, and is planning on returning the stolen items when the time is right. The Bear Detectives, however, end up accidentally disrupting this plan by planting a [[TrickBomb paint bomb]] in Brother's locker, the day before the planned event.
* TrickBomb: In order to catch the thief who's been stealing from their lockers, the cubs arrange to have a ''paint'' bomb rigged up in Brother's locker with a little help from Squire Grizzly -- the bank he owns uses them to protect the vaults from would-be thieves.
* UnfortunateNames: Mr. ''Dweeb''ish. Brother even admits that he looks like his name, with Fred adding "nerdish" and "wimpish" to the list. Too-Tall, naturally, also can't help but lampshade it when he says "I told you he'd be a dweeb."
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Mr. Dweebish, who even admits this -- he loves teaching and ''demonstrating'' what he teaches, which in this case includes the values of "innocent until proven guilty" and showing Too-Tall what it's like to be falsely accused, but he also admits that he crossed a line when he stole from the school lockers as part of it to make a point.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#08: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando'' (1993)]]
* AppropriatedAppellation: Too-Tall originally comes up with the nickname "Wheels" for the wheelchair-bound Harry [=McGill=] to mock him, [[InsultBackfire but Harry adopts the nickname and asks everyone to call him that.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: The chapter books in general show that Brother has expanded his protective instincts to most of the school, with him being actively famous for defending bullying victims, and it's a major plot point in this book when Harry finds out about it. Realizing that Brother acts this way towards ''everyone'', rather than just those he feels sorry for, is what starts to turn him around and help him become friends with non-disabled cubs.
* BullyTurnedBuddy: The book ends with this development -- throughout the book, Too-Tall has only seen Harry [=McGill=] as a disabled cub, thinking that DisabledMeansHelpless, and making him an easy target to pick on. When Harry beats Too-Tall in wheelchair basketball, Too-Tall is so thoroughly stunned that he not only asks Harry ''somewhat'' politely how he did that, when he asks for something ''else'' they can compete in, Harry reveals his only other sport is chess... which cements their friendship, since Too-Tall [[HiddenDepths is a chess expert as well]], and has been looking for someone who's both a decent challenge and who isn't too afraid to play him.
* ChallengingTheBully: A variant. In his latest mocking of Harry [=McGill=], Too-Tall challenges the other cub to join his basketball team for a match against Barry Bruin and ''his'' team. Harry, however, turns it around by challenging ''Too-Tall'' to a one-on-one match in ''wheelchair'' basketball, a week from that day. Too-Tall agrees, unaware that Harry happens to be a champion of the sport, and gets his clock cleaned... and the conversation that follows ends in their becoming best friends.
* CallBack: Fred mentions the time that Brother put Too-Tall in a dumpster (back in ''The Berenstain Bears Gotta Dance!'') to Harry [=McGill=], which is one of the things that makes Harry realize Brother is on the level rather than simply pitying him.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: In the climax of the book, Too-Tall becomes friends with Harry [=McGill=], a HandicappedBadass he was taunting, after the latter beat him in wheelchair basketball. Harry also thanks Too-Tall for giving him a cool nickname, "Wheels".
* DisabledMeansHelpless: Discussed and totally subverted.
** Most bears have this attitude towards Harry [=McGill=], which royally annoys him and is why he's never tried to make friends with non-disabled cubs. Harry also tends to assume that others have this attitude, taking a seat in the back and rudely telling Teacher Bob, when the latter asks if he doesn't want to sit up front, that his legs may not work but he can still ''see'' just fine.
** Too-Tall and his gang thoroughly believe it until the climax, where Harry reveals he's actually a HandicappedBadass and cleans Too-Tall's clock at wheelchair basketball.
* DontYouDarePityMe: Harry [=McGill=] doesn't like anybody showing sympathy over him being paraplegic. It gets {{Deconstructed|Trope}} here, where his hostile attitude towards the other cubs because of it (not helped by Queenie believing DisabledMeansHelpless) makes it hard for those who genuinely want to befriend him to talk to him. It reaches its peak when he accuses Brother of defending him from Too-Tall's gang simply to make himself look good, only to be promptly told by both Brother himself and several bystanders that Brother is famous throughout the school for protecting bullied cubs in general. Afterwards, he has a JerkassRealization, apologizes to Brother, and opens up to him and Freddy, which helps improve his interactions with the other students and helps the other cubs to get to know him more.
* GadgeteerGenius: When first introduced, Harry [=McGill=] is revealed as a computer expert. This later helps him make friends when Brother and Fred figure it out and eventually see just ''how'' good he is, as he offers to help them with their model airplane and its center-of-gravity problem via a computer program he has on planes.
* HandicappedBadass: Harry [=McGill=], a wheelchair-bound computer genius and skilled chess player, turns out to also be a former wheelchair basketball player. He proves it by easily outmatching Too-Tall in a game, earning the latter's respect in the process.
* HiddenDepths: This book reveals that Too-Tall Grizzly is more than a dumb jock and bully -- he's also a master at chess, and he's desperate for a good game.
* JerkassRealization: Throughout the book, Harry [=McGill=] has stubbornly refused to be friendly towards anyone because he thinks they only want to know how he became a paraplegic or that they pity him because of his condition, and otherwise don't care about him as an actual person, no matter how friendly they try to be. When Brother decides to stick up for him against Too-Tall and Harry ''still'' thinks it's only because Brother pities him, Brother's finally had enough and calls him out over his jumping to conclusions before telling him why he ''really'' stood up for Harry (because he can't stand Too-Tall's bullying ''anyone''). Harry, realizing that Brother really means what he's saying (with a little help from Freddy, who tells him about another time Brother stood up to Too-Tall), finally admits that he had Brother and Fred all wrong, and apologizes.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In the penultimate chapter, as other cubs get to know Harry as more than a disabled cub, it's said that one of the things they get to know him as is "a collector of old comedy videos of W. C. Bruin", the bear version of Creator/WCFields.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Harry [=McGill=], a computer genius, plays chess. Surprisingly, the climax reveals that Too-Tall Grizzly, despite his poor grades and his reputation as a bully, ''also'' plays chess, and he's thrilled when he finds out Harry's good at it too, because the other members of the school chess team are "too chicken" to face him, and his gang members... well, as Too-Tall himself puts it, "I tried to teach these bums, ... But they stink."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#09: ''The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet'' (1994)]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: When Queenie spots Teacher Bob having dinner with a teenaged girl and assumes they're on a date, she takes a picture of them (unbeknownst to both of them) and sneaks it into the gossip page of the underground newspaper the Newspaper Club is publishing to protest against Miss Glitch's ironclad control of the newspaper. Unfortunately, the teen turns out to be [[RelativeError Teacher Bob's niece]] who's visiting him to look at colleges in the area, something Brother, the editor of the underground newspaper, knew for a fact as Mama had had her over for tea a couple of days prior. Brother angrily informs Queenie that had she not gone behind his back to put the photo in, he would have killed the story on the spot and they wouldn't have pissed off Teacher Bob and so many of the teachers (who also know the teen is his niece). Not only is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Queenie horrified that she accidentally had her teacher accused of unprofessional behavior]], it ultimately leads to the writers of the secondary newspaper getting exposed because Brother feels so guilty that he confesses everything to Sister, in turn leading to the school authorities finding out when Sister decides to tell Mama because she's worried about what would happen if the school authorities didn't find out who the writers were sooner.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The whole ''book'' is this for Miss Glitch, making her debut in the series. She comes off as more of a MisplacedKindergartenTeacher than the SternTeacher she's better known as in later books, going home early when she reads the comments about her in the Cub Reporter, crying during the meeting where everything comes out, and later promising to do better. In all other appearances, she matches Sister's early description of her as a SternTeacher who won't even consider admitting to being wrong (insisting on having things "her way or the highway"), and seems to have it out for anything anyone else would consider fun.
* EasilyForgiven: After Brother accuses Harry of squealing on them, rather than be upset, Harry understands that ''Brother'' was simply upset and lashing out (and admits he would have reacted the same way), and not only forgives him but follows after him to his Thinking Place (not easy for him to do, because of the vines that tangle up his wheelchair) so they can talk it out.
* HypocriteHasAPoint: The cubs who are working on the titular scandal sheet are clearly breaking the rules and doing things that upset and even harm the school staff, but said school staff basically ignored any and all of their desires when it came to writing for the school newspaper with such actions as forcing one of Brother's agemates to review books for first-graders and write a poem with a word that's nearly impossible to rhyme and ignoring Ferdy's suggestions for the science section. The cubs only went with the unauthorized newspaper because they felt ignored, something the adults admit was wrong of them.
* IShallTauntYou: Queenie pulls this on Harry [=McGill=] to get him on her side, provoking him with her "knowledge" of what Miss Glitch had said about a prospective computer column (she's making the whole thing up, but he doesn't know that) and not wanting to repeat it until he gets mad enough to demand to know what it was. According to Queenie's lie, Miss Glitch had made insulting remarks about computers, something that angers Harry (a computer expert himself) into immediately agreeing to print their newspaper for them.
* LiteralMinded: Barry Bruin has a particular moment of this -- when Queenie is explaining how they'll handle their new newspaper, she says they'll use pen names rather than their real ones. Barry immediately thinks of "Ballpoint" or "Fountain", leading an exasperated Queenie to ask Cousin Fred to explain the concept to him. The illustrations also show him picturing them working out of a cave when Queenie first uses the term "underground" newspaper.
* MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Miss Glitch, in this book only. She gives the Journalism Club students strict orders on what to write, all of which is ''far'' below their age level, such as book reports on "Dick and Jane's New Puppy" and similar books and an article on "Our Friend, the Water Molecule". The students are predictably disgusted.
* NoNameGiven: Teacher Bob's niece -- who's in town visiting him in this book -- is never actually given a name, only referred to as "his niece" or similar terms.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Professor Actual Factual is normally pretty easy-going, but when he's present at the meeting where the cubs' actions are exposed and explained, he's ''not'' in a good mood, which the cubs take as a sign that this is ''very'' serious.
* PenName: InUniverse, the cubs adapt pen names for use in their underground newspaper the Cub Reporter. Brother is I. M. Wright, Fred is Nat Newshound, Barry is Homer Homerun, Ferdy is Teddy Testtube, Babs is Marilyn Muse and Queenie is Selma Scoop.
* RelativeError: Queenie [=McBear=] puts an unapproved article in a secondary (and unauthorized) school newspaper about Teacher Bob being seen having dinner with a pretty teenager, causing a fuss and an inquiry for unprofessional behavior. When he sees the article, Queenie's editor-in-chief Brother Bear angrily informs her that had she not gone over his head (which ultimately led to them being exposed as the writers of the secondary newspaper), he would have killed the story on the spot -- he knew full well that the girl in Queenie's photo was Bob's teenage niece, who was in town to visit him and check out colleges in the area.
* SelfDeprecation: When Too-Tall gets called to the principal's office to be questioned about the Cub Reporter, he cheerfully says they can't pin it on he and his gang -- "We're too stupid to put together a newspaper!"
* ShoutOut: At one point, there's a reference to actor Clint Bearwood and his film ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' (specifically, describing the students' comments on their teachers in those exact terms), the Bear versions of Creator/ClintEastwood and [[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly his film of the same name]].
* TheStoolPigeon: A Concerned Claire version -- the cubs of the school newspaper club are frustrated with Miss Glitch's iron-clad control over what they can write, so they rebel with an underground paper. However it gets taken too far when Queenie [=McBear=] goes behind everyone's back and puts in an unapproved story about Teacher Bob being seen having dinner with a pretty teenager ([[RelativeError who was actually his niece visiting him to look at colleges in the area]]), causing a fuss throughout town. Another article about how everybody hates Miss Glitch also caused her to leave school for the day in tears. Brother feels so guilty about it that he confesses everything to Sister. She decides to tell Mama because she thinks she could help solve the problem, who in turn informs the school authorities. This turns out to be the right action, because it helped clear Teacher Bob's name. It also allowed for the real student newspaper to reform to allow for a bit more writer freedom, and the cubs involved in the underground paper are able to learn a tough-but-fair lesson about reporter responsibility and getting the facts straight.
* VoiceOfTheResistance: The school's journalism club creates an underground newspaper in protest of Miss Glitch's iron-handed control over what is printed in the normal school newspaper. Things quickly go too far, however, when Queenie prints a libelous story about a certain teacher's "indiscretion", when he was actually out to dinner with his niece.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#10: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost'' (1994)]]
* AfterActionVillainAnalysis: After the "Galloping Ghost" is exposed as Billy Bogg in a costume, Brother explains what's been going on and why the youngest Bogg Brother did what he did -- the Bogg Brothers had been hired by a group of real-estate bears in Big Bear City to sabotage Miss Mamie's riding academy so they could buy the land cheap, and Billy dressing up as the ghost was just the latest part of their scheme. Chief Bruno subsequently confirms it by questioning the Bogg Brothers themselves, and then has their bosses arrested by the Big Bear City police.
* AllGirlsLikePonies: Sister's love of horses is a major plot point in this book, though unlike most cases of the trope, she doesn't ask for ''a'' pony -- just riding lessons.
* BigBrotherBully: Brother gets in a few moments in this book, first by scaring Sister when he reads a spooky moment in his ''[[SherlockHomage Grizzlock Holmes]]'' book aloud to her, and later by making a scary face and chasing Sister while pretending to be the Galloping Ghost of Forbidden Bog (to be fair, in the latter case ''she'd'' just been teasing him about being scared of horses and he was getting back at her for it). In both cases, Mama and Papa make him stop.
* ContinuityNod: When Billy Bogg is exposed as the fake ghost, Cousin Fred says he thought the Bogg Brothers were still in prison on their drug conviction from ''The Berenstain Bears and the Drug Free Zone''.
* DarkestHour: Miss Mamie's comes when the supposed "Galloping Ghost" shows up at her riding academy, causing her to decide to give up on the academy -- the bad luck that's been plaguing the place is one thing, but the supernatural is quite another. Fortunately, she mentions something to Brother as he's boarding the bus, leading to his having a EurekaMoment and causing the cubs to return shortly afterward, whereupon they uncover the ScoobyDooHoax and snap Miss Mamie back to normal.
* EurekaMoment: After seeing the Galloping Ghost and deciding to close the school, Miss Mamie mentions to Brother about how a group of Bears from Big Bear City had tried to buy the land from her, but she'd turned them down. Thinking about this on the bus, Brother has a sudden realization and has them return to the academy, leading to a final confrontation with the supposed "Galloping Ghost" and TheSummation of what's been happening.
* GhostlyWail: Discussed -- according to legend, the ghost of Billy Beechtree haunts Forbidden Bog, riding through the night and crying for justice after he was falsely accused of being a highway robber. Later, the fake ghost that shows up ''also'' howls, in an effort to scare everyone away from the property.
* HesBack: Miss Mamie explains to Brother how she used to be a champion horseback rider, but after falling and breaking her leg (which didn't heal quite right and gave her a permanent limp), she hasn't been on a horse in nine years -- "Scared, I guess," she says. It didn't stop her from opening her horseback riding school though, since she still loves the animals. Ultimately, during the big horse show at the end, it's revealed that after everything that's happened and all the help she's gotten in saving her riding school, she's finally gotten up the courage to get back in the saddle.
* TheHighwayman: Billy Beechtree, the supposed Galloping Ghost of Forbidden Bog, was wrongly accused of being a highwaybear and, being chased into the bog, drowned in a pool of quicksand with his horse.
* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: Not said out loud, but during a discussion where the Bear family is talking about fears, Papa says everyone is afraid of something. When Sister asks Papa what ''he's'' afraid of, he jokingly says "Your mama." The narration follows this with "Mama pretended not to hear Papa's remark."
* LaymansTerms: At Brother's request, Cousin Fred gives him the dictionary definition of "mortgage". When he sees Brother is still confused though, he breaks things down into terms that are easier for Brother to understand, along with the other two words Brother had been confused by ("arrears" and "foreclose") in less formal speak, allowing Brother to properly understand how such a thing works.
* ReadingTheEnemysMail: Benevolent and downplayed example -- Brother, despite knowing it's wrong, reads a letter from Miss Mamie's desk that she'd previously read in the hopes of understanding her problems and finding a way to help her.
* SavingTheOrphanage: Horseback riding school, in this case. Ms. Mamie isn't the best of businessbears, and the recent sabotage isn't helping. The cubs decide to help out by cleaning up her riding school, holding a big show to draw attention to the school and earn money to pay off her bills, and have their parents teach her what she needs to know to become a better businessbear and not get behind on the mortgage again.
* ScoobyDooHoax: The Bogg Brothers, a family of criminal brothers, have been sabotaging Ms. Mamie's Horseriding Academy in a bid to get it shut down so Ms. Mamie can't make her mortgage payment. When Brother Bear, Sister Bear, and their friends form a group to undo their damage and raise money for Ms. Mamie, the youngest Bogg Brother dresses up as the ghost of Billy Beechtree in a last ditch effort to scare them away, but he and his brothers get caught. The ending reveals that they were hired by a real estate development company that wanted to take over the academy, tear it down and build a shopping mall; said bears are arrested for their actions.
* ShellGame: Portrayed positively for once -- Ralph puts his con artist skills to good use at the big horse show, where he runs an ''authorized'' shell game booth and earns enough money to pay an entire month of Miss Mamie's mortgage all on his own.
* SherlockHomage: Brother, in this book, is revealed to be a fan of Grizzlock Holmes, a rather blatant {{Expy}} of Sherlock Holmes, with one book Brother reads being clearly based on "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".
* StandYourGround: During the final encounter with the supposed "Galloping Ghost", Brother calls for the cubs to stand their ground, which leads to the "ghost" turning around and fleeing, with the cubs chasing after it... and it being exposed as a [[ScoobyDooHoax criminal in a ghost costume]].
* TorchesAndPitchforks: While not ''literally'', the legend of Billy Beechtree says he was chased into Forbidden Bog by a mob of angry citizens (shown to be on horseback), where he and his horse drowned in quicksand.
* WeWereRehearsingAPlay: Variant -- when Billy Bogg is caught dressing up like a ghost and terrorizing the cubs helping out at Miss Mamie's riding school, he claims he was only practicing for Halloween. Miss Mamie doesn't buy it (even after he grumbles that "I need a lot of practice"), because Halloween is still six months away.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#11: ''The Berenstain Bears at Camp Crush'' (1994)]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When he first sees the name of the cubs' musical program at the Inter-Camp Games ("Camp Quagmire, We Love You"), Mr. Grizzmeyer is angry and prepared to hate the show. In the end though, he's thoroughly enjoyed it, with the illustrations showing him happily applauding.
* BaitAndSwitch: When Mr. Grizzmeyer shows up at the Bear family's house, the cubs are initially worried and try to think of anything they could have done wrong to bring their vice-principal there. Then he explains that he isn't there for school reasons -- he's there to invite them to attend the summer camp he's going to be running.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Ferdy Factual falls for Trudy Brunowitz, the new girl in town, because they're so similar in interests -- Ferdy is initially drawn to her because she's wearing a shirt with Einstein's E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--] equation on it, and the two hit it off right away.
* CheatersNeverProsper: The cubs at Camp Grizzmeyer are taking part in the Inter-Camp Games at the end of the summer, and the trope comes into play when it's time for the basketball game -- back home, Too-Tall is rarely punished for his usual style of playing dirty, but here, it gets the team penalized, as he's fouled out in all but one game, and the team finishes third overall as a result.
* LesserOfTwoEvils: When Too-Tall and his gang are caught as having been the one behind the pranks at Camp Grizzmeyer, Brother reminds Mr. Grizzmeyer of the four's basketball skills, leading him to offer gang a choice: they can be turned over to the mountain police and arrested for trespassing and vandalism, or they can spend the rest of the summer under his thumb at Camp Grizzmeyer, when they'd previously been eager to avoid him for the summer. They choose the second option.
* LoveObstructingParents: Both played straight ''and'' done as a variant.
** Mr. Grizzmeyer is determined to keep his son Mike and his son's fiancee Margie away from one another, blowing his whistle when he sees them so much as go near one another. Mike's extremely mad about this, to the point where the two end up eloping (or planning on it, at least -- they end up not going through with it and putting things off until they're actually ready) just to get away from him.
** Variant with everyone else. Mr. Grizzmeyer is determined to block ''any'' romance at Camp Grizzmeyer because he thinks it'll give the camp a bad name if the cubs get "crazy crushes" on one another, which is part of why the camp is divided into separate boys' and girls' camps.
* NotThisOneThatOne: As the bus is taking the cubs to Camp Grizzmeyer, they come up on a beautiful summer camp... and roll right past it, to their horror. It's only afterward that Mr. Grizzmeyer explains that was Camp ''Sunshine'', one of their rivals in the Inter-Camp Games at the end of the summer.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: At Camp Grizzmeyer, Boys' Cabin 1 is run by Counselor Mike. It's not until late in the book that he admits it's a nickname -- his real name is Mervyn Grizzmeyer Jr., stunning the cubs when they realize camp director and Bear Country School vice-principal Mervyn "Bullhorn" Grizzmeyer is his dad.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Mr. Grizzmeyer tries this with his son, Mervyn "Mike" Grizzmeyer Junior, feeling that his son and prospective daughter-in-law are too young to be getting married. After they run away to elope though (which they ultimately don't go through with), he eases up and agrees to let them get married when they're ready.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: A whole "The reason you suck ''song''", which the cubs put on for the Inter-Camp Games at the end of the summer. They basically explain all the stuff they've hated about Camp Grizzmeyer... then invert it by showing that they've come to love the place and are planning to come back next year.
* SimilarItemConfusion: Invoked -- as one of the pranks that Too-Tall and his gang play on the camp, they sneak several large white stones in with the baked potatoes at lunch. Mr. Grizzmeyer is ''not'' amused when he tries to cut into one and discovers the switch.
* SleepingDummy: Late in the book, Councilor Mike is planning to sneak out of the camp so he can meet and run away with his girlfriend, and shows his campers that he's left one of these in his bed (made of straw and leaves) to fool any other councilor who's coming by to do bed checks. Mr. Grizzmeyer, however, is the one to check that night, and quickly catches on to the decoy... but he doesn't get mad, he just gets depressed and leaves without finishing the job of checking the other cabins.
* SummerCampy: The book sees Brother, Sister and their friends attending a summer camp run by their school's vice-principal Mervyn "Bullhorn" Grizzmeyer. The place is in desperate need of fixing up, so the campers have to spend the first few days doing the work themselves, and there's a number of anonymous pranks that end up being the work of Too-Tall Grizzly and his gang (who weren't actually attending when they pulled them, they just got bored hanging around home without their "friends" and decided to go have some fun with them), but it's the "no contact between boys and girls" rule (due to Mr. Grizzmeyer's belief that they'll wind up getting a lot of silly crushes on one another and giving the camp a bad name) that really ticks off a lot of the campers. In spite of all this, they wind up having a lot of fun in the end and are looking forward to coming back; the big musical show at the annual inter-camp meet, where they proceed to show off their issues with the camp and yet how much they've wound up liking it, proves their point to Grizzmeyer and leads him to admitting he made some mistakes (including the "separate camps for boys and girls" rule) and will do better next year.
* UnderwearFlag: A few days into the camp session, someone starts pulling a lot of pranks at Camp Grizzmeyer, the last of which is a variant on this -- instead of underwear flying at the top of the flagpole, it's Mr. Grizzmeyer's striped pajama bottoms. It turns out to have been done by the Too-Tall Gang, who were bored at home since most of their classmates were off at the camp for the summer.
* WaxingLyrical: When Too-Tall is explaining why he thinks the other cubs are stupid for attending Camp Grizzmeyer, he has Skuzz explain it in a way that references Music/AliceCooper's "School's Out":
-->'''Skuzz:''' No more pencils! No more books! No more Grizzmeyer's dirty looks!
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#12: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Giddy Grandma'' (1994)]]
* CoveredInGunge: Twice. First, a reminiscence about Grizzly Gramps' past reveals that when he and the clown Roscoe got in a DuelToTheDeath (even if the only thing injured was his pride), Gramps got a faceful of banana cream. Later, during the talent show, Gran and Gramps end up throwing pies at one another and ''both'' end up with facefuls of banana cream, and sink to the ground kissing one another.
* DuelToTheDeath: Gran tells Sister the story of how, when she was younger, she used to perform a one-bear-band vaudeville act. She also recounts how Gramps (who was one of the "Stage Door Johnnies", male bears who hung out in the theater to try and get the attention of the performers they were attracted to) and a clown named Roscoe both courted her, which culminated in Gramps slapping Roscoe and challenging him to a duel (which was, of course, illegal). Roscoe, as the challenged, had the right to choose the weapon... and chose pies, with someone promptly going to a nearby bakery and coming back with two banana cream pies for them to use. Despite losing the duel, Gramps came out on top in the long run, as he was physically unharmed (though his pride was somewhat wounded), and Gran decided he was the bear she wanted to marry.
* EpicFail: When he hears about the adults-only talent show, Papa suggests he could enter with some of "my famous card tricks", and proceeds to try and demonstrate the "card spring flourish" trick, shooting a deck of cards from one hand to the other. Instead, they end up scattering all over the floor, much to Mama's exasperation.
* HiddenDepths: This book reveals Grizzly Gran's past in vaudeville, and she's still got it all these years later -- able to rollerskate and play several instruments at once. Her act ends up winning her the grand prize at Bear Country School's Parent-Teacher Talent Show. The same event reveals a number of other adults have hidden talents, which they enter in the show -- Teacher Bob can juggle and do magic tricks, Lizzy Bruin's dad plays the fiddle, Queenie [=McBear=]'s mom plays the flute, Chief Bruno and three of his officers can sing in a barbershop quartet, and Teacher Jane is an excellent tap-dancer.
* ImGoingToDisneyWorld: At the very end, after winning the grand prize at Bear Country School's Parent-Teacher Talent Show, Gran gets her choice of prizes from the list. The very last illustration shows her and Gramps saying "We're going to Grizzly Land!"
* LoveTriangle: Grizzly Gran was in one back in her youth, with her future husband Gramps and a performing clown named Roscoe. It culminated in a non-lethal DuelToTheDeath (with cream pies as the weapon of choice), and though Gramps lost the duel, he won the war, because Gran decided that night that he was the one she wanted to marry.
* NonResidentialResidence: After Gran starts practicing her incredibly noisy "One-Bear Band" act (playing several instruments at once, while on roller skates) in the attic, Gramps moves out of his house and into their garden shed for a few days.
* OneManBand: This book reveals that Grizzly Gran used to perform in vaudeville under the stage name "Wanda the One-Bear Band", wearing roller skates and a suit that included a giant drum, a harmonica, a saxophone, a horn and a bell. She still has the old outfit in her attic, and when Sister asks about her past for a school report, Gran breaks it out and performs in it once again for a local adults-only talent show, much to her husband's annoyance.
* PieInTheFace: In this book, Gran tells Sister about how Gramps and a clown performer named Roscoe fought a DuelToTheDeath over her... with cream pies. Gramps ended up with one smack in the face, since Roscoe's clown experience made him an expert pie-thrower. Later on, in the book's finale, Gramps ends up crashing Gran's performance at the adults-only talent show, riding a unicycle in a clown outfit of his own, and it culminates with he and Gran each throwing a cream pie at one another and then falling to the ground, each happily kissing their spouse's pie-covered face.
* StageNames: When Gran tells Sister about her past in vaudeville, she explains about how she performed as "Wanda the One-Bear Band", adding that "Wanda" was just a stage name.
* TalentContest: The big climax of the book is Bear Country School's Parent-Teacher Talent Show, open only to bears twenty-one or older. Grizzly Gran ends up winning with her One-Bear Band act.
* ThirdPartyPeacekeeper: Late in the book, Brother rushes over to Gran and Gramps' home in the hopes of playing this role and saving his grandparents' forty-year marriage. Once he's done talking, Gramps just laughs and explains that Brother didn't need to convince him -- he'd ''already'' realized he was being silly. Furthermore, he's planning on crashing the talent show with an act of his own to prove that he's ready to apologize.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#13: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Dress Code'' (1994)]]
* AntiSchoolUniformsPlot: The book pits cubs against adults after some particularly crazy fashion trends prompt the school to take decisive action. After the situation escalates to the students threatening a strike (and teaching the intended audience a fair deal about political activism in the process), the school finally concedes when it is revealed in a public debate that the dress code's most ardent supporters sported fashions just as crazy in their own youths, if not even crazier.
* TheBusCameBack: After his previous role in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief'', Mr. Dweebish returns to the series to lend a hand to the rad students and their battle against the dress code when Brother and Queenie come to visit him and ask for advice, playing a significant role in the resolution by coming up with a plan that lets the cubs win the official debate over the matter without even saying a word.
* ChafingAgainstTheDressCode: It's noted early on that students at Bear Country School tend to try out new fashions in the spring. Miss Glitch, however, forces Queenie to go home and change one day because she doesn't approve of Queenie's outfit (a ''very'' short miniskirt), resulting in students going more over-the-top than usual in support of her and culminating in a mass rebellion when Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer, who's temporarily in charge while Principal Honeycomb is away, tries to institute a school dress code that eventually boils down to banning any outfits he doesn't like.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Miss Glitch sends Queenie home for wearing a miniskirt, even though she was also wearing a full-body leotard with it. Principal Honeycomb (who wasn't aware of what happened) gets a phone call from Queenie's mother, who tells him off because Miss Glitch isn't Queenie's teacher (having only claimed authority on grounds of being the teacher on hall duty). In addition, the miniskirt and full-body leotard was an outfit that Queenie's mother wore as a cub, and thus should be school appropriate. This ends up instigating a fashion war between the students, who are all pissed off at Miss Glitch for what she did, and a good portion of the teachers when Mr. Honeycomb has to leave on a business trip.
* DressCode: The plot starts when the annual run of new spring fashions (or "rad clothes") starts getting out of hand at Bear Country School, in part out of rebellion after SternTeacher Miss Glitch orders Queenie [=McBear=] to go home and change due to disapproving of her choice of clothing (a very short miniskirt) despite only being on hall duty and ''not'' being Queenie's teacher, and not even sending her to the principal's office first. Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer, who becomes acting principal while Principal Honeycomb is out of town on school-related business, fully supports Miss Glitch because he also disapproves of the rad clothes, and institutes a dress code specifically aimed at banning them, along with roping other adults outside the school into the movement against them. When the cubs turn to LoopholeAbuse to get past the rules, he keeps updating it to try and close the loopholes, until it boils down to "Any cub who shows up in clothes ''I'' don't approve of will be sent home, no exceptions". The cubs respond by threatening to refuse to come to school unless he backs down. Finally, some other adults persuade both sides to agree to debate, which the cubs win handily via revealing that the three lead adults in the anti-rad movement [[IWasQuiteAFashionVictim were no better in their youth]]. After the anti-rad group concedes, Principal Honeycomb reveals he's returned early and declares an end to the dress code, along with instituting casual Fridays, which satisfies the students and leads them to tone down the clothes of their own free will.
* EarAche: Discussed -- when Too-Tall comes to school wearing an earring (a clip-on, though he claims otherwise), the other students are convinced that Mr. Grizzmeyer will go through the roof and call in Two-Ton, who will probably drag Too-Tall out of school by the ear. It doesn't happen, because Mr. Grizzmeyer's busy putting together a school dress code that he thinks will solve the problem of the rad clothes.
* FunHatingVillain: More like "fun-hating stern teacher", but Miss Glitch and Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer both have it out for the various new fashions the cubs are wearing, feeling they're disruptive (which Brother later thinks to himself is nonsense, citing the fact that everybody in Teacher Bob's class is still getting good grades in spite of the clothes). Mr. Grizzmeyer even threatens to suspend Skuzz for the rest of the school year if he ever comes to school again in the spiky "punk" hairstyle he'd come in with one day, and that's ''before'' Miss Glitch sends Queenie home for wearing an ultra-short miniskirt.
* FunWithAcronyms: During the events of the book, two organizations are formed with fitting acronyms -- anti-rad group B.O.R.E.[[note]]Bears for Order and Respect in Education[[/note]] and pro-rad group F.R.E.E.S.[[note]]Freedom and Rights for Each and Every Student[[/note]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: When Miss Glitch turns up at the Bear family's house to drum up support for a scheduled meeting about the dress code, Brother happens to be present and asks about the band concert that was previously scheduled at that time. When Miss Glitch brushes off his concerns by claiming the meeting is more important and the concert will be rescheduled, Brother storms up to his room in a fit of temper. The narration tells us Brother and the rest of the band want the concert (a school-sponsored event) to be over with so they can move on to new music; the hypocrisy of the teachers disrupting school events for their own desires (which they had claimed the cubs' fashion choices had been doing) so angers Brother that he goes from being a mildly annoyed but overall neutral party to [[LetsGetDangerous a ringleader of the kids' side of the debate who is ultimately indirectly responsible for their win]].
* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: This is how the kids ultimately thwart the school's new dress code -- during the debate, they prove the adults were no better in their youth than the cubs themselves are today via displaying a slide show of the adults wearing absurd '60s and '70s clothing (provided by the parents and wife of the top three B.O.R.E. leaders), including Papa Bear in bell bottoms and a tie-dyed shirt, Miss Glitch in a miniskirt that's just as short as the one Queenie wore and that kicked off the whole fight between cubs and adults when she got sent home for doing so, and Mr. Grizzmeyer in a zoot suit and wide-brimmed hat.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** When Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer becomes acting principal and establishes a school dress code, the students hate ''both'' the new principal ''and'' the dress code. So they study the rules and on the very first day, decide to piss off the acting principal by doing ''just'' this, and intentionally declaring that they are not breaking any rules. "The rules say there are no ''blue'' jeans with holes allowed... Mine are ''green''", "I didn't cut these shorts, I ''ripped'' them" and "It's not a Batbear Cape, it's a Superbear Cape." This prompts the acting principal to blow his top and put in an ObviousRulePatch mid-day after this happens several times.
** After Queenie got in trouble for wearing a very, very short miniskirt to school early on, she figures out a new way of getting away with it just prior to the establishment of the dress code -- by wearing it over a pair of jeans that are mostly holes.
* MamaBear: Queenie's mother is ''very'' upset when her daughter is sent home from school for wearing a miniskirt, since Queenie was inspired by the outfits her mother wore as a cub. She calls the principal and asks why Miss Glitch, who isn't even Queenie's teacher (but claims authority by virtue of being the one on hall duty), was allowed to do such a thing.
* NeutralNoLonger:
** In a chapter fittingly titled "The Turning Point", Brother has been largely neutral in the fight over "rad clothes" and saying outright at one point that "I'm not into rad clothes myself. But it doesn't bother me when other cubs wear them to school." Eventually though, when Miss Glitch comes to his home asking for Papa's support, it proves to be the last straw for him. Specifically, when she reveals the adults' B.O.R.E. organization is going to be holding a big school assembly about their opposition to the cubs' new fashions, Brother learns they're ''also'' planning to delay the school concert (which Brother is taking part in and which he and the other students want to get ''over'' with so they can move on to new music) that was originally scheduled for that time. Seeing this act as an even bigger disruption than the clothes themselves, he immediately storms out and starts contacting the other cubs to form a dedicated organization -- F.R.E.E.S. -- meant to counter B.O.R.E., with himself as a major leader.
** Later on, when Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer announces a new dress code version that basically lets him outlaw any clothes he personally doesn't like, Ferdy Factual (who's been pretty snide towards ''both'' sides over the whole thing) finally announces his support for his fellow cubs and joins the F.R.E.E.S. organization.
* NoNameGiven: In the final chapter, it's mentioned that Miss Glitch's mother is one of the adults who's come out on the side of the rads, feeling that Mr. Grizzmeyer's dress code had gone too far. However, her actual name is never given; she's ''literally'' just referred to as "Miss Glitch's mother".
* ParentalFashionVeto: Sister Bear starts wearing "rad clothes" (in her case, jeans with holes in the knees), the new spring fashions, but only at school (she stops at Babs Bruno's house and changes into and out of them on the way to and from school) because Papa, who doesn't approve of them, wouldn't allow her to do so otherwise.
* ParentalHypocrisy: A mild version.
** The main plot is about the kids adopting obnoxious new fashions, and due to an escalating power struggle between the acting principal who keeps making new rules and the kids using LoopholeAbuse, it looks like the school will be going to uniforms... until the cubs find a way to win by revealing some old sixties and seventies fashions worn by the adults leading the charge for the dress code.
** This is especially noticeable with Miss Glitch; the reason why the dress wars got started in the first place is because she overstepped her authority and sent Queenie home for wearing a miniskirt, despite the fact that Queenie wasn't her student and she didn't talk to Principal Honeycomb about it. One of the pictures shown of her as a teen, willingly supplied by her own mother (who's among the adults feeling the dress code had gone too far), is her wearing a miniskirt that's ''extremely'' short.
* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: Between Ferdy and his girlfriend Trudy, the latter of whom is siding with the rad clothes and the former having been neutral in the arguments and pretty snide towards both sides. He finally [[NeutralNoLonger openly sides with the rads]] when he decides he's sick of feuding with Trudy and points out that if they all work together and go on strike ''en masse'', the school can't possibly win.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer effectively pulls this by continuing to update the dress code every time the cubs come up with loopholes to get around his rules, to the point where his final edition is effectively a dictatorial edict outlawing ''any'' clothes he doesn't like. When Ferdy points out that Principal Honeycomb is also a dictator by that standard, Trudy admits he's got a point... but adds that Principal Honeycomb at least doesn't ''act'' like one. As Brother subsequently points out, Principal Honeycomb may make up some of the rules, but he doesn't keep ''changing'' them to make things easier on himself, which is the big difference between he and Mr. Grizzmeyer.
* SingleTargetLaw:
** When Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer comes up with the school dress code, one of the rules is "No Batbear capes". It's not pointed out at the time, but that rule is pretty clearly aimed at Too-Tall, the only cub wearing one.
** While the cubs are discussing the dress code, Ferdy says at least the dress code is fair, because it's aimed at banning ''any'' style of rad clothes. Trudy Brunowitz points out that Ferdy wouldn't be saying that if knickers were on the banned list, and when he says he would because such a ban would be meant for everyone, she retorts that no, it'd clearly be aimed at ''him'' -- he's the only cub in the school that wears them. Ferdy's reaction to this is not shown.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#14: ''The Berenstain Bears' Media Madness'' (1995)]]
* BoredomMontage: The book starts out with one, showing how things are the same as usual, and everyone's bored with it. It's brought to a sudden stop when it comes out that Bear Country School has been offered the chance to run an in-school television station.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Threatened -- at the climax of the book, after some complications involving the BTV station, Principal Honeycomb is left having to pay a huge fine. While they're able to get some of the money together, Bonnie Brown finally gets the rest by talking to her aunt Grizzly about the whole mess. Lady Grizzly subsequently "persuades" her husband to provide the rest of the cash by threatening to invite her mother the duchess (whom the Squire dreads, if the illustration at the bottom of the page of him looking at his mother-in-law's portrait and sweating in fright is anything to go by) to come stay with them for a month if he doesn't.
* FunHatingVillain: Once again, Miss Glitch takes on the role of the "fun-hating stern teacher", joined by Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer in voting against accepting the television equipment being gifted to Bear Country School, and when it's accepted anyway, tries to get control of it so she can use it for educational purposes only rather than entertainment as it was originally intended. She also throws out the program schedule for her classroom (as most of the programs have nothing to do with education) rather than posting it for the students to see like she was supposed to.
* GagNose: Referenced -- Too-Tall's nose ''is'' pretty big, as Brother Bear points out early on while taunting him by comparing its size to that of a bowling ball, and the illustrations even show an ImagineSpot of Too-Tall with an ''actual'' bowling ball for a nose in Brother's speech bubble. Fortunately, Too-Tall isn't in the mood for a fight and backs down.
* IdiosyncraticRatingsScale: When Brother and the others are going through the ideas for daily shows to be broadcast on BTV, they come up with a ratings system depending on the quality of the idea:
-->'''Brother''': "How's this sound? We'll have an A pile for the really good ones, a B pile for the okay ones..."
-->'''Queenie''': "And a PEE-YEW pile for the ones that stink!"
* LaserGuidedKarma: Miss Glitch attempts to invoke this on what she sees as a bad thing -- when Teacher Bob is put in charge of Bear Country School's new TV station and his students get caught up in running it and neglecting their studies, Miss Glitch responds by arranging for all the students to have to take a variety of scholastic aptitude tests, figuring that Teacher Bob's students will flunk them and Teacher Bob will get fired as a result. It's defied when the students pull together and cram for the tests as a group so they'll all pass.
* MoralGuardians: Miss Glitch, who's already known for her fun-hating tendencies, objects to Bear Country School having a TV station on the grounds that TV is "destroying the minds of our country's youth". However, she takes it to new levels by doing everything she can to sabotage Bear Country School's new TV station -- even ''before'' Teacher Bob is put in charge instead of herself, she's been talking to somebody on the Board of Education, setting in motion events that will nearly get him fired (ostensibly for being a poor teacher).
* NobodysThatDumb: Acknowledged in narration rather than dialogue. After winning ''[[ShowWithinAShow Talent Hunt]]'' and its grand prize of appearing on station WBBC in Big Bear City, Too-Tall and his gang get a call from an agent who wants them to make a demo record in Bearville. Too-Tall turns it down because, as the narration says, "The agent turned out to be that well-known swindler Ralph Ripoff. And not even Too-Tall was dumb enough to make a business deal with Ralph."
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** When Teacher Bob's class is given the opportunity to run Bear Country School's new TV station, Principal Honeycomb warns them to keep up with their regular schoolwork too. Naturally, everyone -- being third-graders -- gets too caught up in the excitement of being on TV to worry about balancing the station with schoolwork, resulting in their falling behind in their normal classwork and getting in big trouble as a result.
** When BTV goes from operating for half an hour to a full-hour and from an in-school station to an over-the-air station, Ferdy Factual volunteers his uncle's over-the-air broadcasting license (available to the professor and his associates, whom Ferdy considers himself one of due to working for his uncle on weekends) to make it legal. Unfortunately, when Principal Honeycomb is subsequently summoned before the Bear County Communications Board, they point out that Ferdy is too young to legally use the license (or to authorize its use), so they have no choice but to make the school pay a large fine.
* TeachersPet: Miss Glitch openly refers to Teacher Bob as a "''Principal's'' pet" after he gets the job of running the school TV station, apparently unaware or uncaring that Principal Honeycomb only offered him the post after learning that he had experience at the university TV station and radio station.
* {{Technobabble}}: Used when an expert is called in to help Teacher Bob with setting up the TV equipment and seeing if their electrical setup is suited for it, and uses a language that Teacher Bob doesn't understand in the least. Fortunately, Ferdy and Trudy understand him perfectly well, so Teacher Bob lets them handle this end of things.
-->'''Expert''': "Yer frammis grammis isn't gonna fit your ruckus gruckus. And furthermore, yer rollagonk is outa whack with yer zantac."
-->'''Ferdy''': "I take your point, sir. But I would suggest that you bypass the frammis grammis and plug it directly into the zantac."
-->'''Expert''': "Good thinking, son."
* VaudevilleHook: Discussed when Bear Country School gets its own in-school TV station and Teacher Bob starts holding auditions for various roles on [=BTV=] (as the station becomes known). Too-Tall and his gang work security, but when he brings up the idea of using a hook (made from a window pole and a bent coat hanger) to pull any obvious screw-ups off the stage, like he's seen them doing on regular TV, Teacher Bob quickly vetoes it.
* VillainHasAPoint: When discussing who should be in charge of the new TV station, Barry Bruin says it should be him, because "I know TV backwards and forwards. I watch more TV than all the rest of you put together." Babs Bruno immediately gets in a zing at him by saying that's why he's so dumb -- "It's like Miss Glitch says. TV has destroyed your mind."
* WardrobeMalfunction: During one episode of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Top That Stunt]]'', Gil Grizzwold loses his shorts while doing what the illustrations show as a trapeze routine, exposing his underwear.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#15: ''The Berenstain Bears in the Freaky Funhouse'' (1995)]]
* ActingForTwo: An in-universe example -- some of the circus performers are also regular employees. For example, the circus boss Captain Billy is also the ringmaster, his enforcer Otto is Primo the [[WorldsStrongestMan World's Strongest Bear]], and their head clown is the janitor (which turns into a plot point late in the book).
* ChekhovsGun: Near the end of the book, Sister is rifling through the wastebasket to find the original contract (so they can use it as evidence of the circus committing contract fraud) and can only find torn bits of paper. These later turn out to be the original contract.
* ConcealingCanvas: Captain Billy has a safe in his office, kept hidden behind a poster of Coco the Clown.
* CrappyCarnival: Zigzagged with Captain Billy's circus. The games on the midway are all rigged to make it almost impossible to win anything but cheap dolls as prizes, and the owners are crooked scam artists who cheat the people they're supposed to be fundraising for, but nothing is actually ''dangerous'' (save for the circus's strong man and second-in-command Otto), attendees all have a lot of fun and the show in the main tent every night is spectacular.
* CurbStompBattle: Late in the book, Ralph attempts to stop Captain Billy and Otto from getting away with the money for the hospital. Unfortunately he goes up against [[WorldsStrongestMan Otto]].
-->There was a struggle, but it didn't last long. With just one punch, the World's Strongest Bear knocked Ralph to the floor.
* DisneyDeath: The climax sees Ralph Ripoff supposedly killed by the books' villains, who knock him out, tie him up and throw him in the river. Luckily, he turns out just fine, having awoken and, using his old escape artist techniques, slipped out of his ropes before he ran out of breath.
* DragQueen: One of the acts at the circus is a male bear with a big bushy beard who's wearing male clothing the first time he's seen, but Captain Billy tells Dr. Gert that he performs as "Belinda the Bearded Lady". About all that's said about him both then and the one other time he's mentioned is that he's "gorgeous in a low-cut evening gown".
* EscapeArtist: As revealed in the final chapter, Ralph used to work as one in a magic show back in his younger days. In the present day, when he's tied up and thrown in the Great Roaring River, he uses his old talent to slip out of his ropes before he runs out of breath.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ralph Ripoff may be a swindler, but he gets angry when Dr. Grizzly tearfully explains that his ringmaster friend has scammed her out of funds for a hospital charity. He goes to confront the ringmaster in question and nearly gets killed for it.
* FundraiserCarnival: Circus and carnival, and for the hospital, in this case; in a variant, they're a professional circus rather than one set up by the locals.
* InadvertentEntranceCue: While the cubs are investigating the midway games, Cousin Fred is the one to check out the milk bottle game and, on realizing the bottom bottles are weighted down, says that "Nobody could knock these onto the floor! It's a complete ripoff." Cue Ralph speaking up from behind him: "Someone mention my name?"
* LeaveNoWitnesses: Ralph Ripoff is nearly killed when he tries to find evidence that Bear Country Hospital's been scammed out of the money it's earned from a fundraiser. This is apparently not the first time the culprits have done this, as Otto comments that "There's something about getting rid of a witness that gives me an appetite." Luckily for Ralph, he's able to call on his old skills as a performing escape artist to survive the experience.
* ReadTheFinePrint: The villains commit contract fraud by tricking their victim into signing four copies. The first one donates eighty percent of the money they collect to the hospital, while the circus gets twenty percent, minus expenses. The other three copies, which Dr. Gert didn't read after signing the first one, had it the other way around. The culprits, fortunately, are caught when the first contract is located and used as evidence of fraud. Furthermore, it's said that this isn't the first time they've pulled this same stunt, and that the victims never catch on.
* TheRunaway: Referenced -- Cousin Fred mentions one of his favorite stories is about a cub who ran off with the circus. Later, when the cubs are stuck in the back of the funhouse truck as it's driving off, Cousin Fred remarks he'd once dreamed of running away with the circus himself -- "But I never dreamed [[RussianReversal the circus would run away with]] ''me''!"
* ShipTease: A great deal between Ralph and Dr. Gert Grizzly, as they spend a lot of time together and even go on a picnic at one point. Dr. Gert insists she's just showing her appreciation for Ralph helping to raise money for the new hospital wing though.
* TraumaButton: Implied. After Ralph nearly drowned in the Great Roaring River, it's said that while he remained a swindler, "For the rest of his long, dishonest life -- even in the hottest summer weather -- he never ''ever'' went swimming in Great Roaring River again."
* TrickedIntoSigning: The villains commit contract fraud by giving Dr. Gert Grizzly four copies of a contract to sign; however, the first one, which is the only one she read, is a fake which falsely claims that eighty percent of the money they're raising will go to the hospital and twenty percent goes to the circus. The trope applies to the other three copies, which have things the other way around, and which Gert doesn't realize until late in the book. Happily, the fraud is ultimately exposed and the hospital gets its money.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#16: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Showdown at Chainsaw Gap'' (1995)]]
* AnythingButThat: The cubs in Teacher Bob's class react this way when he announces they're going to be studying a new topic in class, in-depth... and the topic, this go-round, is birds, which they find incredibly boring (except for Ferdy and Trudy, of course). Too-Tall even cries out "Say it ain't so, Teach!"
* BackupBluff: Subverted. Too-Tall is eager to punch Ferdy for saying that birds are ''not'' boring and stupid like Too-Tall thinks they are, but Ferdy calmly tells him that Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer is watching from his office window, and will gladly suspend Too-Tall for punching another student. Too-Tall thinks he's bluffing, even after Queenie backs Ferdy up, and when he looks to make sure, he doesn't see Mr. Grizzmeyer and prepares the blow... only to hear a whistle, turn around and see it wasn't a bluff: Mr. Grizzmeyer ''is'' watching, but from the school doorsteps rather than his window. Too-Tall immediately backs down.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Discussed in narration. Two-Ton Grizzly's house is ''literally'' built from truck bodies welded together -- he and Too-Too lived in a single truck trailer when they were first married, added a bread truck when their daughter was born, a U-Haul van when their son was born, and another truck trailer when business got better. And apparently the furniture all has seat belts, which is a point of contention late in the book -- when Too-Too and Too-Much side with the chainsaw crew, Too-Much says it's because she's "sick of furniture with seat belts!"
* GreenAesop: Part of the plot revolves around the cubs learning that it's possible for species to go extinct, and that habitat destruction is a part of what can drive them ''to'' extinction. This triggers the titular showdown when most of Teacher Bob's class, joined by a number of adults, ends up standing up to the woodsbears who've been hired to cut down Birder's Woods -- home of the only known yellow popinjay to still be alive. Emphasized by one of the signs seen at said protest, which reads "The species you save may be your own".
* LamePunReaction:
** Early on, Barry Bruin makes up and recites a lame ''poem'' for Babs Bruno ("Roses are red / Violets are blue / Storks have bird legs / ''And so do you!''"). He clearly expects a negative reaction and tries to run away after the last line, but not fast enough to evade the chalkboard erasers that she throws at him.
** He makes another pun in the Hall of Birds at the Bearsonian Institution when he says he knows what kind of fish birds eat -- "''Flying'' fish!" Half the class laughs, the other half groans. Actual Factual's only reaction is "Ah yes, a witticism. Quite amusing, Barry."
* MoodWhiplash: Invoked by Actual Factual. During the trip to the Bearsonian Institution's Hall of Birds, when Barry Bruin makes a crack relating to birds, Actual Factual responds by showing them to a place that isn't funny at all... the Hall of Shame, where some very specific birds are displayed. Cue the lesson on extinction and how a species can be gone forever, and a lot of stunned silence from the cubs.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Late in the book, Brother finds that Two-Ton Grizzly is joining the protestors who are trying to stop Birder's Woods, home of the endangered (and until recently, thought-to-be ''extinct'') Yellow Popinjay, from being cut down. Brother is surprised because he didn't think Two-Ton (despite being a reasonable adult) cared about an endangered bird; Queenie admits that he doesn't, but he ''does'' like living and working in the wide open areas outside Beartown, and isn't happy about a new housing development -- which would be built with the wood gained from cutting down the trees -- being put up next to "his space".
* NotSoExtinct: Benign example -- during a field trip to the Bearsonian Institution's Hall of Birds, Teacher Bob's class gets to see the "Hall of Shame", home to exhibits on bird species that have gone extinct such as the dodo, the passenger pigeon, and the yellow popinjay. Except during the visit, thanks to Bertha Broom, it's discovered (to Professor Actual Factual's shock) that the yellow popinjay isn't extinct after all -- Bertha spotted and videotaped one while in Birder's Woods the past weekend.
* PassingNotesInClass: Early on, when Teacher Bob has introduced the class's new unit and asks for ideas on things they can do with it, Brother has an idea, writes it down and passes it to Bonnie, intending that they have a private bird walk in Birder's Woods on Saturday. Teacher Bob, however, sees the note, confiscates it and reads it aloud, turning the event into a class trip (and spurring Ferdy to suggest another trip, to the Hall of Birds in the Bearsonian Institution).
* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: Between Brother and Bonnie, who come down on opposite ends of the matter of Birder's Woods. Brother wants to protect the forest because it's home to an endangered species, while Bonnie supports her uncle regardless of whether he's doing wrong or not. In the end, after Squire Grizzly announces that he's been informed of the yellow popinjay's status and decided ''not'' to cut down the woods as a result, Brother and Bonnie make up.
* TakeAThirdOption: After learning about the yellow popinjay from his wife, Squire Grizzly effectively has two choices -- continue with his plan to cut down Birder's Woods (which he owns) and possibly drive the species extinct, or cancel the project. He picks a third option -- cancel the plans to cut down the forest, but still go forward with Cozy Corner Cottages via ''buying'' the wood from Big Bear City Lumber Company, which will still provide plenty of work for the woodsbears.
* ThirdPartyPeacekeeper: Mama Bear ''tries'' when she attempts to mediate an argument between Papa and the cubs over the Birder's Woods matter. It doesn't work at the time, because Papa's too stubborn to listen and the cubs end up storming off to their room, but she's more successful when she goes to Mayor Honeypot to help settle things over the fight between the woodsbears and the bears seeking to protect Birder's Woods.
* UnexpectedCharacter: InUniverse -- there are some surprise arrivals at the titular showdown on ''both'' sides, such as Lady Grizzly (who'd only recently learned about what was going on) turning up in favor of Birder's Woods and the mother-and-daughter pair of Too-Too and Too-Much on the woodcutter's side, utterly stunning Two-Ton when they explain why. It happens again when the police arrive in helicopters, accompanied by Mayor Honeypot, Squire Grizzly, Professor Actual Factual and, most surprising of all (as noted in the narration)... ''Mama Bear''.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: During the bird walk in Birder's Woods, after Queenie finds a robin's egg on the ground and puts it back in its nest, she and Too-Tall spot the mother robin, which appears to be injured. Ferdy and Trudy, however, explain that she's only faking to draw them away from her nest. Between this and realizing that baby birds are going to come out of the tiny eggs he saw, Too-Tall ends up realizing that birds aren't nearly as boring or dumb (either intelligence-wise or as a topic) as he thought.
* YouCantMissIt: Namedropped, as Two-Ton usually ends a call from a customer by saying "You can't miss it." The trope itself is subverted though, as the directions he gives for his workplace are surprisingly concise: "We're on the main road between Birder's Woods and Buzzard Flats."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#17: ''The Berenstain Bears at the Teen Rock Café'' (1996)]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Too-Tall fakes being hypnotized just so he can scare his gang member Vinnie and get back at the other cub for mocking him before, Ralph Ripoff (who'd done the hypnosis) quickly catches on, but plays along because he enjoys a good practical joke.
* AscendedToCarnivorism: Joked at when Too-Tall is being hypnotized into acting like a chicken -- he's only faked it, and when the other cubs play at throwing grain at him, he starts speaking in a creaky voice that he doesn't want grain... he wants meat (which actually ''can'' be part of a normal chicken's diet, in the form of bugs, small reptiles and mice, but ''not'' large animals like bears). The chapter is even titled "The Terrible Meat-Eating Chicken" in reference to this.
* CoolTeacher: While the cubs are initially scared of her based on her rather intense behavior at the assembly that introduces her to the school, their new choir teacher Ms. Arpeggio (who's in from Big Bear City University for the semester) turns out to be one of these -- she gives Sister a warm smile when Sister messes up on her first attempt at singing, asks the cubs to be patient with ''her'' because of her inexperience with students their age, and later offers them her home to hang out for the afternoon, with all of them having a great time singing while she plays the piano. She also inspires the founding of the titular Café when she tells them about a similar one in Big Bear City.
* DisguisedInDrag: The book features a rash of shoplifting at Bear Country Mall. In the climax, the thieves are revealed as a couple of old ladies... who turn out to be the Bogg Brothers wearing dresses and bonnets, using their dresses to hide the sacks of stolen goods they're smuggling out.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Too-Tall may be a jerk, but when Vinnie insults mall security guard Burly Biggs, Too-Tall tells him off for it and orders him to apologize, since Burly used to work for Too-Tall's dad Two-Ton.
** When Ralph accidentally hypnotizes Lizzy Bruin, he's genuinely concerned for her safety, rather than attempting to take advantage of her by making her do something foolish in her current state.
* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: Several of the staff members at Bear Country Mall -- particularly Mr. Denham, manager of Jeans R Us, and security guard Burly Biggs -- assume the cubs who've hanging out at the mall a lot recently are behind the also recent rash of shopliftings, and would rather focus their efforts on harassing them than on looking at any other suspects. Despite having no evidence, Mr. Denham ''still'' insists the cubs are guilty up until the true culprits are caught.
* HarmlessLadyDisguise: Thanks to Lizzy Bruin accidentally getting hypnotized, the Bear Detectives learn that two old ladies at the mall have been acting suspiciously. Even Ralph thinks they're harmless when he hears the description, until Lizzy describes them as lighting up cigars. With the aid of Chief Bruno, the cubs subsequently expose the two "old ladies" as the disguised Bogg Brothers.
* HypnoFool: At Dr. Gert Grizzly's request, Ralph Ripoff agrees to do a hypnotist's act as part of the opening of the titular Café. While practicing with willing volunteers, he accidentally puts Lizzy Bruin into a trance as well, allowing her to remember events from earlier. These recovered memories allow the other cubs to, with the help of the police, take down a shoplifting ring that's been causing a lot of trouble at the mall.
* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: When the cubs briefly think Ralph Ripoff might be involved in the shoplifting at Bear Country Mall, he protests by saying "I'm a ''swindler'', not a ''thief!''"
* MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks: When Ralph Ripoff agrees to do a hypnotist's act as part of the opening of the titular Café, he also says he'll need time to rehearse with some willing volunteers. During said rehearsal, Ferdy Factual claims he can't be hypnotized, but is easily put into a trance, after which Ralph has him act like the bear he most admires. This gets some laughs when he starts acting like ''himself''. Subverted with Too-Tall Grizzly, who also claims he can't be hypnotized, but appears to fall under Ralph's control easily; it soon turns out he's faking it in order to scare one of his gang who'd mocked him earlier (Ralph, for his part, figured out Too-Tall was faking as soon as he started talking while still in his "trance", but played along).
* StealthPun: The manager of Jeans R Us is Mr. Denham, pronounced the same as "denim", a fabric used to make jeans.
* VoicemailConfusion: Inverted -- when Dr. Gert Grizzly calls Ralph Ripoff to ask him to take part in the opening of the Teen Rock Café, he pretends to be the answering machine, only for his pet parrot Squawk to give away the game.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#18: ''The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion'' (1996)]]
* AdaptationExpansion: ''The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion'' is an expanded version of the 1987 "Happy House Book" ''The Berenstain Bears and the Mansion Mystery''.
* BookcasePassage: There are ''many'' secret passages in Grizzly Mansion, built there by Farnsworth Grizzly. At least two are hidden behind bookcases, which allow the book's villains to emerge and grab both Squire and Lady Grizzly.
* TheButlerDidIt: Bonnie's convinced that this is the case, and it's discussed as the cliché that it is. Squire Grizzly, for his part, isn't willing to believe it until he gets evidence (in the form of "Greeves" leading two other bears in tying up he, his wife and Papa Bear). When they find Greeves himself tied up soon afterward, the squire ''still'' thinks he did it and was turned on by his partners... until they arrive outside the mansion and find the cops waiting with ''another'' Greeves in handcuffs! The leader of the thieves is quickly revealed to be Greeves' EvilTwin Arthur, who was pulling a TwinSwitch.
* DisconnectedByDeath: Downplayed -- at one point, Lady Grizzly is on the phone with a carpenter, asking if they've made a replica of any of the antique furniture that's been stolen from her. The call is interrupted when she's attacked from behind and ''kidnapped'', rather than killed, by the burglars in question.
* EvilTwin: The lead villain turns out to be one of these. Squire Grizzly trusts his butler Greeves implicitly, until Greeves supposedly turns on him and leads a gang of accomplices in stealing from Lady Grizzly's collection of antique furniture. The climax, however, reveals that Greeves has a twin brother named Arthur, who's been [[TwinSwitch impersonating Greeves]] so he and his cohorts can make duplicates of the Squire's antique furniture, switch them out, and sell the originals for a lot of money.
* GuestStarPartyMember: While the cubs are searching Grizzly Mansion to find a missing Papa Bear and Squire Grizzly, Brother makes Bonnie into an honorary Bear Detective for the day.
* TheHighwayman: Bad Bart Grizzly, in the backstory. The founder of Squire Grizzly's family, he was known as the Maniac of Mountain Highway for robbing stagecoaches with his gang, among other crimes.
* LoudSleeperGag: Played for heartwarming -- Sister is scared of ghosts, and of Bad Bart Grizzly, the highway robber that she'd recently learned was the founder of Squire Grizzly's family. When she's trying to fall asleep but can't because she's still afraid, she's imagining that she hears the robbers on the tree branches outside... until Brother starts snoring, and Sister is able to pretend it's the sound of saws cutting through the branches the robbers were on, sending them to the ground and making them run away. As a result, she's finally able to sleep in peace.
* OffOnATechnicality: Downplayed -- the crooks who tried to rob Grizzly Mansion are tried for multiple crimes, but they can only be charged with ''attempted'' robbery rather than ''actual'' robbery because they never actually got their loot off the mansion's grounds. They're still found guilty of this and other crimes in the first place though, which are enough to get them sent to jail for several years.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Suggested -- in the climax, Lady Grizzly sees her family butler Greeves and an exact copy of him standing face to face, and jumps to the conclusion that the second one is somehow the first, and still-living, Greeves's ''ghost''. The real Greeves quickly straightens things out when he identifies the other Greeves as "My long-lost twin brother, Arthur!"
* PortraitPaintingPeephole: While touring the mansion, Sister gets the creeps when she sees the painting of Farnsworth Grizzly and thinks the eyes are following her. Later on, it turns out she was right -- the lead thief explains that he and his gang had cut flaps in the eyes of the paintings so they could spy on the inhabitants.
* RedBaron: The first (in)FamousAncestor in Squire Grizzly and Bonnie's family tree was a ruthless bandit known alternately as "Bad" Bart Grizzly and "The Maniac of Mountain Highway". When his ghost seemingly shows up during a ScoobyDooHoax, he gets a posthumous third moniker: "The Maniac of Grizzly Mansion".
* ReplacedWithReplica: The plot revolves around a gang of thieves who've slipped into Grizzly Manor, steal pieces from Lady Grizzly's collection of antique furniture, create exact copies and place the copies exactly where the originals were set up so nobody would notice the theft. They're discovered when Squire Grizzly sits in one of the fakes and breaks it (he's been putting on a little weight lately), and Papa Bear realizes the switch as soon as he has a chance to give it a good look.
* TheRunaway: During the summation, Greeves explains that his twin brother Arthur ran away from home to join the navy when he was a teenager, and the family hasn't heard from him in forty years.
* ScoobyDooHoax: A pack of thieves disguise themselves as the ghosts of Bad Bart Grizzly and his men (who, according to family legend, are supposed to be haunting Grizzly Mansion) in order to fool anyone who saw them in the act of carrying out their crimes.
* SecretPath: This book reveals that Farnsworth Grizzly built a number of secret passages into his mansion, including some hidden [[BookcasePassage behind bookcases]], behind the walls and other places. Papa accidentally gets pulled into one when he sits in the wrong chair, and the villains make use of them to hide their loot and themselves, as well as for quickly making their way around the mansion.
* ThatWasNotADream: When Squire Grizzly's cook Maisie sees Bad Bart Grizzly and his gang carrying a piece of furniture, Squire Grizzly checks out the room where the sighting took place and finds nothing missing, so he comes to the conclusion that she was just imagining it. It's ultimately revealed that Masie ''wasn't'' imagining things -- she'd seen the actual thieves, but they were [[ScoobyDooHoax dressed up as Bad Bart and his gang members]] to fool any witnesses.
* TwinSwitch:
** The lead villain of the book turns out to be Arthur, the EvilTwin of Squire Grizzly's butler Greeves, who disguised himself as the real Greeves in order to fool the Squire and everyone else. His disguise isn't perfect though -- Greeves has bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, while Arthur is well-rested and so doesn't have them.
** Jokingly referenced again in the final chapter:
--->'''Papa''': "Greeves? Is that you?"
--->'''Greeves''': "Of course it's me, sir, ... Who else would it be?"
--->'''Papa''' (''grinning''): "For a second, you looked just like Arthur."
* WhiteSheep: Squire Grizzly's family is revealed to have originated from a long line of wicked bears, up until Farnsworth Grizzly swindled his way into a mansion and title. His son, Squire Grizzly's grandfather, subsequently turned his back on crime and became an honest banker, which made Farnsworth furious to the point of pronouncing a curse on the manor -- that the family's founder, famed highway robber Bad Bart Grizzly, was turning over in his grave at his descendant's actions and would return to haunt the manor as a result.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#19: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle'' (1997)]]
* AlliterativeName: Taken a step further with "'''C'''ool" '''C'''arl '''K'''ing, whose nickname ''also'' starts with the same sound as his first and last names.
* CheatersNeverProsper: Invoked in-universe. After the cubs discover that Carl King has stolen test answers from Miss Glitch and sold them to his classmates, they inform the school of his theft and cheating. Miss Glitch promptly works up a ''new'' test, ensuring that those who memorized the stolen test rather than studying properly will fail the new one (and be identified in the process so they can be properly punished)... which she rather bluntly informs the class of right ''before'' they're about to take the test.
* CallBack: Bonnie briefly remembers the events of ''The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes'' and ''The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet'' when she's recalling other times that Brother's been led astray, and can't help but be concerned about his spending time with Bermuda [=McBear=] (whose own behavior towards Brother is making Bonnie concerned in ways that can't be described by just jealousy) on those grounds.
* TheCracker: "Cool" Carl King, who acquires Bear Country School's private modem number and uses it to hack into Miss Glitch's account on the in-school network so he can steal her upcoming history test and sell the answer key to the other students in his class.
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: As part of a plan to get Bermuda [=McBear=]'s notepad, Bonnie creates a distraction by making a big fuss about finding a snake in her lunch bag (a rubber prop), and accuses Too-Tall of being behind it. Though not in on the plan, Too-Tall willingly takes the credit to look good to his gang, and happily accepts another black mark on his record from Miss Glitch for it.
* GetRichQuickScheme: This is "Cool" Carl King's motive for breaking into Bear Country School's private teachers-only computer network -- he wants some quick cash to buy more computer games (having already spent his full allowance for the month), and steals the test answers for an upcoming history test so he can sell them to his classmates to get that cash. It backfires on him when his actions are exposed.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Due to Brother being so close to Bermuda [=McBear=] (the subject of their current investigation), Sister, Fred and Lizzy appoint Bonnie Brown as an honorary Bear Detective in his place for the duration.
* HeldBackInSchool: In this book, it's said that Too-Tall has been held back twice, which is why he's in Teacher Bob's class instead of Miss Glitch's.
* LamePunReaction: When Ferdy's discussing the love triangle between Brother, Bonnie and Bermuda [=McBear=], trying to compare it to an equilateral or an isosceles triangle, Barry says it's neither of them -- it's the ''Bermuda'' Triangle. Ferdy just rolls his eyes, but Trudy and Harry [=McGill=] both crack up. Everyone else is confused until Trudy explains about the real-life [[TheBermudaTriangle Bermuda Triangle]], into which ships mysteriously vanish.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: Brother's crush on Bermuda [=McBear=] blinds him to her faults, unaware that she's just using him to get into the school supply room, and from there to the school's computer room so she can steal the number of the in-school modem that's part of the school's teachers-only computer network.
* OhCrap: In the last chapter, "Cool" Carl King is described as having a frozen expression of terror on his face as Miss Glitch describes how the cheating ring (which Carl was responsible for) has been uncovered and the steps that have been taken to thwart it.
* PlayfulHacker: Harry [=McGill=] takes on the role in this book, helping the other cubs (in a chapter aptly titled "Hacking For a Good Cause") break into the teachers-only in-school network and figure out what [[TheCracker "Cool" Carl King]] was after.
* SympathyForTheDevil: After Bonnie accuses Too-Tall of putting a rubber snake in her lunch bag (something ''she'' actually did to create a distraction) and Too-Tall gets another black mark on his school record as a result, Sister admits she feels bad for him. Bonnie, however, explains that he was the most believable suspect -- "Who would ''you'' have accused of putting a rubber snake in your lunch bag? Ferdy Factual?" -- and that he freely took credit for it in front of everyone, while Fred points out that Too-Tall ''likes'' getting black marks.
* TaughtByTelevision: When Cousin Fred shows off the WritingIndentationClue method (which helps the cubs learn what Bermuda [=McBear=] was up to), he explains that he learned it from a Bearlock Holmes movie.
* WeNeedADistraction: Used in lunch one day when Bonnie makes a scene, drawing all eyes to her and letting Sister steal Bermuda [=McBear=]'s notepad without being caught.
* WritingIndentationClue: Used when Sister swipes Bermuda [=McBear=]'s notepad, which reveals that Bermuda had copied down what appears to be a phone number. It's actually the number to the in-school modem, letting someone log into the school's teachers-only computer network and steal information from Miss Glitch's files.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#20: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Auto Graveyard'' (1997)]]
* AlliterativeName: During the climax, it's revealed that two of the four car thieves are known as '''S'''hifty '''S'''heldon and '''C'''larence the '''C'''rook.
* AndImTheQueenOfSheba: Once again, Brother denies that Bonnie Brown is his girlfriend. Sister, not believing him, retorts with "And I'm Mayor Horace J. Honeypot."
* BoundAndGagged: After seeing Ralph Ripoff's houseboat sailing away with a couple of stolen cars on it, the cubs suddenly hear a noise nearby... and discover Ralph himself, tied up and gagged in the reeds nearby. When they free him (and his parrot Squawk, who was similarly tied up and gagged), he explains who was responsible, revealing that his old "friends" Captain Billy and Otto have returned.
* TheBusCameBack: The lead villains of the book turn out to be Captain Billy and Otto, last seen going to prison after the events of ''The Berenstain Bears in the Freaky Funhouse''.
* CurbStompBattle: The climax features Too-Too and Too-Much against two of the "ghosts", later identified as the escaped criminals "Shifty Sheldon" and "Clarence the Crook", who get knocked out easily by the two women.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** Bullies, rather -- Too-Tall may be a bully and a jerk, but he ''begs'' Brother and co. not to tell the cops they found stolen cars on his father's property (which had been hidden there by the real thieves), because it could ruin Two-Ton's business and get the whole family in trouble if he gets investigated by the police. Later, when he sees the actual culprits out in the yard, he rushes out to help his mom and sister, though it turns out they don't ''need'' his help (and he manages to get lost on the way there anyway).
** When the cubs find a bound and gagged Ralph Ripoff and remove the gag, his first word is "Squawk!", much to the cubs' surprise. Ralph has to explain that both he and Squawk, his pet parrot, have been tied up for over a day, and that he's more worried about whether the bird is all right than himself.
* FlatCharacter: The two secondary thieves, "Shifty Sheldon" and "Clarence the Crook". Their only scenes involve them breaking into Parts R Us to try and recover the stolen cars they'd hidden there, only to get taken down by Too-Too and Too-Much, and later a scene of them behind bars in the police station, giving dirty looks to everyone present. They have no dialogue, and their past crimes (other than breaking out of Bear Country Prison with Captain Billy and Otto) aren't elaborated on.
* FundraiserCarnival: This book features a fundraiser ''car show'' for Bear Country School, sponsored and run by the local PTA.
* GuestStarPartyMember: More like "''promoted'' to party member" -- Barry Bruin is a regular member of the supporting cast, but he gets made an honorary Bear Detective in this book because of his classic car knowledge, which helps in tracking down the stolen cars.
* HiddenDepths: This book reveals that Barry Bruin, known mostly for his literal-mindedness and bad jokes, also has an encyclopedic knowledge of classic car models.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: When Brother and Bonnie arrive at Parts R Us, Two-Ton jumps to the conclusion that they've come to tell him about Too-Tall's latest bit of trouble-making, and is fully prepared to get mad at his son. Brother quickly corrects him by explaining that they're actually there as customers, looking for a specific model of hubcap and hood ornament.
* PutTheirHeadsTogether: Late in the book, when two of the car thieves (later identified as "Shifty Sheldon" and "Clarence the Crook") sneak into Parts R Us to retrieve the last few stolen cars, they don't count on Too-Too and Too-Much being out there waiting for them, with Too-Much pulling this technique on the pair and knocking them out.
* ResetButton: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Showdown at Chainsaw Gap'' ended with Two-Ton Grizzly and his family moving out of their... ''unique'' house, made from the bodies of about four trucks combined into one building (and apparently with seat belts on the furniture), into a regular one. Four books later, this one reveals that they've gone back to the old house, seat belts and all, with the justification that after so many years of living in their unusual house, they just couldn't get used to living in a normal one.
* ScoobyDooHoax: The car thieves disguise themselves as ghosts by wearing long white dusters (a type of coat typically worn by people while driving a convertible, to keep the road dust off them) while hiding the stolen cars in the back of Parts R Us. It fools Two-Ton Grizzly when he sees them that first night, but not Cousin Fred later on, as he gets a better look at them with his binoculars and is able to see right through the disguise.
* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: Zigzagged -- there's an auto show going on, and local tycoon Squire Grizzly has entered his four best cars (all extremely rare and well-maintained) in order to ensure that he wins all three trophies for first, second and third. At the end of the book, Papa Bear's roadster (the last car made by a well-known car company before it went out of business) manages to win third. Papa is happy with winning third given how stiff the competition was, while the Squire is envious about not winning all three trophies for the best cars in the country, and actually tries to buy the family roadster off Papa afterward (Papa declines, equally politely).
* SpecificSituationBooks: When the Bear Detectives discover some suspicious tire tracks during their search for the stolen classic cars, Barry Bruin dashes back to the limo they're using and comes back with a book called ''Tires of the World''. And it's apparently volume one of five, to Sister's disbelief.
-->'''Sister''': "Well that speaks ''volumes'' about you car nuts."
* UnmanlySecret: Burly junkyard owner Two-Ton Grizzly claims he has bad night vision to cover up for the truth -- that he's afraid of the dark. His son Too-Tall later admits the truth to the Bear Detectives so they won't call the cops on Two-Ton (for having stolen cars -- which were hidden there by the ''real'' crooks -- on his property), but threatens to pound them if they let it get out.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: According to this book, Two-Ton Grizzly (one of the biggest, toughest bears in Bear Country) is afraid of the dark. He covers for it by claiming he has bad night vision, but Too-Tall admits the truth to Brother and Sister when they wrongly suspect that Two-Ton may be involved in a stolen car ring.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#21: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted Hayride'' (1997)]]
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Ed Hooper, who wants to buy out Farmer Ben. Ben doesn't want to sell his products to Hooper because he'll lose money thanks to Hooper short-selling farmers, so Hooper resorts to damaging Ben's crops with blight (which he illegally bought from a worker at Big Bear City University), leaving fences open so the cows can get out and graze on onion grass, and paying a criminal to loosen a wheel on a wagon, which would have resulted in multiple injuries.
* DisproportionateRetribution: When an angry Farmer Ben chases Ed Hooper away from the farm over his rudeness and greed, Ed Hooper steps in a few cow pies along the way. Consequently, Hooper develops a grudge against Ben and tries to embarrass him and ruin his farm and reputation in revenge, using outright criminal actions to do so.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Early on, Farmer Ben discusses Ed Hooper, who owns the "Hooper's Sooper-Dooper Market" chain and describes him as lowering his prices enough to draw customers away from smaller grocery stores (and claiming he couldn't pay the farmers what they were really worth because of it), and then raising them to even ''higher'' levels once the other stores went out of business, while not increasing what he paid for them. Later, when he appears in person for the first time and Ben tells him that he could easily pay the farmers more for their goods, to which Hooper simply replies that "I could. But I won't." Both of these moments establish him as a rude and greedy {{Jerkass}}.
* FamilyBusiness: It's explained here that Farmer Ben's great-grandfather, Ben Ezra, first set up the family farm, which has been passed down through three further generations (Ben Abner, Ben Noah and Farmer Ben) and is expected to pass to a fourth (Ben Wilmer).
* HumblePie: During their first day on the job, Farmer Ben has Ferdy -- who'd been visibly bored at the idea of manual labor -- demonstrate several chores, only for him to fail epically at each of them via getting fertilizer in his face, getting pecked by chickens and having a milking stool kicked out from under him, each with the other cubs laughing at them. However, at the end of the day, Ben tells the cubs that "We should all thank him for being such a good sport. ''And'' a good teacher. You can learn a lot by seeing how ''not'' to do things, you know." Ferdy ends up admitting that the work certainly wasn't boring, like he thought it would be, and the following week he demonstrates that he's learned from the experience and does a much better job this time.
* LaserGuidedKarma: It's mentioned early on that Ed Hooper had used unfair business practices to run other grocery stores out of business. After his criminal activities get him sent to jail. he ends up having to sell his chain to the owners of those same grocery stores, who promptly lower the prices and arrange to pay fair prices to the farmers they buy their goods from.
* LiteralMinded: Barry Bruin, again. When Brother and Sister inform their friends that they found jobs for all of them, at Farmer Ben's place, they also say it won't be much -- "Just chicken feed." Barry takes them literally, until Fred explains that the expression means "money, but not a lot".
* NewJobEpisode: The plot kicks off when the cubs decide to try and ''get'' jobs so they can earn extra money to help pay for Halloween costumes for themselves and Christmas presents for their families, since their allowances aren't enough to cover those things plus their usual expenses at this time of year. They end up getting hired by Farmer Ben to take care of the chores he can't get done (due to having had to let most of his regular farmhands go).
* PopcornOnTheCob: One of the sabotage attempts at Farmer Ben's farm involves someone setting a fire in the cornfield. The corn isn't destroyed though -- it all just pops on the cob, which Farmer Ben considers bad enough (he was planning on selling it all in its original form to a popcorn company). Fortunately, they're later able to recoup the loss by selling it at the Halloween Festival.
* SavingTheOrphanage: Family farm, in this case, as the cubs decide to suggest that Farmer Ben open a roadside market to sell his goods directly. It works, until sabotage threatens to ruin the farm. In response, the cubs decide to hold a Halloween Festival at the farm to earn even ''more'' money for the Bens and make up for the losses from the ruined crops (salvaging the ruined ingredients to make cider and cream of onion soup, and selling the popcorn from the popped corncobs), though it takes some effort and a fake haunting to convince Farmer Ben to do it because he considers it show business and not farming.
* ShamSupernatural: When Farmer Ben is on the verge of selling the farm, Ferdy comes up with an idea to change his mind -- he and Trudy take a picture of the portraits of Farmer Ben's father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and then use the picture and a voice synthesizer from the Bearsonian Institution to create holographic projections of the trio, which they in turn use to fake a haunting, having the "ghosts" order him both to try new things and to hold the Halloween Festival in order to save his ancestral farm. It works, to everyone's relief.
* TooProudForLowlyWork: Among the cubs, Ferdy is the least happy about working for Farmer Ben because he considers it manual labor and not ''science'', outright stating that "Well, how could farmwork challenge the mind of a genius?" He changes his mind after an actual day of work though, and even more so when Farmer Ben explains how farming involves a lot of natural science and not just dirty work. The two end up forming an odd friendship as a result.
* VehicularSabotage: Ed Hooper's last criminal act (and the one that gets him caught, before they figure out he was behind the other sabotage) is hiring a criminal from Big Bear City to use a crowbar and loosen a wheel on the wagon being used for the Haunted Hayride, which could have caused a lot of injuries if it hadn't been caught in time.
* VillainBall: Discussed in-universe after all is said and done, when Papa Bear is reading the newspaper the afternoon after the festival -- he comes to the conclusion that Ed Hooper's actions against Farmer Ben were ''personal'' rather than just business, and that's what ultimately got him caught. As he puts it:
** Had Hooper simply lowered the prices at his grocery stores for long enough to undercut Farmer Ben's own prices at his new roadside stand, he would have taken a minor financial hit, but in the long run would have won by forcing Ben out of business. Instead, he resorted to sabotage via illegal means, including damaging Ben's crops via blight.
** Further, when Hooper actually attends the Halloween Festival to watch it fail (via the sabotage he'd paid for) in person, his suspicious behavior catches the attention of Chief Bruno and results in his exposure and arrest, which wouldn't have happened if he'd done the smart thing and stayed away.
* WrittenInAbsence: It's mentioned early on that Bonnie Brown is away at the time, traveling with a musical show, which is why she can't talk to her uncle about providing the other cubs with jobs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#22: ''The Berenstain Bears and Queenie's Crazy Crush'' (1997)]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Mr. Smock makes a somewhat snarky remark about Smirk's name (commenting that "And from the goofy expression on your face, I can see why they call you Smirk."), even Smirk himself can't help but blush in amusement.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Mr. Smock is very good at analyzing a situation and a person's character just by observing, as demonstrated a few times.
** During his first class, Mr. Smock is able to tell something important about each student, and typically judge their character very well, just by looking at the subject matter they painted.
** Zigzagged when he can't figure out Queenie has a crush on him... until he actually shows up at her house and, finding her parents aren't there and ''she'' tried to make dinner for them, realizes what's happening. He's also able to put Too-Tall's actions from earlier together with this and realize that Too-Tall was jealous of him over Queenie's crush.
** After seeing how Too-Tall took care of his painting while it was in his possession, Mr. Smock realizes the cub has a hidden talent and respect for art, even if Too-Tall himself may not be willing to admit it.
* BadMoodRetreat: Too-Tall resorts to using Brother's Thinking Place after finding out that Queenie has a crush on Mr. Smock. He ends up getting the idea to win her back by [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame out-doing Mr. Smock at painting]].
* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: When Too-Tall finds out about Queenie's crush on Mr. Smock, and her attraction to "artistic types", he gets the idea to try and win her back by proving he can be artistic too. He actually does a very good job, but misses a few points in color, resulting in Queenie mocking him.
* CallBack: At one point, Skuzz brings up the water prank the gang pulled on Ms. Barr in ''The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes'', suggesting they do something similar for Mr. Smock. Too-Tall shoots it down on the grounds that repeating the prank would make it ''too'' obvious that he was behind it.
* ADayInTheLimelight: This book focuses almost entirely on Too-Tall and his gang, along with their reactions to Queenie's crush on Mr. Smock.
* HiddenDepths: Too-Tall turns out to have a surprising talent for art in this book, limited only by the supplies he had and, in one case, not realizing the right color combinations. Even Two-Ton is surprised when Mr. Smock refers to Too-Tall as "a budding young artist".
* HotTeacher: This book introduces Mr. Smock, who is rather attractive in the eyes of the girl cubs at least -- especially Queenie, resulting in her getting a ''major'' crush on him.
* HypocriticalHumor: During the assembly to introduce Mr. Smock, Ferdy comments of him that "The Ego has landed." [[InsufferableGenius Given his opinion of his own intelligence though]], he's hardly one to talk.
* MeaningfulName: Discussed during Mr. Smock's first art class, when he comments that "And from the goofy expression on your face, I can see why they call you Smirk." Everyone laughs, and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny even Smirk himself finds this amusing.]]
* MistakenForRomance: When Queenie's first art project of the year involves a portrait of a heart and the inscription "Q & S", Too-Tall gets mad and starts thinking she's secretly seeing his gang member Skuzz behind his back, or Smirk after it's pointed out that his name ''also'' starts with "S". Both of them truthfully deny it though.
* MistakenIdentity: In his first class, Mr. Smock observes each of the cubs' watercolors and comments on them. When it comes to Ferdy's though, he misidentifies the portrait as being of Ferdy himself, as an adult and scientist. Ferdy corrects him by explaining that it's his uncle Actual Factual, who (as readers know) looks like a grown-up version of Ferdy himself.
* ObliviousToLove: Mr. Smock is completely oblivious to Queenie's crush on him at first, until he actually shows up at her house and finds she's alone there rather than with her parents (who've gone out to dinner together), like he was led to believe.
* OneNoteCook: It's noted in his thoughts that Mr. Smock isn't much of a cook, to the point where he only makes peanut butter and honey sandwiches for himself. This is why he's happy to accept a dinner invite from the [=McBear=] family.
* OutOfFocus: Brother and Sister, for a change. Brother appears only briefly in Mr. Smock's first art class and is mentioned once later, and Sister isn't even ''mentioned''.
* PrankDate: Inverted when Mr. Smock arrives at Queenie's house, thinking her parents invited him over to dinner. It's actually Queenie inviting him to a date, and once he realizes what's going on, he politely but firmly turns her down and leaves.
* PrecociousCrush: The titular "crazy crush" is one that Queenie, a pre-teen, develops on the school's new art teacher, Mr. Smock. Mr. Smock himself doesn't realize it until Queenie tricks him into coming over for dinner... whereupon he finally figures it out and does his best to gently but firmly let her down, while also informing her parents of what happened.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Mr. Smock, Bear Country School's new art teacher, as demonstrated a few times.
** When he learns Queenie -- a pre-teen -- invited him to her home as a date, he politely but firmly turns her down, leaves and contacts her parents, explaining everything.
** When Too-Tall returns the painting he stole from Mr. Smock, Mr. Smock (who has already realized why Too-Tall did what he did, and recognizes his talent as an artist) attends his expulsion hearing and speaks on his behalf, arranging for him to only get a week's suspension and to show what he's learned by making another oil painting of his own.
* SabotageToDiscredit: After his first attempt to make himself look better for Queenie than Mr. Smock doesn't work out, Too-Tall decides to resort to this trope -- he steals Mr. Smock's masterpiece and substitutes a horribly ugly painting of Queenie, which he also figures will kill any interest she has in him. It backfires when he accidentally leaves his mother's apron on the painting in place of the covering Mr. Smock had used, which Queenie figures out and thus determines that he was behind it.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: After years of only getting detention or suspended for the trouble he causes, when Too-Tall is caught out for outright criminal theft (having stolen Mr. Smock's new painting and swapped in one of his own), he's facing ''serious'' trouble, to the point where he's nearly expelled for it (and ''would'' have been had Mr. Smock himself not stepped in after Too-Tall returned the painting, unharmed, and apologized for doing so).
* TitleDrop: Done by Ferdy when he and Trudy are discussing Queenie's crush with Bermuda [=McBear=], and Bermuda admits to being worried about how Too-Tall will react to it. Ferdy, however, dismisses her worries by pointing out that Queenie has ''no'' chance with Mr. Smock, and believing that Too-Tall will realize this:
-->'''Ferdy''': "It is only logical that Too-Tall will then forget all about Queenie's crazy crush."
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: This is Too-Tall's reaction when he learns his girlfriend has fallen for Mr. Smock. Bermuda [=McBear=] promptly reminds him that Queenie likes art and artists, so it's only natural for her to fall for a man painting a masterpiece for the museum.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#23: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Big Date'' (1998)]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: In the last chapter, Ronald Grizzington III ends up tricking Brother into accepting and getting hit with a [[TrickBomb paint bomb]] in retaliation for Brother not warning he and Bonnie in time about the one that Too-Tall had rigged ''Ronald's'' gift for Bonnie with, resulting in the gift getting ruined and her being hit with paint. When he explains it though, he says it in "a friendly, joking way", and grins, resulting in Brother grinning and the narration remarking that he thought it was pretty funny too.
* DealWithTheDevil: Downplayed -- Brother ends up getting jealous of rich, snooty and jerkish Ronald Grizzington III, and comes to Too-Tall and his gang (who also hate the guy's guts) to deal with him... but backs out before actually ''making'' said deal. Despite this, the gang decides to go ahead and prank Ronald on Brother's behalf anyway, rigging a paint bomb in a gift he was planning to give Bonnie.
* GoldDigger: Queenie comes off as one early on when she sees a new and obviously rich cub arriving at school, and remarks that he's probably the type to spend a lot of money on his girlfriend, if he has one. "And if he doesn't, it's about time he got one..." The other cubs are not amused by her attitude.
* InadvertentEntranceCue:
** After Queenie's attempt at making Too-Tall jealous (via flirting with Barry Bruin) ends up falling flat when he catches on, she remarks that "What we need around here is a new face or two for me to flirt with--", only to suddenly notice a limousine stopping and letting out a cub in a suit and tie, who instantly catches her attention.
** In the climax, Ronnie admits that he didn't want to push his parents ''too'' far by inviting Too-Tall and his gang to the current party, but says they'll be welcome at his ''next'' one -- cue Too-Tall popping up and saying "In that case, we accept!", revealing he and the gang had snuck past the guards to crash the current party.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Too-Tall once again proves to be this -- he's annoyed with Ronald Grizzington III, a rich new kid who Queenie has her eye on, but is willing to ignore it. Then the kid's limo blocks the handicapped entrance so he can ''make a phone call'' long enough to make Harry nearly late for school and, as the illustrations show, suddenly Too-Tall is ''pissed''. He also freely agrees to help Brother to mess with Ronald, even when Brother can't bring himself to actually ask him to do anything.
** Ronald himself is one too -- he proves rather snobbish at first, but eventually admits that he's only acting this way because it's what his parents expect of him.
* NoSell: When she sees Ronald Grizzington III arriving, Queenie immediately goes over to flirt with him. He proves completely immune to her charms, as he's only got his eye on Bonnie.
* NotMeThisTime: Inverted -- after Bonnie thinks Brother had rigged up a [[TrickBomb paint bomb]] in the gift Ronald Grizzington III was giving her, Too-Tall shows up during her and Ronald's date to make sure she knows ''he'' was actually the one responsible, ''not'' Brother, and that Brother had been too uncomfortable to go through with asking him for help.
* OperationJealousy:
** As the book starts, it's spring, and Queenie's openly flirting with other boys to make her on-again, off-again boyfriend Too-Tall jealous... and it works, for a bit, until he catches on and shrugs it off, much to Queenie's disappointment.
** Discussed later when Queenie tells Brother about Bonnie and Ronald's date. Brother suspects that she's just messing with him to try and stir up trouble by ''making'' him jealous (which he is, but he's not about to admit it to her). When it turns out Bonnie really ''is'' going on a date with Ronald, he ends up feeling even more jealous, to the point of nearly making a deal with Too-Tall and his gang to mess with them.
* RichBitch: Male example with Ronald Grizzington III, whom Bonnie thinks of as "rich and stuck-up", which is precisely why she ''isn't'' interested in him, despite her aunt and uncle's encouragement. Later subverted when it turns out he's actually a nice guy and is just acting this way because it's what his parents expect of him.
* SharpDressedMan: When Ronald Grizzington III arrives at school for the first time, he's wearing a suit and tie, which (along with the limousine and chauffeur) immediately attracts Queenie's attention. Ironically, Bonnie Brown -- the one girl ''he's'' interested in -- ''isn't'' attracted to him because of his looks, or in any way at all.
* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: When he introduces himself to the cubs, Ronald Grizzington III tells Bonnie she can call him "Ronnie"... but when Brother tries the same thing, Ronald coldly tells him "That's ''Ronald'' to you." He lightens up after Bonnie has a serious talk with him about his behavior during their date.
* ToxicFamilyInfluence: Zig-zagged. Ronald Grizzington III acts highly stuck-up towards most of his classmates because his parents always discouraged him from interacting with what they call "ordinary" cubs, and pursues Bonnie romantically because it's what his parents expect of him due to their similar social status and their families' business connections. At heart though, he's really a nice guy who only behaved that way so as not to disappoint his parents, and tones down the act after Bonnie has a talk with him about it.
* TrickBomb: Too-Tall and his gang end up rigging Ronald Grizzington III's gift for Bonnie with a paint bomb in an effort to shut down her date before it can start. Later, he admits to Ronald's face that he did it on Brother's behalf (even though Brother didn't actually ''want'' them to do it, which Too-Tall also gleefully explains); in return, Ronnie ends up having Skuzz rig up a paint bomb to splat Brother, as a way of getting him back for not warning them in time to keep the gift from getting ruined.
* YouGotGuts: As described by Ronald Grizzington III, this was said by Too-Tall when Ronald went to his clubhouse to have words with him about the [[TrickBomb paint bomb]] Too-Tall and his gang had rigged, partially because he came to them without any bodyguards and partly because he had the nerve to blackmail them, trading his silence about the source of said paint bomb in return for them helping him with a prank on Brother.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#24: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Love Match'' (1998)]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Milton Chubb may be a GentleGiant most of the time, but he's also capable of lifting ''four cubs'' -- including Too-Tall Grizzly himself, who's at least two years older than him -- and throwing them on the ground before crushing them with a "running splash" move.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Milton and Bertha fall for one another because of their common backgrounds -- both of them grew up on farms, and Milton's still working as a hand on one when he's introduced. They're also both far stronger than people would assume at first.
* CallBack:
** During his first real talk with Milton at Farmer Ben's, Brother tells him about the time he and his friends worked at the farm in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted Hayride'', as a way of showing that he's genuinely impressed with Milton's strength and proving he can see more from the other cub than just his size.
** Coach Grizzmeyer mentions the time he tried to keep Bertha off the school football team in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback'', and acknowledges how it was a mistake on his part, which is why he's supporting her efforts to stay on the wrestling team.
* CountryMouse: Milton Chubb and his family, who come from a ''really'' small town and have just moved to the comparatively bigger Beartown at the start of the book, to the point where he outright calls Too-Tall and his gang "Smart-aleck city cubs" after they mock him.
* TheDreaded: Milton becomes this to Too-Tall after he shows off his strength by flattening he and his gang members ''on purpose'' (as opposed to accidentally, as happened during their first gym class together), with Too-Tall going out of his way to avoid the other cub and even forfeiting his spot on the wrestling team when Milton loses enough weight to get into the light heavyweight class.
* DudeNotFunny: After Sister makes fun of Milton's MeaningfulName, Brother tells her it isn't funny before explaining to his family about how much Milton was being mocked over his size that day.
* FreudianSlip: When Brother and the other cubs see Milton for the first time, the first thing they notice is his size, and are told to be friendly without mentioning it. Unfortunately, words like "fat" and "large" slip into their introductions, to their embarrassment. Brother later apologizes for it when they have time to talk alone, which Milton accepts after being able to tell that Brother truly means it.
* GentleGiant: Milton Chubb, the new cub in town. He's normally a nice, if extremely shy, and extremely ''large'' bear, the latter of which makes him a target of mockery.
* InSeriesNickname: While Too-Tall initially mocks Milton Chubb by nicknaming him "Massive Milton" because of his size, the other cubs and Coach Grizzmeyer gradually end up calling him it as a compliment.
* LightningBruiser: Milton eventually evolves into this, losing some weight (and some of his brute strength in the process) over the course of his conditioning for the wrestling team, but making up for it in speed and endurance.
* LoopholeAbuse: After Coach Grizzmeyer is informed that there's still a rule against girls being on school wrestling teams, Bertha offers to quit and let a boy replace her, and makes Coach Grizzmeyer promise "not to make a big fuss". He gets around this by setting up a court challenge, entirely legal, rather than letting any of the students (specifically talking to Queenie about it) make a big deal out of it at school. In fact, they're ''so'' good at keeping it quiet that Bertha doesn't find out until after the court case has been won.
* MeaningfulName: Milton ''Chubb'', the chubbiest guy at school. Sister even lampshades it when she says "Milton Chubb. Which is a real kick, because he's the chubbiest cub in the school. Isn't that hilarious?" Brother promptly gives her a DudeNotFunny reaction.
* RageBreakingPoint: Milton may be shy and generally patient. But when Too-Tall and the gang push him too far by insulting his crush Bertha Broom, he shows why it's not a good idea to mess with him.
* ShippingTorpedo: Brought up twice.
** After figuring out Brother had set up a rumor to distract him from Milton, giving the other cub time to become close to Bertha Broom, Too-Tall becomes determined to invoke the trope and break them up in retaliation. It doesn't work though, because he inadvertently hits Milton's RageBreakingPoint (by insulting Bertha) and gets clobbered as a result.
** Discussed when the cubs think that Milton or Bertha winning the match for the heavyweight spot on the wrestling team could break them up. Fortunately, it doesn't, and they become even closer.
* ShrinkingViolet: Milton Chubb, at first. He's very soft-spoken and nervous in front of the other cubs, not helped by Too-Tall's constant mocking of him for his size and farming background.
* SpottingTheThread: For Milton's second day at school, Brother starts up a rumor about Too-Tall having a secret crush, claiming he heard it from Harry [=McGill=], who'd gotten an e-mail from an unidentified person. The following day, Too-Tall confronts Brother and reveals that he's found out Harry had an online chess match planned for that night with Cool Carl King... ''but'' he couldn't make it because of a power failure in his neighborhood, on the same night he supposedly got the e-mail. That was enough for Too-Tall to figure out he'd been played.
* StrongerThanTheyLook: Milton Chubb may be hefty, but he's also ''very'' strong, which Brother discovers when he sees Milton pitching hay up into the loft of Farmer Ben's barn -- a feat Brother admits he'd tried and failed at in the past.
* YouAreFat: When Milton Chubb is introduced, a couple of the cubs can't help but accidentally make remarks about his weight. Too-Tall, on the other hand, doesn't bother to hold back and starts outright insulting Milton's size.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#25: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Perfect Crime (Almost)'' (1998)]]
* AnachronisticClue: This is how Ferdy determines that the George Grizzington document has been replaced by a forgery -- studying it, he determines that the last part of the signature was written with a ''fountain'' pen, rather than a ''quill'' pen as with the rest of the document. Fountain pens ''didn't exist'' at the time of the original signing.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Ferdy is able to notice ''at a glance'' that there's something wrong with the George Grizzington document being displayed. With a little time to investigate, he figures out that the document has been switched out for a forgery.
* TheBusCameBack: Mr. Dweebish makes his third appearance in the series, attending Bear Country School for a few days in honor of Bear Country's bicentennial to lecture on George Grizzington, and once again plays a major part in the story.
* CallBack: Late in the book, while confronting the thieves and forgers, one of the thieves comments that they have to ''prove'' he's guilty, reminding Brother of what he learned in Mr. Dweebish's "Foundations of Democracy Class" (way back in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief'') -- "''Innocent until proven guilty''". Chief Bruno says he's right, agreeing that they don't have the evidence yet that they need to prove the pair's guilt.
* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: Variant -- while the cubs are cleaning off the Bear Country School bulletin boards (some of which have some ''really'' old notices on them), they find a notice about Actual Factual, then a student, getting a one-day suspension for making a rotten-egg smell in chemistry class. Ferdy asks if he can have it, because "It could come in handy the next time I need a favor from Uncle Actual".
* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The plot revolves around the two-hundredth year anniversary of the Bear Country's independence after the Revolutionary Bear War, their equivalent of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution.
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: During the big confrontation over the stolen George Grizzington document, Squire Grizzly says that according to Fritz Braun and Ralph Ripoff, they got the document from the ''real'' thief and forger, a Phil Grizzinski, or "Phony Phil". Naturally, the pair are setting Phil -- a rival criminal -- up to throw suspicion off themselves.
* GrailInTheGarbage: While cleaning old notices off the school bulletin boards, the cubs find the very oldest notice on it -- a historical document calling for a town meeting, signed by none other than George Grizzington, commander of the Revolutionary Bear Army and first president of Bear Country and dating back to when the teacher's lounge was the original town meeting room, later incorporated into the school when it was built.
* GuestStarPartyMember: When the cubs agree to investigate the George Grizzington document, which Ferdy suspects may be a fake, he gets sworn in as an honorary Bear Detective for the case. Subverted by Too-Tall, who agrees to help them break into the school, but declines to actually get involved in the investigation.
* HandcuffedBriefcase: Used as one of the security measures to protect the notice from George Grizzington -- as Mr. Dweebish explains, the document will be kept in the briefcase, which will be handcuffed to Mr. Dweebish, while Chief Bruno carries the key.
* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: At the end, it seems Ralph Ripoff and his associate are going to walk for their crime of forgery. However, Chief Bruno points out that he can still nail them for possession of stolen property (which they ''are'' guilty of), even if they can manage to convince a jury of their innocence in the original theft later.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed:
** The book's plot revolves around a celebration of Bear Country Independence Day, including the nation's first president -- [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington General George Grizzington]], commander of the Revolutionary Bear Army.
** [[Creator/BenjaminFranklin Bearjamin Franklin]], Bear Country's first secretary of state (a position his real-life counterpart never held), also gets namedropped.
* PunnyName: At one point, it's mentioned that General George Grizzington crossed the Dela''bear'' River, a bearified version of the Dela''ware'' River.
* StupidestThingIveEverHeard: When the cubs are caught after having broken into the school, Ferdy explains to Chief Bruno about why they were there, and how he's determined that the George Grizzington document has been replaced by a forgery. Chief Bruno, for once though, isn't in the mood to listen and calls it "the dumbest thing I've ever heard".
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder:#26: ''The Berenstain Bears Go Platinum'' (1998)]]
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[[folder:#27: ''The Berenstain Bears and the G-Rex Bones'' (1999)]]
* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: InUniverse, this trope is what exposes the titular G-Rex (short for Gigantosaurus rex) as a hoax ''because'' the hoaxers took too much artistic license with the design -- the dinosaur is twice the height of ''Tyrannosaurus rex'', but its bones are only twice as thick, and [[SquareCubeLaw the laws of physics suggest]] that it would be impossible for animal with ''T. rex'''s body shape to be twice its height -- otherwise its bones would have to be so thick that there would be no room for flesh and internal organs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#28: ''The Berenstain Bears Lost in Cyberspace'' (1999)]]
* InternetStalking: Teacher Bob talks about this, including how random strangers on the Internet will take advantage of your personal information to lure you into a trap and kidnap you. Lizzy is shaken despite pointing out her dad is chief of police. She also finds other criminals by accident in a poetry chatroom and runs to school in a panic after realizing the poems are code for extortionist plans.
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder:#29: ''The Berenstain Bears in the Wax Museum'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder:#30: ''The Berenstain Bears Go Hollywood'' (1999)]]
%%[[/folder]]
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[[folder:#31: ''The Berenstain Bears and No Guns Allowed'' (2000)]]
* AxesAtSchool: This book features a serious discussion about cubs bringing guns to school. Too-Tall scares the kids in the climax by bringing a water pistol (which looks like a ''very'' realistic normal gun) to squirt Ferdy. Lizzy calls her dad, and everyone is worried that Too-Tall wanted to actually kill Ferdy. Even though Ferdy uses their rubber band gun on Too-Tall in return, making him lose their feud by default, Brother and Sister are still shaken.
* MoralGuardians: InUniverse with Miss Glitch -- due to the spate of general violent behavior and a recent incident involving a cub bringing a loaded gun to class at another school, she thinks Bear Country School should remove violent literature from the shelves; Principal Honeycomb vetoes this though, since it would involve removing a lot of classics.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Too-Tall gets busted for using a ''squirt'' gun and the police confiscate it. This may seem over-the-top, but under super-strict zero-tolerance rules, kids ''can'' and ''have'' been suspended or even expelled simply for bringing squirt guns to schools, even if it was only by mistake. In certain cases, kids have even faced ''prosecution'' for this.
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The plot is heavily inspired by the Columbine massacre and other school shootings.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#32: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Great Ant Attack'' (2000)]]
* AntAssault: The plot revolves around an escaped queen ant, a hybrid of a normal ant and an army ant from Bearneo, producing an army of extremely voracious ants that will eat anything organic and even bite bears.
* AntWar: Subverted, and it's not a good thing -- ant colonies would normally fight when they encounter one another, but when three colonies of the super-ants team up instead, they become an even bigger problem.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The book starts off with the Bear family going to see a movie, ''Giant Insects from Outer Space'', about... giant insects, which serve as the villains of the film.
* BiologicalWeaponsSolveEverything: Suggested in the climax. According to Dr. Smythe-Jones, hybrid species catch certain diseases easier than normal species, and she suspects that's what happened to the super-ants when they suddenly start dropping dead -- their mixed DNA made them more vulnerable to some natural illness. It also saves the bears from resorting to spraying a super variety of DDT, which could have caused even greater environmental damage by killing good insects as well as bad.
* ButtBiter: The ants tend to chomp bears on their backsides, starting with the Bear family when they first show up and later Mayor Honeypot as he's on the phone with Chief Bruno, which prompts him to make a quick decision for once.
* TheDitherer: Discussed by narration -- it's mentioned that Mayor Honeypot just doesn't seem able to make decisions and keeps putting them off. However, he proves he can subvert it with the proper encouragement -- in this case, when it affects him directly, as he'd been hesitant to call "a few bugs" an "emergency" until an ant chomps him on the rear, prompting him to call for aid in dealing with the insects.
* ExplosiveBreeder: The book revolves around ants, which breed fast in real life. When the super-ants (which breed even ''faster'' than their parent species) suddenly start dropping dead in the climax, Ferdy suspects they just ran out of reproductive power because of how fast they were breeding.
* ExtremeOmnivore: When the Bear family encounter the titular super-ants for the first time, they comment that the ants not only devour regular food, they eat the picnic blanket too. Professor Actual Factual later states that the ants will eat ''anything'' organic, but not stone or metal.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: Professor Actual Factual and his nephew Ferdy create a new species of hybrid ant intended to eat insects that damage crops, only for the resulting species to be far more voracious than intended... which becomes a problem when a queen ant escapes and starts reproducing.
* HypocriticalHumor: While the Bear family is on a picnic, Papa tells Brother "No sneaking tastes, please" when Brother is about to sneak a bit of cake frosting. Brother soon has to tell Papa the same thing when he catches Papa sneaking a pickle.
* IntroducedSpeciesCalamity: Variant -- the plot revolves around an ''escaped'' ant hybrid created to eat other specific insects that were casing problems, one not intended to be released until it was properly ready, that threatens to wreak havoc on the local ecosystem.
* {{Nepotism}}: A variant -- it's implied that Mayor Honeypot keeps getting reelected not because he's related to a ''superior'', but because he's related to ''half the bears of Bear Country'', which is why they keep voting for him.
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder:#33: ''The Berenstain Bears Phenom in the Family'' (2000)]]
%%[[/folder]]
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----
The series also expands on the picture books' supporting cast, adding a number of characters who would subsequently be brought over into the parent series and[=/=]or the 2002 Nelvana cartoon.
----
!!This series contains examples of:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:General]]
* AdaptationNameChange: The 1985 Southern Star cartoon series introduced Raffish Ralph, a recurring con artist character. This series changes his name to Ralph Ripoff, which would carry over to ''Literature/TheBerenstainBearScouts'' series of chapter books.
* AlliterativeName: This series introduces the Bogg Brothers, whose first and last names all start with B -- Bert, Bart and Billy Bogg.
* BadMoodRetreat: In the Big Chapter Books, Brother often retreats to his Thinking Place (introduced in ''The Berenstain Bears and the New Girl in Town'' but not specifically named until ''The Berenstain Bears Gotta Dance!''), a pile of rocks in the woods not far from Bear Country School, when he's unhappy in order to try and think of a solution for whatever problem he's dealing with. Its effectiveness varies, but he usually manages to either come up with a solution or have someone else show up to talk to him and work things out.
* CallBack: Multiple books feature references to past events, with the cubs' remembering of said events influencing their behavior in the present day.
* CanonImmigrant: [[HonestJohnsDealership Ralph Ripoff]] was introduced in the 1980s Southern Star[=/=]Hanna-Barbera Australia cartoon (as "Raffish Ralph") before making a cameo in the parent series (in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin'') and becoming a recurring character in this series.
* ComicBookTime: The series describes the passing of time, referring to events as happening "last spring" or "last summer", but none of the cubs ever actually get any older or move on to the next grade.
* ContinuityNod: The Big Chapter Books are chock-full of these. Events that took place in previous books get referred to in later books, and events from the parent series get referenced as well.
* DarkerAndEdgier: The chapter books handle more mature topics than the picture books and cartoon episodes, ranging from drugs to students bringing guns to school.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ralph Ripoff is established as a con man who constantly engages in [[GetRichQuickScheme Get-Rich-Quick Schemes]]. However, as in the 1985 cartoon, he's proven there are some lengths he will ''not'' go to -- see individual folders for book-specific examples.
* {{Nephewism}}: Two new supporting characters are introduced this way, coming to stay part-time with an uncle.
** ''The Berenstain Bears and the New Girl in Town'' introduces Bonnie Brown, a model and actress (mostly doing small parts in commercials and soap operas), who comes to live with her uncle Squire Grizzly and his wife part-time.
** ''The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew'' introduces Ferdinand "Ferdy" Factual, Professor Actual Factual's nephew (his brother's son), as a recurring character. Downplayed in that he lives with his parents too, but they have to travel to far-off places for archaeological and paleontological digs, and he can't always go with them.
* NewTransferStudent: Most of the new characters are introduced this way -- Bonnie Brown in ''The Berenstain Bears and the New Girl in Town'', Ferdy Factual in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew'', Bertha Broom in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback'', Harry [=McGill=] in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando'', Bermuda [=McBear=] in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle'', Ronald Grizzington III in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Big Date'', and Milton Chubb in ''The Berenstain Bears the Love Match''. Downplayed by Trudy Brunowitz in ''The Berenstain Bears At Camp Crush'', who's introduced ''after'' school gets out, but still goes through the usual routines of the trope when she attends the same summer camp as the other cubs and gets to know them there before she starts attending Bear Country School.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew'' introduces Ferdinand "Ferdy" Factual. Other than when Papa first mentions his full name, he's almost always referred to only as Ferdy.
* SeriesContinuityError: Cross-series example -- in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost'' the Bogg Brothers are named Billy, Bert and Bart. Yet in ''Literature/TheBerenstainBearScouts and the Ripoff Queen'', they are identified as Billy, Bert [[SuddenNameChange and Bobby]]. The former book also calls Billy the youngest brother, while the latter book says he's the eldest.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Brother Bear is repeatedly teased over his relationship with recurring character Bonnie Brown, the niece of Squire Grizzly. He just as repeatedly insists that despite the ShipTease, she isn't his girlfriend -- "She's my best friend, which is so much better than a girlfriend." Sister and the siblings' other friends don't buy it.
* ShellGame: Ralph Ripoff tends to set up shell games (using literal shells) around town as one of his normal schemes to swindle folks out of their money. The cops usually catch him and make him stop though.
* SiblingsInCrime: The Bogg brothers -- Bert, Bart and Billy Bogg -- who do all sorts of crimes together in the series, from shooting endangered species (which they attempt to justify with the remark "Varmints is varmints"), deliberately polluting the river, selling drugs (and trying to frame Ralph Ripoff for the same), shoplifting and reselling of the stolen items, and sabotage.
* {{Spoonerism}}: Mayor Horace J. Honeypot is prone to these in this series, such as once starting a speech with "Sellow fitizens!" in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Showdown at Chainsaw Gap''.
* SternTeacher: This series introduced Miss Glitch, who teaches the students two years above Teacher Bob's class and is well known for hating anything cubs would consider fun. She plays a villain role in several books, coming out against things the cubs enjoy out of what would seem to be sheer spite, though she ''does'' have occasional moments where it's shown she means well and simply values education over entertainment.
* SuddenNameChange: In ''The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost'', Brother is a fan of [[SherlockHomage Grizzlock Holmes]]. In the later book ''The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle'', Cousin Fred mentions ''Bearlock'' Holmes.
* SwornInByOath: A couple of times throughout the series, another character will be temporarily sworn into the Bear Detectives by using their oath -- "I, (name), do solemnly swear to work my hardest to solve every case." It's done by Bonnie Brown in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle'' and Ferdy Factual in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Perfect Crime (Almost)'', though it isn't always used (as seen with Bonnie in ''The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion'' and Barry Bruin in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Auto Graveyard'').
* VerySpecialEpisode: Many of the Big Chapter Books, which deal with subjects such as theft and even drug dealing.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Ralph Ripoff the ConArtist can be seen as this, much to the chagrin of the cubs -- despite repeatedly and dishonestly swindling other bears into investing their money into some scheme or another of his, most adults think of him as harmless, in part because he never does anything ''blatantly'' illegal that could get him sent to prison. Even the police (who don't like him either) can't actually do anything besides force him to take down the gambling tables he keeps trying to set up on public property. However, he occasionally puts his swindling talents to good purposes, as in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost'' (where he runs a ShellGame table for a fundraiser) and ''The Berenstain Bears and the Teen Rock Café'' (where he does a hypnotist's act for the opening night of the titular Café). The closest he ever comes to getting into real trouble is in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Perfect Crime (Almost)'', where he's taken in for possession of stolen property.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#01: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Drug Free Zone'' (1993)]]
* CallBack: The book makes references to ''The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone'' and ''The Bear Detectives: The Case of the Missing Pumpkin'' as times when the Bear Detectives solved crimes, inspiring them to try to catch drug dealers in Bear Country.
* ContinuityNod:
** When Dr. Gert Grizzly is telling the cubs about peer pressure and how it can be used to manipulate people into trying drugs, Sister recalls the events of ''The Berenstain Bears and the In-Crowd'', when Queenie tried to make all the other girls feel bad about not wearing her style of clothes.
** Later, when he's told the Too-Tall gang are being rounded up for drug-dealing, Brother remembers the events of ''The Berenstain Bears and the Double Dare'', and how Too-Tall got in trouble with his dad for stealing from Farmer Ben.
* CreepyRedHerring: The cubs initially suspect a stranger in town of being a drug dealer simply because he looks like a TV criminal (or as Sister puts it, a "Prime-Time Suspect"). He turns out to be [[UndercoverCopReveal Detective O'Brunihan]], brought in to help the local police with the drug case.
* DrugsAreBad: One of the big aesops of the book. Dr. Gert Grizzly explains in depth to the Bear Detectives about how the illegal drugs being dealt in Beartown are ''poison'', which damage the heart and kidneys, and how they can alter your mind so you'll make bad decisions (as evidenced by Skuzz recklessly riding his bike in such a way that leads to his crashing into a police car).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In the climax of the book, Ralph Ripoff is furious when he finds a stash of drugs that have been planted in his houseboat, and immediately brings them to the police station for disposal.
* FrameUp: While investigating, the Bear Detectives discover a stash of drugs in Ralph Ripoff's houseboat and snap a photo of them... which, when blown up on a projector, shows the Bogg Brothers watching through the window, helping prove they'd planted the drugs to try and throw the police off their own track.
* HeyThatsMyLine: During the climax, the Bear Detectives have arrived at the police station to talk to Chief Bruno. Ralph Ripoff suddenly arrives as well, and Brother exclaims "What are YOU doing here?" Chief Bruno says he'll do the questioning around here, and then repeats the question: "Ralph, what are you doing here?"
* HypocriticalHumor: Early on, Papa starts ranting about what he'd do to any cub of his who tried illegal drugs. After a short back-and-forth between he and Brother (who knows full well about how cubs can be pressured into almost anything), Gramps reminds Papa that even good cubs can get caught up in this sort of thing, saying that Papa (not by name, but heavily implied, and Papa as good as admits it before the talk is done) was once caught smoking johnny-smokers (made from Catalpa seed pods, which really ''can'' be smoked and have hallucinogenic properties) out behind the barn. To his credit, Papa admits that Gramps is right and it's not as simple as he'd thought.
* KidDetective: Deconstructed in the climax. The Bear Detectives have helped expose drug dealing in Bear Country, and while the police thank them for their help, they also berate the cubs for getting involved in the first place because messing with drug dealers can be dangerous (especially since the gun-toting Bogg Brothers were involved), and is [[ContinuityNod not like finding a missing pumpkin]].
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Twice.
** During the Bear Detectives' investigation, Brother snaps a photo of the "Ugly Roomer" in a drug trade with Too-Tall. While they think he's the seller, it comes out that he's actually the ''buyer'', and the whole thing was a sting operation to catch the gang in the act of drug-dealing.
** The Bear Detectives also find a stash of drugs in Ralph Ripoff's houseboat, and think it's evidence of his being involved in the drug trade. It's actually a FrameUp by the ''real'' dealers -- the Bogg Brothers.
* PoliceAreUseless: Subverted -- the cubs try to investigate who is selling drugs nearby in the town. Chief Bruno, while he appreciates at least a bit of their detective work, rightly tells them that it was very dangerous of them to do so and they could have been killed. They should have come to the police immediately with what they had rather than endanger themselves. To be fair, they ''had'' tried to talk to the Chief earlier, but he'd brushed them off because he was busy and because they'd started off by accusing someone he knew was an undercover detective.
* RebuffTheAmateur: A variant in the climax. The Bear Detectives have helped expose the source of the drugs that have recently turned up in Bear Country, and while Chief Bruno thanks them for their help in cracking the case (and providing further evidence of the dealers' identities), he also sternly tells off the cubs for getting involved because of how dangerous drug dealers can be (especially since the real kingpins were known criminals who tended to wield guns), and for jumping to conclusions based on first impressions.
* SuspicionAesop: Part of the major lesson of the book. The cubs learn the hard way not to suspect a person of being a criminal simply because of their looks or past actions.
** They suspect a stranger in town of drug-dealing simply because he looks like a TV criminal (or as Sister puts it, a "Prime-Time Suspect"), and enforced when they see him with Too-Tall Grizzly and think he's their supplier, rather than the ''buyer'' in a sting operation. They also catch him heading away from Ralph Ripoff's houseboat, where they soon find a stash of drugs. He's actually [[UndercoverCopReveal Detective O'Brunihan from a nearby city]], brought in to help with the drug case.
** They also suspect Ralph Ripoff of being involved with the drugs because he's a known con artist (and because he'd earlier offered them money to help with something, which they think is helping with the drug trade). To be fair, they didn't ''want'' to believe he was a bad guy, until they found a stash of drugs in his houseboat (which turns out to be a FrameUp by the ''real'' dealers). Ralph is rather shocked at this, saying he has standards and wouldn't do anything to actually hurt the cubs -- he's a scammer, not a drug dealer, and the money he offered was for help in fixing up his houseboat.
* UndercoverCopReveal: The climax of the book has the cubs learning that one of their chief suspects, whom they'd assumed was a crook on the basis of his looks alone (such as his going around in a trenchcoat), is actually Detective O'Brunihan, brought in to help track down the source of the drugs in their town.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#02: ''The Berenstain Bears and the New Girl in Town'' (1993)]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Papa rushes out to tell the Bears to boycott all Grizzly goods, hopping in the car to do so... and forgetting that it's almost out of gas, while all the gas stations around are owned by Squire Grizzly, which Mama points out afterward. He considers the long walk to reach a phone (to call Farmer Ben for gas) to be WorthIt when he returns home though.
* FantasyConflictCounterpart: Part of the plot involves Papa Bear recalling Bear Country's equivalent of the real-world [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar American Civil War]]; ''The Berenstain Bears and the Perfect Crime (Almost)'' later names it as "The War Between the Clans", furthering the parallel by referencing the real-life war's alternate name "The War Between the States".
* FeudingFamilies: This book features the sudden revival of an old feud between the Grizzlys and the Bears, based on the in-universe equivalent of the American Civil War. Highlights include Brother being violently chased out of Squire Grizzly's manor and the cubs at school getting into so many brawls that the teachers can't focus on anything else, including potentially injured cubs who just got in the way (like Sister's friend Lizzy who, as a Bruin, probably isn't counted on either side but clearly got knocked head over heels for being there, to her obvious fright and confusion). Fortunately, when the school stages a performance of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', with Brother Bear and Squire Grizzly's niece Bonnie in the lead roles as a pair of star-crossed lovers from two other feuding families, everyone takes the hint and things go back to normal.
* HiMom: During the SchoolPlay at the end, when the curtain rises, it reveals Cousin Fred still out touching up the scenery, to everyone's surprise. All he can do is say "Hi, Mom... Hi, Dad!" before waving and rushing off the stage.
* NeverSayDie: Averted with the descriptions of what happens in the SchoolPlay of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'': the text plainly states that Mercutio is killed in a duel and that the play ends with Romeo and Juliet "dying in each other's arms." [[note]]Although that's a bit of a misstatement, since Juliet is only in an induced coma when Romeo dies and Romeo is already dead when Juliet dies.[[/note]] "Never Say Suicide" is in effect, though, since the book never mentions ''how'' Romeo and Juliet die.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: While Papa is explaining about the feud between Bears and Grizzlys, the illustrations show what's clearly meant to be events based on the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar, with Papa mentioning that both sides had their heroes and namedropping "Stonewall Grizzly" and [[UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant Ulysses S. Bear]].
* OnSetInjury: Narrowly subverted InUniverse, when Bonnie Brown steps onto the balcony meant for a scene in the SchoolPlay of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' and it breaks under her, causing her to fall to the stage floor. Fortunately, Brother catches her and she's unhurt.
* PlayingBothSides: Downplayed -- Ralph Ripoff takes advantage of the old Bear[=/=]Grizzly feud springing back up to make money by selling "Feud buttons" to both sides, "Grizzly Pride" to the Grizzlys and "Bears Stand Tall" to the Bears.
* PracticeKiss: During rehearsal for his and Bonnie's performance in ''Romeo and Juliet'', Brother has one big problem -- he can't stop blushing during the two's big kiss scene. Bonnie suggests kissing for practice to get him used to it, and they try -- but Brother just keeps blushing (and the illustrations show Bonnie getting more and more visibly annoyed). Finally, Bonnie thinks of a solution and advises Brother to remember how angry he was at Too-Tall when the other boy was teasing him, then focus on that rather than the kiss. It works, and they pull off the scene without any further problems.
* SchoolPlay: The climax of the book is a school production of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', with Brother playing Romeo to the Juliet of his crush Bonnie Brown, whom he's been forbidden even to be friends with because of the feud between the Bear and Grizzly clans. The play's tragic ending convinces the adults in the audience to finally put their feud aside.
* SillyReasonForWar: Discussed -- there's been a long-running feud between the Bears and Grizzlys (which is ostensibly over with), which went to full-out war. Mama points out that she considers the whole thing to be silly because nobody on either side can even remember what ''started'' the feud.
* SinsOfOurFathers: Brother Bear gets chased away from Squire Grizzly's manor simply because he's related to Papa Bear, who'd insulted the Squire earlier in the book by calling him a "milk poisoner".
* SpitTake: Variant -- when Papa Bear takes a sip of milk and spits it back out, it's not from shock but because it tastes horrible, due to the cows it came from having been eating onion grass.
* TenMinutesInTheCloset: The party game version comes up in the last chapter, under the name "Mail Room". Bonnie and Brother, who've decided they'd rather be friends than dating, go in together and come out after several minutes of Bonnie making loud kissing sounds against her hand and Brother moaning and groaning like he's having a great time, all just to mess with their friends.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#03: ''The Berenstain Bears Gotta Dance!'' (1993)]]
* AccidentalDanceCraze: Downplayed -- during the big Spring Dance at the end, Brother starts performing a very ''wild'' dance, and the others stop to watch, clap and cheer him on (though unlike most cases, they don't start copying him), winning him a prize for Best Original Dance... "The Itch", so named because it was caused by Too-Tall putting itching powder in his shorts as revenge for Brother putting him in a dumpster.
* BalletEpisode: The book's plot revolves around Sister's love of ballet and Brother Bear, needing to learn how to dance in time for an upcoming school dance, joining her ballet class after having initially claimed it was too girly (in reality, he's mocking it because he's a klutz at dancing).
* FitnessNut: Downplayed -- after having to walk Sister to ballet class one afternoon and spending the day in the exercise room, Brother subsequently ''keeps'' walking her to class so he can continue using said exercise room and working out, in part to get stronger and in part because the exercise keeps his mind off his problems.
* InconvenientItch: Invoked by Too-Tall -- in retaliation for Brother putting him in a dumpster, he puts itching powder into Brother's shorts before the big school dance. It doesn't quite work out like he planned, because Brother ends up channeling that itchiness into a dance that wins him a trophy for "Most Original Dance".
* IrritationNightmare: Early on, Brother recalls a nightmare he'd had the night before, brought on by his irritation about dancing. It's less scary and more frustrating, featuring him being unable to dance because his feet are literally stuck to the floor, and when they finally break loose, the floor comes with them... and the whole time, his crush Bonnie Brown has gone off to dance with Too-Tall instead because of Brother's inability to dance.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: When Brother shows up at Sister's dance class and Madame Bearishnikov mistakes him for a new student (and the first boy to join), he corrects her... and, clearly disappointed, she starts taunting him by calling him "a puny chicken". He falls for it and agrees to try and do a ballet catch for Sister, resulting in his falling flat on his backside with the other cubs laughing at him.
* OperationJealousy: Bonnie Brown eventually admits that she started and spread the rumor that she'd invited Too-Tall Grizzly to the upcoming dance in the hopes that it would get Brother Bear jealous enough that he'd learn how to dance. That way, she could ask ''him'' instead.
* ProBonoBarter: Brother and Madame Bearishnikov end up making a deal of a service for a service -- Madame Bearishnikov will teach him how to perform ballet, including lifts, catches and carries, ''and'' pop dancing so that he can attend the school dance and not make a fool out of himself on the dance floor, and in return he uses what she teaches him to take part in their ballet recital and fill an important role in the finale, since she hasn't been able to find a cub to do that part yet. Brother agrees.
* RageBreakingPoint: After a day of Sister making fun of his hatred of dancing, Brother's finally had enough and loses his temper, chasing her around the room until Papa stops him.
* RealMenWearPink: Despite his mocking it before, Brother ends up taking ballet. He uses what he learned from it (along with the other exercise he's been doing lately) to his advantage to dump Too-Tall Grizzly into a dumpster when the latter is harassing Brother and his friends, including Bonnie Brown.
* SucksAtDancing: Brother Bear, who outright admits he has two left feet when he dances. He's rather embarrassed about this issue, and makes fun of dancing to cover for his lack of skill as a result. Eventually, he gets over his issues and becomes a talented dancer with Madame Bearishnikov's help (though in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando'', he ''still'' claims to be a klutzy dancer).
* StuffedIntoATrashcan: When Too-Tall is harassing Bonnie, hoping to get her to invite him to go to the upcoming school dance with her, Brother responds by using his newfound strength and ballet training to tie Too-Tall up in knots (literally), lift the older cub ''over his head'' and, via a perfect ballet carry, drop him into the mall dumpster.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#04: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew'' (1993)]]
* BadMoodRetreat: After being beaten up in a dodgeball game and having his crush Queenie [=McBear=] laughing at him during it, Ferdy flees the school grounds. He's later found in Forbidden Bog, where he was taking notes on a patch of quicksand, but it's not mentioned if he'd gone there on purpose or had just found it while looking for something scientific to study.
* CallingMeALogarithm: Ferdy's introduction to Too-Tall involves this -- Ferdy calmly asks "Who is this individual?", prompting Too-Tall (who clearly doesn't know the word) to ask "Who're you calling an ''individual''?"
* DodgeballIsHell: Invoked by Too-Tall and his gang, who go out of their way to target Ferdy during a game and ultimately cause him to run off the court and, subsequently, the school grounds.
* EmbarrassingNickname:
** Ferdy Factual gets dubbed "Nerdy Ferdy" early on by Too-Tall and his gang, out of nastiness.
** Papa Bear recalls his childhood classmate with a similar nickname, "Wimpy Walter".
* HomeschooledKids: Ferdy Factual was homeschooled by his parents until the events of this book. Unfortunately, the lack of interaction with cubs his own age has left him rather socially inept as a result.
* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: When Teacher Bob explains he was speaking in the vernacular, and Cousin Fred promptly defines it as "the plain language in daily use by ordinary people", Ferdy mutters something under his breath about "ordinary, stupid people". The narration's next line is "Teacher Bob pretended not to hear what Ferdy had said."
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Discussed -- after hearing about Ferdy's first day and being asked why he would act the way he did, Mama describes this trope and how she suspects Ferdy is a case, saying that some cubs are afraid others won't want to be friends with them, so they don't even ''try'' to make friends and, sometimes, act like a know-it-all to make up for their inferiority in other areas (social skills, in Ferdy's case).
* InsufferableGenius: Ferdy Factual, [[CharacterDevelopment at first]], who's intelligent and ''knows it'', and doesn't hesitate to show off his intelligence. He mocks Sister for not knowing what "paleontologist" means, corrects Teacher Bob's grammar on multiple occasions, goes looking for mistakes in his textbooks (including when he goes through the math book, finds all the mistakes and puts the list up on the bulletin board afterward), and corrects the names of two rivers on the classroom map. By the end of the morning, Brother is royally ticked off at him. However, as time goes by, it becomes clearer that Ferdy really ''does'' enjoy sharing his knowledge with others, not just to show off.
* KneelPushTrip: During recess of Ferdy's first day, Too-Tall pushes him backward over a kneeling Skuzz, and then does it ''again'' when Ferdy gets back up.
* LonerTurnedFriend: Papa tells the cubs about "Wimpy Walter", a classmate of his who moved to town in his youth and was smart but no good at sports, and pushed others away as a result. Papa himself, and some others, refused to give up on him and in the end he opened up and became friends with them.
* MistakenIdentity: While searching for Ferdy after he's run off, Mama and the cubs think they see him from a distance and run in his direction. When they get closer though, it turns out to be Actual Factual (who [[UncannyFamilyResemblance looks exactly like a grownup version of his nephew, outfit and all]]), who's surprised but glad to see them.
* MuckingInTheMud: Late in the book, Papa Bear rushes into Forbidden Bog to try and rescue Ferdy. He's in such a hurry that he runs straight past the cub he's looking for and into a patch of quicksand, which (realistically) just bogs him down rather than trying to ''suck'' him down, prompting Ferdy to have to save him with an improvised lever and fulcrum.
* NoSocialSkills: Ferdy has a serious problem with this due to limited interaction with other cubs prior to his introduction, as he acts like the world bores him and doesn't seem to get why others would be annoyed at his showing off his intelligence. The resulting superiority complex and stuck-up behavior doesn't help either. It also comes into play when he gets a crush on Queenie [=McBear=] and can't tell that she's just using him to make Too-Tall jealous and help with her homework rather than because she actually cares about him.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Benevolent example -- Mr. Grizzmeyer has a rule against being interrupted during locker-room meetings. However, when Ferdy Factual -- who'd gotten one of their best members back on the team ahead of an important game -- asks to speak with him, Mr. Grizzmeyer decides to break his own rule and let him talk. It's a good thing, because Ferdy's advice proves critical to helping the team win the game.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Ferdy tends to use longer words like "individual" and "opiate" as yet another sign of his intelligence and to show it off.
* ShamefulStrip: Mentioned when Papa recalls how his classmate, "Wimpy Walter", was once the victim of this when another cub snuck up behind him and yanked his swim trunks down. He ended up fleeing into the woods for two days.
* UncannyFamilyResemblance: When the cubs first see Ferdy, their first thought is "little Ferdy looked like a smaller version of his uncle." He even dresses exactly like Actual Factual, which is why they later mistake the Professor for Ferdy when they see him from a distance.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#05: ''The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes'' (1993)]]
* AdaptationExpansion: ''The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes'' is an expanded version of the 1990 [=McDonald's=] / "Family Time Book" ''The Berenstain Bears and the Substitute Teacher'' and ''its'' source material, the 1987 episode "The Substitute Teacher".
* AnimalGoesToSchool: Part of the plot involves Brother smuggling a frog into school and leaving it on Miss Barr's desk when she isn't looking as a prank.
* BucketBoobyTrap: Variant -- rather than rigging a bucket over a door, Too-Tall removes one of the ceiling tiles in the classroom and hides a bucket of water up there with a string attached, pulling on it to dump the water on Ms. Barr at the same time as Great Grizzly Falls appears on screen in the movie they're watching, causing her to fall to the ground. He intends this prank to "break" her, and indeed it seems he's broken her spirit in doing so.
* BullyingADragon: The book involves the Too-Tall gang harassing their substitute teacher Ms. Barr during the week she's in charge of the class, trying to push her to "break". They don't find out until almost the end of the week that she's a skilled martial artist who could break ''them'' if she really wanted to.
* CorrectiveLecture: During her demonstration at the end of the book, Ms. Barr calls Too-Tall up for a particular stage of it... but rather than attack him like he expected, she instead starts talking about bullies, mean pranks and other things. While he's still scared of her, her lecture really gets through to him, and he doesn't pull a single prank on her for the rest of the week.
* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Non-romantic variant -- at the very end of the book, Bertha Broom informs Too-Tall that as a grown-up, Ms. Barr wouldn't hurt him. Bertha herself, on the other hand, may only be a brown belt in karate, but if Too-Tall tries another prank on Ms. Barr, "I'll brown-belt you black-and-blue!"
* OhCrap: When Too-Tall discovers the truth about Ms. Barr being a skilled martial artist and realizes he was playing with fire by messing with her, he's truly scared.
* OperationBlank: Too-Tall refers to his plan to break Ms. Barr as "Operation Substitute".
* SpannerInTheWorks: When Brother Bear has learned that Too-Tall is planning a ''serious'' prank (to dump water on Ms. Barr's head during class), he plans to arrive at school early and warn her. Unfortunately, Papa turns out to be this trope when he insists Brother take a certain frog back to Frog Pond on the way, which leads to Brother and Freddy getting to class late (not helped by Too-Tall locking the door to the classroom) and unable to alert Ms. Barr before she gets soaked.
* SquirrelsInMyPants: As part of their plan to tease Ms. Barr, Brother catches a frog and puts it on Ms. Barr's desk while she isn't looking. The trope comes into play when Skuzz hits the frog with a massive spitball to get it to jump, and it hops straight into the back of Ms. Barr's shirt, causing a minor freak-out on her part.
* TeasingTheSubstituteTeacher: It's noted that Too-Tall and his gang have a habit of bugging substitute teachers. When they find that Ms. Barr is going to be around for a full week (and is supposed to be a real pushover), they decide to go a step further and ''break'' her, and even rope Brother, Cousin Fred and Barry Bruin (the former two of whom try to keep things from going too far) into helping. It backfires when they find out they've been [[BullyingADragon harassing a skilled martial artist]] who could, if she wanted, break ''them''.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: Too-Tall and his gang ''try'' to be this for Brother and Cousin Fred, convincing them to join the four bullies in teasing the substitute teacher Ms. Barr (though the two at least ''try'' to keep it down to a manageable level, suggesting ultimately harmless tricks like putting a frog on her desk and making frog calls in its presence). They're a little more successful with Barry Bruin, who comes up with the idea of throwing spitballs at her. Fortunately, Brother and Fred come to their senses and decide things have gone too far when they hear Too-Tall's plan for her second day, which involves dumping a bucket of water on her head, and try to warn her before it can go off.
* WouldntHurtAChild: Pointed out by Bertha Broom, who reminds Too-Tall that Ms. Barr may be a black belt in karate, but she's also a ''grownup'', and as such she wouldn't use her skills to hurt a cub, even a jerk like Too-Tall, no matter ''what'' he did to her.
* WrittenInAbsence: The whole plot is kicked off by one of these when the titular substitute teacher, Ms. Barr, takes over Teacher Bob's class for a week while he's away on his honeymoon.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#06: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback'' (1993)]]
* BreakingTheGlassCeiling: The plot revolves around Bertha Broom becoming the first girl to be on the school's football team, despite the initial opposition of Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer (who happens to be the coach) and a number of others who think a girl has no place on a football team.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Brother ends up doing this to Papa when the latter claims it's absurd for Queenie [=McBear=] to be running for student body president simply because she's a girl and her chief opponent isn't. Brother, the one whom Queenie is running ''against'', is embarrassed by this and calls him out on it by pointing out that Bear Country ''is'' a democracy, so anyone is free to run for a position regardless of gender.
* CheatersNeverProsper: At the start of the climactic football game, Bertha comes out with her uniform in knots, and reveals her pads have been stolen too. It turns out to be the doing of a few members of the opposing team, who did so in order to keep her from participating because they couldn't stand the idea of losing to a girl. Naturally, their plan fails: Too-Tall gives Bertha his own pads, and the uniform gets untied in time for her to take part. Beartown easily wins the match as a result.
* CurbStompBattle: Bertha Broom's tryout for the football team, after she's permitted to actually give it a try. Coach Grizzmeyer puts Bertha at linebacker just to see how good she is and she wrecks the team; she sacks Brother for a loss, Too-Tall rams into her and is blown off his feet, and finally she runs back an interception, leaving the entire team dazed and confused in her wake.
* DecidedByOneVote: Subverted -- the B-plot is Brother Bear running against Queenie [=McBear=] for school president. Queenie is quick to include the upheaval from Bertha Broom trying out for the boys football team in her campaign, turning the election into a boys vs girls affair, but there are an equal amount of boys and girls in the student body. Queenie is confident she'll win and at the end it's revealed why; Too-Tall Grizzly has a crush on her, and she was counting on his vote! However, the votes are still tied because Bertha, who doesn't care about women's lib, voted for Brother. In the end, Brother concedes to Queenie because he has too many responsibilities anyway.
* GirlsVsBoysPlot: The B-plot involves Brother Bear running against Queenie [=McBear=] for school president. Due to the upheaval from the A-plot of Bertha Broom trying out for the boys' football team, Queenie expects all the girls (and ''one'' boy, her on-again off-again boyfriend Too-Tall) will vote for her as a result, while all the other boys vote for Brother, which will still hand her the victory because there's an equal number of boys and girls voting. It doesn't work out that way because Bertha herself doesn't care about women's issues and votes for Brother instead, leaving the votes still tied.
* GracefulLoser: Too-Tall, in the end. Having lost his spot as fullback on the team in favor of Bertha and been moved to tight end instead (on grounds that his height makes him a natural pass-catching end), he doesn't take it well at first... but when the actual game comes around, he willingly gives up his own shoulder pads to Bertha after hers were stolen (despite Mr. Grizzmeyer's first reaction being to suspect ''him'' of the theft), and eventually tracks down the real thieves.
* IHaveBrothers: When she first attempts to try out for the team, Bertha Broom explains that she learned football from her older brothers. Unfortunately, it takes a ''lot'' more than that before Mr. Grizzmeyer will even consider letting her join.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: At one point, Papa claims that girls aren't "medically fit" to play football. Cue Dr. Gert Grizzly appearing on the news and reporting that according to her medical examination, Bertha ''is'' fit not only for football but wrestling and rugby too... and probably also for running through brick walls.
* OpposingSportsTeam: Part of the plot revolves around an upcoming football game between the Bear Country Cousins and the Beartown Bullies. In the very end, it's revealed that three of the Bullies' members had resorted to cheating, trying to make Bertha unable to play by tying her uniform in knots and stealing her pads.
* StayInTheKitchen:
** Mr. Grizzmeyer has this opinion towards girls and football, declaring that "Football's a ''boys''' game. It always has been and it always will be." and refusing to even let Bertha try out because of her gender. He only relents when Brother points out that the issue is "wrecking the whole season", and that if they let her actually try out, it'll prove one way or another if she's fit. Bertha quickly proves that she's ''more'' than capable.
** Papa Bear feels the same way as Mr. Grizzmeyer, claiming that girls aren't "medically fit" to play football (and making snide remarks when Dr. Gert Grizzly promptly appears on the news and says that per her medical exam, Bertha ''is'' fit not only for football but wrestling, rugby and probably running through brick walls).
* StrongerThanTheyLook: Bertha Broom doesn't ''look'' any tougher than any other student. However, when she's given a chance to show her skills and tackle the blocking frame, with Mr. Grizzmeyer on it, she drives it fifteen yards down the field before he can call for her to stop. Later, on the football field itself, she's able to plow through a number of bigger cubs with no problem.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#07: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief'' (1993)]]
* BlatantLies: When Sister and Fred are playing catch, Fred signals for a curveball at Brother's advice. Sister reads the sign, throws a fastball (which she's deadly with) instead, causing him a great deal of pain when the ball slams into his gloved hand, and when he yells at her, claims afterward that she misread his signal -- "I guess the sun was in my eyes" -- while grinning. It's pretty clearly her getting even with him for his delaying on letting her join in.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Name-only version -- when Too-Tall and his gang are called into Principal Honeycomb's office for a talk with he and Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer, Too-Tall namedrops Miss Glitch as part of an incident he ''wasn't'' the instigator for ("What about the time Gil Grizzwold dumped a can of trash all over Miss Glitch's car?"). Miss Glitch is later properly introduced in ''The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet'', and becomes a recurring character in the series.
* ExtremeDoormat: Subverted -- when Mr. Dweebish is introduced, he seems like a rather wimpy individual, and Brother and Freddy think he stands no chance against Too-Tall and his gang. As they expect, Too-Tall immediately starts giving him a hard time (and Fred too)... but then the subversion kicks in when, after Fred loses his temper and nearly attacks Too-Tall, Mr. Dweebish ends up bellowing at them to get back in their seats and proving that he's no pushover.
* GradeSkipper: Downplayed -- Sister and Lizzy are moved up to Brother's class for an hour each day, during their new social studies class, but otherwise spend the rest of the day with their normal classmates.
* GrammarNazi: Principal Honeycomb isn't normally one, but when he and Mr. Grizzmeyer have been questioning Too-Tall and his gang and Too-Tall says a very grammatically incorrect sentence, Principal Honeycomb ends up repeating that sentence and then, realizing what he's said, repeatedly corrects his ''own'' grammar -- one word at a time -- until it's right:
-->'''Principal Honeycomb''': "I'm afraid Too-Tall's right, Mr. Grizzmeyer. We ain't got no evidence. I mean, we ''don't'' got no evidence... I mean, we don't ''have'' no evidence... I mean, we don't have ''any'' evidence! ''Phew!''"
* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: The ''wrongness'' of this trope is one of the lessons Mr. Dweebish is trying to teach the class -- that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. By setting things up so the students would think Too-Tall is behind all the locker thefts, he shows them how jumping to conclusions is a bad thing, and how they need evidence to ''prove'' guilt rather than just assuming.
* HowAboutASmile: Early on, Brother and Freddy are playing catch. Sister later joins and asks to take Freddy's place, and he makes her say "Please", "Pretty please" and "Pretty please with sugar on top". In the last case, Sister retorts with "Pretty please with a baseball bat on top of your head."
* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: Not said out loud, but after Too-Tall makes a snide remark about Mr. Dweebish's name and his gang laughs, the narration says that "Mr. Dweebish pretended not to notice."
* JerkassHasAPoint: Acknowledged when Principal Honeycomb and Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer call Too-Tall and his gang into the office to discuss the locker thefts they're suspected of. When Too-Tall says they can't be suspended for the thefts because "You ain't got no ''evidence'' [that we committed the crimes]!", Principal Honeycomb concedes that he's got a point.
* LockedRoomMystery: A two-in-one example -- the school lockers are kept locked at all times, yet somebody's managed to get into them without leaving any trace. And the combinations themselves are kept under lock and key in Principal Honeycomb's office. The Bear Detectives later learn, during the summation, that the culprit had used an excuse to borrow the key and got access to the combinations that way.
* NeverTheObviousSuspect: When items start disappearing from students' lockers, the cubs naturally suspect Too-Tall, whose reputation for trouble-making is well known. He turns out to be innocent, and it's revealed that the ''real'' culprit was just trying to teach the students a lesson about jumping to conclusions.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Invoked -- the Bear Detectives believe that Too-Tall is behind the locker thefts, and as part of a sting operation, decide to spread a rumor that he hasn't robbed Brother's locker yet because he's too scared of Brother after the events of ''The Berenstain Bears Gotta Dance!''. They're hoping the rumor will goad him into breaking into the locker, which will expose him as the thief because they've rigged it with a special paint bomb. It doesn't work out like they planned because Too-Tall ''isn't'' the thief, but Brother's locker still ''does'' get broken into.
* SpannerInTheWorks: The titular "red-handed thief" turns out to just be trying to teach the cubs a lesson about wrongfully jumping to conclusions, and is planning on returning the stolen items when the time is right. The Bear Detectives, however, end up accidentally disrupting this plan by planting a [[TrickBomb paint bomb]] in Brother's locker, the day before the planned event.
* TrickBomb: In order to catch the thief who's been stealing from their lockers, the cubs arrange to have a ''paint'' bomb rigged up in Brother's locker with a little help from Squire Grizzly -- the bank he owns uses them to protect the vaults from would-be thieves.
* UnfortunateNames: Mr. ''Dweeb''ish. Brother even admits that he looks like his name, with Fred adding "nerdish" and "wimpish" to the list. Too-Tall, naturally, also can't help but lampshade it when he says "I told you he'd be a dweeb."
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Mr. Dweebish, who even admits this -- he loves teaching and ''demonstrating'' what he teaches, which in this case includes the values of "innocent until proven guilty" and showing Too-Tall what it's like to be falsely accused, but he also admits that he crossed a line when he stole from the school lockers as part of it to make a point.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#08: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Wheelchair Commando'' (1993)]]
* AppropriatedAppellation: Too-Tall originally comes up with the nickname "Wheels" for the wheelchair-bound Harry [=McGill=] to mock him, [[InsultBackfire but Harry adopts the nickname and asks everyone to call him that.]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: The chapter books in general show that Brother has expanded his protective instincts to most of the school, with him being actively famous for defending bullying victims, and it's a major plot point in this book when Harry finds out about it. Realizing that Brother acts this way towards ''everyone'', rather than just those he feels sorry for, is what starts to turn him around and help him become friends with non-disabled cubs.
* BullyTurnedBuddy: The book ends with this development -- throughout the book, Too-Tall has only seen Harry [=McGill=] as a disabled cub, thinking that DisabledMeansHelpless, and making him an easy target to pick on. When Harry beats Too-Tall in wheelchair basketball, Too-Tall is so thoroughly stunned that he not only asks Harry ''somewhat'' politely how he did that, when he asks for something ''else'' they can compete in, Harry reveals his only other sport is chess... which cements their friendship, since Too-Tall [[HiddenDepths is a chess expert as well]], and has been looking for someone who's both a decent challenge and who isn't too afraid to play him.
* ChallengingTheBully: A variant. In his latest mocking of Harry [=McGill=], Too-Tall challenges the other cub to join his basketball team for a match against Barry Bruin and ''his'' team. Harry, however, turns it around by challenging ''Too-Tall'' to a one-on-one match in ''wheelchair'' basketball, a week from that day. Too-Tall agrees, unaware that Harry happens to be a champion of the sport, and gets his clock cleaned... and the conversation that follows ends in their becoming best friends.
* CallBack: Fred mentions the time that Brother put Too-Tall in a dumpster (back in ''The Berenstain Bears Gotta Dance!'') to Harry [=McGill=], which is one of the things that makes Harry realize Brother is on the level rather than simply pitying him.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: In the climax of the book, Too-Tall becomes friends with Harry [=McGill=], a HandicappedBadass he was taunting, after the latter beat him in wheelchair basketball. Harry also thanks Too-Tall for giving him a cool nickname, "Wheels".
* DisabledMeansHelpless: Discussed and totally subverted.
** Most bears have this attitude towards Harry [=McGill=], which royally annoys him and is why he's never tried to make friends with non-disabled cubs. Harry also tends to assume that others have this attitude, taking a seat in the back and rudely telling Teacher Bob, when the latter asks if he doesn't want to sit up front, that his legs may not work but he can still ''see'' just fine.
** Too-Tall and his gang thoroughly believe it until the climax, where Harry reveals he's actually a HandicappedBadass and cleans Too-Tall's clock at wheelchair basketball.
* DontYouDarePityMe: Harry [=McGill=] doesn't like anybody showing sympathy over him being paraplegic. It gets {{Deconstructed|Trope}} here, where his hostile attitude towards the other cubs because of it (not helped by Queenie believing DisabledMeansHelpless) makes it hard for those who genuinely want to befriend him to talk to him. It reaches its peak when he accuses Brother of defending him from Too-Tall's gang simply to make himself look good, only to be promptly told by both Brother himself and several bystanders that Brother is famous throughout the school for protecting bullied cubs in general. Afterwards, he has a JerkassRealization, apologizes to Brother, and opens up to him and Freddy, which helps improve his interactions with the other students and helps the other cubs to get to know him more.
* GadgeteerGenius: When first introduced, Harry [=McGill=] is revealed as a computer expert. This later helps him make friends when Brother and Fred figure it out and eventually see just ''how'' good he is, as he offers to help them with their model airplane and its center-of-gravity problem via a computer program he has on planes.
* HandicappedBadass: Harry [=McGill=], a wheelchair-bound computer genius and skilled chess player, turns out to also be a former wheelchair basketball player. He proves it by easily outmatching Too-Tall in a game, earning the latter's respect in the process.
* HiddenDepths: This book reveals that Too-Tall Grizzly is more than a dumb jock and bully -- he's also a master at chess, and he's desperate for a good game.
* JerkassRealization: Throughout the book, Harry [=McGill=] has stubbornly refused to be friendly towards anyone because he thinks they only want to know how he became a paraplegic or that they pity him because of his condition, and otherwise don't care about him as an actual person, no matter how friendly they try to be. When Brother decides to stick up for him against Too-Tall and Harry ''still'' thinks it's only because Brother pities him, Brother's finally had enough and calls him out over his jumping to conclusions before telling him why he ''really'' stood up for Harry (because he can't stand Too-Tall's bullying ''anyone''). Harry, realizing that Brother really means what he's saying (with a little help from Freddy, who tells him about another time Brother stood up to Too-Tall), finally admits that he had Brother and Fred all wrong, and apologizes.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In the penultimate chapter, as other cubs get to know Harry as more than a disabled cub, it's said that one of the things they get to know him as is "a collector of old comedy videos of W. C. Bruin", the bear version of Creator/WCFields.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Harry [=McGill=], a computer genius, plays chess. Surprisingly, the climax reveals that Too-Tall Grizzly, despite his poor grades and his reputation as a bully, ''also'' plays chess, and he's thrilled when he finds out Harry's good at it too, because the other members of the school chess team are "too chicken" to face him, and his gang members... well, as Too-Tall himself puts it, "I tried to teach these bums, ... But they stink."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#09: ''The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet'' (1994)]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: When Queenie spots Teacher Bob having dinner with a teenaged girl and assumes they're on a date, she takes a picture of them (unbeknownst to both of them) and sneaks it into the gossip page of the underground newspaper the Newspaper Club is publishing to protest against Miss Glitch's ironclad control of the newspaper. Unfortunately, the teen turns out to be [[RelativeError Teacher Bob's niece]] who's visiting him to look at colleges in the area, something Brother, the editor of the underground newspaper, knew for a fact as Mama had had her over for tea a couple of days prior. Brother angrily informs Queenie that had she not gone behind his back to put the photo in, he would have killed the story on the spot and they wouldn't have pissed off Teacher Bob and so many of the teachers (who also know the teen is his niece). Not only is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Queenie horrified that she accidentally had her teacher accused of unprofessional behavior]], it ultimately leads to the writers of the secondary newspaper getting exposed because Brother feels so guilty that he confesses everything to Sister, in turn leading to the school authorities finding out when Sister decides to tell Mama because she's worried about what would happen if the school authorities didn't find out who the writers were sooner.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The whole ''book'' is this for Miss Glitch, making her debut in the series. She comes off as more of a MisplacedKindergartenTeacher than the SternTeacher she's better known as in later books, going home early when she reads the comments about her in the Cub Reporter, crying during the meeting where everything comes out, and later promising to do better. In all other appearances, she matches Sister's early description of her as a SternTeacher who won't even consider admitting to being wrong (insisting on having things "her way or the highway"), and seems to have it out for anything anyone else would consider fun.
* EasilyForgiven: After Brother accuses Harry of squealing on them, rather than be upset, Harry understands that ''Brother'' was simply upset and lashing out (and admits he would have reacted the same way), and not only forgives him but follows after him to his Thinking Place (not easy for him to do, because of the vines that tangle up his wheelchair) so they can talk it out.
* HypocriteHasAPoint: The cubs who are working on the titular scandal sheet are clearly breaking the rules and doing things that upset and even harm the school staff, but said school staff basically ignored any and all of their desires when it came to writing for the school newspaper with such actions as forcing one of Brother's agemates to review books for first-graders and write a poem with a word that's nearly impossible to rhyme and ignoring Ferdy's suggestions for the science section. The cubs only went with the unauthorized newspaper because they felt ignored, something the adults admit was wrong of them.
* IShallTauntYou: Queenie pulls this on Harry [=McGill=] to get him on her side, provoking him with her "knowledge" of what Miss Glitch had said about a prospective computer column (she's making the whole thing up, but he doesn't know that) and not wanting to repeat it until he gets mad enough to demand to know what it was. According to Queenie's lie, Miss Glitch had made insulting remarks about computers, something that angers Harry (a computer expert himself) into immediately agreeing to print their newspaper for them.
* LiteralMinded: Barry Bruin has a particular moment of this -- when Queenie is explaining how they'll handle their new newspaper, she says they'll use pen names rather than their real ones. Barry immediately thinks of "Ballpoint" or "Fountain", leading an exasperated Queenie to ask Cousin Fred to explain the concept to him. The illustrations also show him picturing them working out of a cave when Queenie first uses the term "underground" newspaper.
* MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Miss Glitch, in this book only. She gives the Journalism Club students strict orders on what to write, all of which is ''far'' below their age level, such as book reports on "Dick and Jane's New Puppy" and similar books and an article on "Our Friend, the Water Molecule". The students are predictably disgusted.
* NoNameGiven: Teacher Bob's niece -- who's in town visiting him in this book -- is never actually given a name, only referred to as "his niece" or similar terms.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Professor Actual Factual is normally pretty easy-going, but when he's present at the meeting where the cubs' actions are exposed and explained, he's ''not'' in a good mood, which the cubs take as a sign that this is ''very'' serious.
* PenName: InUniverse, the cubs adapt pen names for use in their underground newspaper the Cub Reporter. Brother is I. M. Wright, Fred is Nat Newshound, Barry is Homer Homerun, Ferdy is Teddy Testtube, Babs is Marilyn Muse and Queenie is Selma Scoop.
* RelativeError: Queenie [=McBear=] puts an unapproved article in a secondary (and unauthorized) school newspaper about Teacher Bob being seen having dinner with a pretty teenager, causing a fuss and an inquiry for unprofessional behavior. When he sees the article, Queenie's editor-in-chief Brother Bear angrily informs her that had she not gone over his head (which ultimately led to them being exposed as the writers of the secondary newspaper), he would have killed the story on the spot -- he knew full well that the girl in Queenie's photo was Bob's teenage niece, who was in town to visit him and check out colleges in the area.
* SelfDeprecation: When Too-Tall gets called to the principal's office to be questioned about the Cub Reporter, he cheerfully says they can't pin it on he and his gang -- "We're too stupid to put together a newspaper!"
* ShoutOut: At one point, there's a reference to actor Clint Bearwood and his film ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' (specifically, describing the students' comments on their teachers in those exact terms), the Bear versions of Creator/ClintEastwood and [[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly his film of the same name]].
* TheStoolPigeon: A Concerned Claire version -- the cubs of the school newspaper club are frustrated with Miss Glitch's iron-clad control over what they can write, so they rebel with an underground paper. However it gets taken too far when Queenie [=McBear=] goes behind everyone's back and puts in an unapproved story about Teacher Bob being seen having dinner with a pretty teenager ([[RelativeError who was actually his niece visiting him to look at colleges in the area]]), causing a fuss throughout town. Another article about how everybody hates Miss Glitch also caused her to leave school for the day in tears. Brother feels so guilty about it that he confesses everything to Sister. She decides to tell Mama because she thinks she could help solve the problem, who in turn informs the school authorities. This turns out to be the right action, because it helped clear Teacher Bob's name. It also allowed for the real student newspaper to reform to allow for a bit more writer freedom, and the cubs involved in the underground paper are able to learn a tough-but-fair lesson about reporter responsibility and getting the facts straight.
* VoiceOfTheResistance: The school's journalism club creates an underground newspaper in protest of Miss Glitch's iron-handed control over what is printed in the normal school newspaper. Things quickly go too far, however, when Queenie prints a libelous story about a certain teacher's "indiscretion", when he was actually out to dinner with his niece.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#10: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Galloping Ghost'' (1994)]]
* AfterActionVillainAnalysis: After the "Galloping Ghost" is exposed as Billy Bogg in a costume, Brother explains what's been going on and why the youngest Bogg Brother did what he did -- the Bogg Brothers had been hired by a group of real-estate bears in Big Bear City to sabotage Miss Mamie's riding academy so they could buy the land cheap, and Billy dressing up as the ghost was just the latest part of their scheme. Chief Bruno subsequently confirms it by questioning the Bogg Brothers themselves, and then has their bosses arrested by the Big Bear City police.
* AllGirlsLikePonies: Sister's love of horses is a major plot point in this book, though unlike most cases of the trope, she doesn't ask for ''a'' pony -- just riding lessons.
* BigBrotherBully: Brother gets in a few moments in this book, first by scaring Sister when he reads a spooky moment in his ''[[SherlockHomage Grizzlock Holmes]]'' book aloud to her, and later by making a scary face and chasing Sister while pretending to be the Galloping Ghost of Forbidden Bog (to be fair, in the latter case ''she'd'' just been teasing him about being scared of horses and he was getting back at her for it). In both cases, Mama and Papa make him stop.
* ContinuityNod: When Billy Bogg is exposed as the fake ghost, Cousin Fred says he thought the Bogg Brothers were still in prison on their drug conviction from ''The Berenstain Bears and the Drug Free Zone''.
* DarkestHour: Miss Mamie's comes when the supposed "Galloping Ghost" shows up at her riding academy, causing her to decide to give up on the academy -- the bad luck that's been plaguing the place is one thing, but the supernatural is quite another. Fortunately, she mentions something to Brother as he's boarding the bus, leading to his having a EurekaMoment and causing the cubs to return shortly afterward, whereupon they uncover the ScoobyDooHoax and snap Miss Mamie back to normal.
* EurekaMoment: After seeing the Galloping Ghost and deciding to close the school, Miss Mamie mentions to Brother about how a group of Bears from Big Bear City had tried to buy the land from her, but she'd turned them down. Thinking about this on the bus, Brother has a sudden realization and has them return to the academy, leading to a final confrontation with the supposed "Galloping Ghost" and TheSummation of what's been happening.
* GhostlyWail: Discussed -- according to legend, the ghost of Billy Beechtree haunts Forbidden Bog, riding through the night and crying for justice after he was falsely accused of being a highway robber. Later, the fake ghost that shows up ''also'' howls, in an effort to scare everyone away from the property.
* HesBack: Miss Mamie explains to Brother how she used to be a champion horseback rider, but after falling and breaking her leg (which didn't heal quite right and gave her a permanent limp), she hasn't been on a horse in nine years -- "Scared, I guess," she says. It didn't stop her from opening her horseback riding school though, since she still loves the animals. Ultimately, during the big horse show at the end, it's revealed that after everything that's happened and all the help she's gotten in saving her riding school, she's finally gotten up the courage to get back in the saddle.
* TheHighwayman: Billy Beechtree, the supposed Galloping Ghost of Forbidden Bog, was wrongly accused of being a highwaybear and, being chased into the bog, drowned in a pool of quicksand with his horse.
* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: Not said out loud, but during a discussion where the Bear family is talking about fears, Papa says everyone is afraid of something. When Sister asks Papa what ''he's'' afraid of, he jokingly says "Your mama." The narration follows this with "Mama pretended not to hear Papa's remark."
* LaymansTerms: At Brother's request, Cousin Fred gives him the dictionary definition of "mortgage". When he sees Brother is still confused though, he breaks things down into terms that are easier for Brother to understand, along with the other two words Brother had been confused by ("arrears" and "foreclose") in less formal speak, allowing Brother to properly understand how such a thing works.
* ReadingTheEnemysMail: Benevolent and downplayed example -- Brother, despite knowing it's wrong, reads a letter from Miss Mamie's desk that she'd previously read in the hopes of understanding her problems and finding a way to help her.
* SavingTheOrphanage: Horseback riding school, in this case. Ms. Mamie isn't the best of businessbears, and the recent sabotage isn't helping. The cubs decide to help out by cleaning up her riding school, holding a big show to draw attention to the school and earn money to pay off her bills, and have their parents teach her what she needs to know to become a better businessbear and not get behind on the mortgage again.
* ScoobyDooHoax: The Bogg Brothers, a family of criminal brothers, have been sabotaging Ms. Mamie's Horseriding Academy in a bid to get it shut down so Ms. Mamie can't make her mortgage payment. When Brother Bear, Sister Bear, and their friends form a group to undo their damage and raise money for Ms. Mamie, the youngest Bogg Brother dresses up as the ghost of Billy Beechtree in a last ditch effort to scare them away, but he and his brothers get caught. The ending reveals that they were hired by a real estate development company that wanted to take over the academy, tear it down and build a shopping mall; said bears are arrested for their actions.
* ShellGame: Portrayed positively for once -- Ralph puts his con artist skills to good use at the big horse show, where he runs an ''authorized'' shell game booth and earns enough money to pay an entire month of Miss Mamie's mortgage all on his own.
* SherlockHomage: Brother, in this book, is revealed to be a fan of Grizzlock Holmes, a rather blatant {{Expy}} of Sherlock Holmes, with one book Brother reads being clearly based on "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".
* StandYourGround: During the final encounter with the supposed "Galloping Ghost", Brother calls for the cubs to stand their ground, which leads to the "ghost" turning around and fleeing, with the cubs chasing after it... and it being exposed as a [[ScoobyDooHoax criminal in a ghost costume]].
* TorchesAndPitchforks: While not ''literally'', the legend of Billy Beechtree says he was chased into Forbidden Bog by a mob of angry citizens (shown to be on horseback), where he and his horse drowned in quicksand.
* WeWereRehearsingAPlay: Variant -- when Billy Bogg is caught dressing up like a ghost and terrorizing the cubs helping out at Miss Mamie's riding school, he claims he was only practicing for Halloween. Miss Mamie doesn't buy it (even after he grumbles that "I need a lot of practice"), because Halloween is still six months away.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#11: ''The Berenstain Bears at Camp Crush'' (1994)]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When he first sees the name of the cubs' musical program at the Inter-Camp Games ("Camp Quagmire, We Love You"), Mr. Grizzmeyer is angry and prepared to hate the show. In the end though, he's thoroughly enjoyed it, with the illustrations showing him happily applauding.
* BaitAndSwitch: When Mr. Grizzmeyer shows up at the Bear family's house, the cubs are initially worried and try to think of anything they could have done wrong to bring their vice-principal there. Then he explains that he isn't there for school reasons -- he's there to invite them to attend the summer camp he's going to be running.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Ferdy Factual falls for Trudy Brunowitz, the new girl in town, because they're so similar in interests -- Ferdy is initially drawn to her because she's wearing a shirt with Einstein's E=mc[--[[superscript:2]]--] equation on it, and the two hit it off right away.
* CheatersNeverProsper: The cubs at Camp Grizzmeyer are taking part in the Inter-Camp Games at the end of the summer, and the trope comes into play when it's time for the basketball game -- back home, Too-Tall is rarely punished for his usual style of playing dirty, but here, it gets the team penalized, as he's fouled out in all but one game, and the team finishes third overall as a result.
* LesserOfTwoEvils: When Too-Tall and his gang are caught as having been the one behind the pranks at Camp Grizzmeyer, Brother reminds Mr. Grizzmeyer of the four's basketball skills, leading him to offer gang a choice: they can be turned over to the mountain police and arrested for trespassing and vandalism, or they can spend the rest of the summer under his thumb at Camp Grizzmeyer, when they'd previously been eager to avoid him for the summer. They choose the second option.
* LoveObstructingParents: Both played straight ''and'' done as a variant.
** Mr. Grizzmeyer is determined to keep his son Mike and his son's fiancee Margie away from one another, blowing his whistle when he sees them so much as go near one another. Mike's extremely mad about this, to the point where the two end up eloping (or planning on it, at least -- they end up not going through with it and putting things off until they're actually ready) just to get away from him.
** Variant with everyone else. Mr. Grizzmeyer is determined to block ''any'' romance at Camp Grizzmeyer because he thinks it'll give the camp a bad name if the cubs get "crazy crushes" on one another, which is part of why the camp is divided into separate boys' and girls' camps.
* NotThisOneThatOne: As the bus is taking the cubs to Camp Grizzmeyer, they come up on a beautiful summer camp... and roll right past it, to their horror. It's only afterward that Mr. Grizzmeyer explains that was Camp ''Sunshine'', one of their rivals in the Inter-Camp Games at the end of the summer.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: At Camp Grizzmeyer, Boys' Cabin 1 is run by Counselor Mike. It's not until late in the book that he admits it's a nickname -- his real name is Mervyn Grizzmeyer Jr., stunning the cubs when they realize camp director and Bear Country School vice-principal Mervyn "Bullhorn" Grizzmeyer is his dad.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Mr. Grizzmeyer tries this with his son, Mervyn "Mike" Grizzmeyer Junior, feeling that his son and prospective daughter-in-law are too young to be getting married. After they run away to elope though (which they ultimately don't go through with), he eases up and agrees to let them get married when they're ready.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: A whole "The reason you suck ''song''", which the cubs put on for the Inter-Camp Games at the end of the summer. They basically explain all the stuff they've hated about Camp Grizzmeyer... then invert it by showing that they've come to love the place and are planning to come back next year.
* SimilarItemConfusion: Invoked -- as one of the pranks that Too-Tall and his gang play on the camp, they sneak several large white stones in with the baked potatoes at lunch. Mr. Grizzmeyer is ''not'' amused when he tries to cut into one and discovers the switch.
* SleepingDummy: Late in the book, Councilor Mike is planning to sneak out of the camp so he can meet and run away with his girlfriend, and shows his campers that he's left one of these in his bed (made of straw and leaves) to fool any other councilor who's coming by to do bed checks. Mr. Grizzmeyer, however, is the one to check that night, and quickly catches on to the decoy... but he doesn't get mad, he just gets depressed and leaves without finishing the job of checking the other cabins.
* SummerCampy: The book sees Brother, Sister and their friends attending a summer camp run by their school's vice-principal Mervyn "Bullhorn" Grizzmeyer. The place is in desperate need of fixing up, so the campers have to spend the first few days doing the work themselves, and there's a number of anonymous pranks that end up being the work of Too-Tall Grizzly and his gang (who weren't actually attending when they pulled them, they just got bored hanging around home without their "friends" and decided to go have some fun with them), but it's the "no contact between boys and girls" rule (due to Mr. Grizzmeyer's belief that they'll wind up getting a lot of silly crushes on one another and giving the camp a bad name) that really ticks off a lot of the campers. In spite of all this, they wind up having a lot of fun in the end and are looking forward to coming back; the big musical show at the annual inter-camp meet, where they proceed to show off their issues with the camp and yet how much they've wound up liking it, proves their point to Grizzmeyer and leads him to admitting he made some mistakes (including the "separate camps for boys and girls" rule) and will do better next year.
* UnderwearFlag: A few days into the camp session, someone starts pulling a lot of pranks at Camp Grizzmeyer, the last of which is a variant on this -- instead of underwear flying at the top of the flagpole, it's Mr. Grizzmeyer's striped pajama bottoms. It turns out to have been done by the Too-Tall Gang, who were bored at home since most of their classmates were off at the camp for the summer.
* WaxingLyrical: When Too-Tall is explaining why he thinks the other cubs are stupid for attending Camp Grizzmeyer, he has Skuzz explain it in a way that references Music/AliceCooper's "School's Out":
-->'''Skuzz:''' No more pencils! No more books! No more Grizzmeyer's dirty looks!
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#12: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Giddy Grandma'' (1994)]]
* CoveredInGunge: Twice. First, a reminiscence about Grizzly Gramps' past reveals that when he and the clown Roscoe got in a DuelToTheDeath (even if the only thing injured was his pride), Gramps got a faceful of banana cream. Later, during the talent show, Gran and Gramps end up throwing pies at one another and ''both'' end up with facefuls of banana cream, and sink to the ground kissing one another.
* DuelToTheDeath: Gran tells Sister the story of how, when she was younger, she used to perform a one-bear-band vaudeville act. She also recounts how Gramps (who was one of the "Stage Door Johnnies", male bears who hung out in the theater to try and get the attention of the performers they were attracted to) and a clown named Roscoe both courted her, which culminated in Gramps slapping Roscoe and challenging him to a duel (which was, of course, illegal). Roscoe, as the challenged, had the right to choose the weapon... and chose pies, with someone promptly going to a nearby bakery and coming back with two banana cream pies for them to use. Despite losing the duel, Gramps came out on top in the long run, as he was physically unharmed (though his pride was somewhat wounded), and Gran decided he was the bear she wanted to marry.
* EpicFail: When he hears about the adults-only talent show, Papa suggests he could enter with some of "my famous card tricks", and proceeds to try and demonstrate the "card spring flourish" trick, shooting a deck of cards from one hand to the other. Instead, they end up scattering all over the floor, much to Mama's exasperation.
* HiddenDepths: This book reveals Grizzly Gran's past in vaudeville, and she's still got it all these years later -- able to rollerskate and play several instruments at once. Her act ends up winning her the grand prize at Bear Country School's Parent-Teacher Talent Show. The same event reveals a number of other adults have hidden talents, which they enter in the show -- Teacher Bob can juggle and do magic tricks, Lizzy Bruin's dad plays the fiddle, Queenie [=McBear=]'s mom plays the flute, Chief Bruno and three of his officers can sing in a barbershop quartet, and Teacher Jane is an excellent tap-dancer.
* ImGoingToDisneyWorld: At the very end, after winning the grand prize at Bear Country School's Parent-Teacher Talent Show, Gran gets her choice of prizes from the list. The very last illustration shows her and Gramps saying "We're going to Grizzly Land!"
* LoveTriangle: Grizzly Gran was in one back in her youth, with her future husband Gramps and a performing clown named Roscoe. It culminated in a non-lethal DuelToTheDeath (with cream pies as the weapon of choice), and though Gramps lost the duel, he won the war, because Gran decided that night that he was the one she wanted to marry.
* NonResidentialResidence: After Gran starts practicing her incredibly noisy "One-Bear Band" act (playing several instruments at once, while on roller skates) in the attic, Gramps moves out of his house and into their garden shed for a few days.
* OneManBand: This book reveals that Grizzly Gran used to perform in vaudeville under the stage name "Wanda the One-Bear Band", wearing roller skates and a suit that included a giant drum, a harmonica, a saxophone, a horn and a bell. She still has the old outfit in her attic, and when Sister asks about her past for a school report, Gran breaks it out and performs in it once again for a local adults-only talent show, much to her husband's annoyance.
* PieInTheFace: In this book, Gran tells Sister about how Gramps and a clown performer named Roscoe fought a DuelToTheDeath over her... with cream pies. Gramps ended up with one smack in the face, since Roscoe's clown experience made him an expert pie-thrower. Later on, in the book's finale, Gramps ends up crashing Gran's performance at the adults-only talent show, riding a unicycle in a clown outfit of his own, and it culminates with he and Gran each throwing a cream pie at one another and then falling to the ground, each happily kissing their spouse's pie-covered face.
* StageNames: When Gran tells Sister about her past in vaudeville, she explains about how she performed as "Wanda the One-Bear Band", adding that "Wanda" was just a stage name.
* TalentContest: The big climax of the book is Bear Country School's Parent-Teacher Talent Show, open only to bears twenty-one or older. Grizzly Gran ends up winning with her One-Bear Band act.
* ThirdPartyPeacekeeper: Late in the book, Brother rushes over to Gran and Gramps' home in the hopes of playing this role and saving his grandparents' forty-year marriage. Once he's done talking, Gramps just laughs and explains that Brother didn't need to convince him -- he'd ''already'' realized he was being silly. Furthermore, he's planning on crashing the talent show with an act of his own to prove that he's ready to apologize.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#13: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Dress Code'' (1994)]]
* AntiSchoolUniformsPlot: The book pits cubs against adults after some particularly crazy fashion trends prompt the school to take decisive action. After the situation escalates to the students threatening a strike (and teaching the intended audience a fair deal about political activism in the process), the school finally concedes when it is revealed in a public debate that the dress code's most ardent supporters sported fashions just as crazy in their own youths, if not even crazier.
* TheBusCameBack: After his previous role in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief'', Mr. Dweebish returns to the series to lend a hand to the rad students and their battle against the dress code when Brother and Queenie come to visit him and ask for advice, playing a significant role in the resolution by coming up with a plan that lets the cubs win the official debate over the matter without even saying a word.
* ChafingAgainstTheDressCode: It's noted early on that students at Bear Country School tend to try out new fashions in the spring. Miss Glitch, however, forces Queenie to go home and change one day because she doesn't approve of Queenie's outfit (a ''very'' short miniskirt), resulting in students going more over-the-top than usual in support of her and culminating in a mass rebellion when Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer, who's temporarily in charge while Principal Honeycomb is away, tries to institute a school dress code that eventually boils down to banning any outfits he doesn't like.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Miss Glitch sends Queenie home for wearing a miniskirt, even though she was also wearing a full-body leotard with it. Principal Honeycomb (who wasn't aware of what happened) gets a phone call from Queenie's mother, who tells him off because Miss Glitch isn't Queenie's teacher (having only claimed authority on grounds of being the teacher on hall duty). In addition, the miniskirt and full-body leotard was an outfit that Queenie's mother wore as a cub, and thus should be school appropriate. This ends up instigating a fashion war between the students, who are all pissed off at Miss Glitch for what she did, and a good portion of the teachers when Mr. Honeycomb has to leave on a business trip.
* DressCode: The plot starts when the annual run of new spring fashions (or "rad clothes") starts getting out of hand at Bear Country School, in part out of rebellion after SternTeacher Miss Glitch orders Queenie [=McBear=] to go home and change due to disapproving of her choice of clothing (a very short miniskirt) despite only being on hall duty and ''not'' being Queenie's teacher, and not even sending her to the principal's office first. Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer, who becomes acting principal while Principal Honeycomb is out of town on school-related business, fully supports Miss Glitch because he also disapproves of the rad clothes, and institutes a dress code specifically aimed at banning them, along with roping other adults outside the school into the movement against them. When the cubs turn to LoopholeAbuse to get past the rules, he keeps updating it to try and close the loopholes, until it boils down to "Any cub who shows up in clothes ''I'' don't approve of will be sent home, no exceptions". The cubs respond by threatening to refuse to come to school unless he backs down. Finally, some other adults persuade both sides to agree to debate, which the cubs win handily via revealing that the three lead adults in the anti-rad movement [[IWasQuiteAFashionVictim were no better in their youth]]. After the anti-rad group concedes, Principal Honeycomb reveals he's returned early and declares an end to the dress code, along with instituting casual Fridays, which satisfies the students and leads them to tone down the clothes of their own free will.
* EarAche: Discussed -- when Too-Tall comes to school wearing an earring (a clip-on, though he claims otherwise), the other students are convinced that Mr. Grizzmeyer will go through the roof and call in Two-Ton, who will probably drag Too-Tall out of school by the ear. It doesn't happen, because Mr. Grizzmeyer's busy putting together a school dress code that he thinks will solve the problem of the rad clothes.
* FunHatingVillain: More like "fun-hating stern teacher", but Miss Glitch and Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer both have it out for the various new fashions the cubs are wearing, feeling they're disruptive (which Brother later thinks to himself is nonsense, citing the fact that everybody in Teacher Bob's class is still getting good grades in spite of the clothes). Mr. Grizzmeyer even threatens to suspend Skuzz for the rest of the school year if he ever comes to school again in the spiky "punk" hairstyle he'd come in with one day, and that's ''before'' Miss Glitch sends Queenie home for wearing an ultra-short miniskirt.
* FunWithAcronyms: During the events of the book, two organizations are formed with fitting acronyms -- anti-rad group B.O.R.E.[[note]]Bears for Order and Respect in Education[[/note]] and pro-rad group F.R.E.E.S.[[note]]Freedom and Rights for Each and Every Student[[/note]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: When Miss Glitch turns up at the Bear family's house to drum up support for a scheduled meeting about the dress code, Brother happens to be present and asks about the band concert that was previously scheduled at that time. When Miss Glitch brushes off his concerns by claiming the meeting is more important and the concert will be rescheduled, Brother storms up to his room in a fit of temper. The narration tells us Brother and the rest of the band want the concert (a school-sponsored event) to be over with so they can move on to new music; the hypocrisy of the teachers disrupting school events for their own desires (which they had claimed the cubs' fashion choices had been doing) so angers Brother that he goes from being a mildly annoyed but overall neutral party to [[LetsGetDangerous a ringleader of the kids' side of the debate who is ultimately indirectly responsible for their win]].
* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: This is how the kids ultimately thwart the school's new dress code -- during the debate, they prove the adults were no better in their youth than the cubs themselves are today via displaying a slide show of the adults wearing absurd '60s and '70s clothing (provided by the parents and wife of the top three B.O.R.E. leaders), including Papa Bear in bell bottoms and a tie-dyed shirt, Miss Glitch in a miniskirt that's just as short as the one Queenie wore and that kicked off the whole fight between cubs and adults when she got sent home for doing so, and Mr. Grizzmeyer in a zoot suit and wide-brimmed hat.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** When Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer becomes acting principal and establishes a school dress code, the students hate ''both'' the new principal ''and'' the dress code. So they study the rules and on the very first day, decide to piss off the acting principal by doing ''just'' this, and intentionally declaring that they are not breaking any rules. "The rules say there are no ''blue'' jeans with holes allowed... Mine are ''green''", "I didn't cut these shorts, I ''ripped'' them" and "It's not a Batbear Cape, it's a Superbear Cape." This prompts the acting principal to blow his top and put in an ObviousRulePatch mid-day after this happens several times.
** After Queenie got in trouble for wearing a very, very short miniskirt to school early on, she figures out a new way of getting away with it just prior to the establishment of the dress code -- by wearing it over a pair of jeans that are mostly holes.
* MamaBear: Queenie's mother is ''very'' upset when her daughter is sent home from school for wearing a miniskirt, since Queenie was inspired by the outfits her mother wore as a cub. She calls the principal and asks why Miss Glitch, who isn't even Queenie's teacher (but claims authority by virtue of being the one on hall duty), was allowed to do such a thing.
* NeutralNoLonger:
** In a chapter fittingly titled "The Turning Point", Brother has been largely neutral in the fight over "rad clothes" and saying outright at one point that "I'm not into rad clothes myself. But it doesn't bother me when other cubs wear them to school." Eventually though, when Miss Glitch comes to his home asking for Papa's support, it proves to be the last straw for him. Specifically, when she reveals the adults' B.O.R.E. organization is going to be holding a big school assembly about their opposition to the cubs' new fashions, Brother learns they're ''also'' planning to delay the school concert (which Brother is taking part in and which he and the other students want to get ''over'' with so they can move on to new music) that was originally scheduled for that time. Seeing this act as an even bigger disruption than the clothes themselves, he immediately storms out and starts contacting the other cubs to form a dedicated organization -- F.R.E.E.S. -- meant to counter B.O.R.E., with himself as a major leader.
** Later on, when Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer announces a new dress code version that basically lets him outlaw any clothes he personally doesn't like, Ferdy Factual (who's been pretty snide towards ''both'' sides over the whole thing) finally announces his support for his fellow cubs and joins the F.R.E.E.S. organization.
* NoNameGiven: In the final chapter, it's mentioned that Miss Glitch's mother is one of the adults who's come out on the side of the rads, feeling that Mr. Grizzmeyer's dress code had gone too far. However, her actual name is never given; she's ''literally'' just referred to as "Miss Glitch's mother".
* ParentalFashionVeto: Sister Bear starts wearing "rad clothes" (in her case, jeans with holes in the knees), the new spring fashions, but only at school (she stops at Babs Bruno's house and changes into and out of them on the way to and from school) because Papa, who doesn't approve of them, wouldn't allow her to do so otherwise.
* ParentalHypocrisy: A mild version.
** The main plot is about the kids adopting obnoxious new fashions, and due to an escalating power struggle between the acting principal who keeps making new rules and the kids using LoopholeAbuse, it looks like the school will be going to uniforms... until the cubs find a way to win by revealing some old sixties and seventies fashions worn by the adults leading the charge for the dress code.
** This is especially noticeable with Miss Glitch; the reason why the dress wars got started in the first place is because she overstepped her authority and sent Queenie home for wearing a miniskirt, despite the fact that Queenie wasn't her student and she didn't talk to Principal Honeycomb about it. One of the pictures shown of her as a teen, willingly supplied by her own mother (who's among the adults feeling the dress code had gone too far), is her wearing a miniskirt that's ''extremely'' short.
* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: Between Ferdy and his girlfriend Trudy, the latter of whom is siding with the rad clothes and the former having been neutral in the arguments and pretty snide towards both sides. He finally [[NeutralNoLonger openly sides with the rads]] when he decides he's sick of feuding with Trudy and points out that if they all work together and go on strike ''en masse'', the school can't possibly win.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer effectively pulls this by continuing to update the dress code every time the cubs come up with loopholes to get around his rules, to the point where his final edition is effectively a dictatorial edict outlawing ''any'' clothes he doesn't like. When Ferdy points out that Principal Honeycomb is also a dictator by that standard, Trudy admits he's got a point... but adds that Principal Honeycomb at least doesn't ''act'' like one. As Brother subsequently points out, Principal Honeycomb may make up some of the rules, but he doesn't keep ''changing'' them to make things easier on himself, which is the big difference between he and Mr. Grizzmeyer.
* SingleTargetLaw:
** When Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer comes up with the school dress code, one of the rules is "No Batbear capes". It's not pointed out at the time, but that rule is pretty clearly aimed at Too-Tall, the only cub wearing one.
** While the cubs are discussing the dress code, Ferdy says at least the dress code is fair, because it's aimed at banning ''any'' style of rad clothes. Trudy Brunowitz points out that Ferdy wouldn't be saying that if knickers were on the banned list, and when he says he would because such a ban would be meant for everyone, she retorts that no, it'd clearly be aimed at ''him'' -- he's the only cub in the school that wears them. Ferdy's reaction to this is not shown.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#14: ''The Berenstain Bears' Media Madness'' (1995)]]
* BoredomMontage: The book starts out with one, showing how things are the same as usual, and everyone's bored with it. It's brought to a sudden stop when it comes out that Bear Country School has been offered the chance to run an in-school television station.
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Threatened -- at the climax of the book, after some complications involving the BTV station, Principal Honeycomb is left having to pay a huge fine. While they're able to get some of the money together, Bonnie Brown finally gets the rest by talking to her aunt Grizzly about the whole mess. Lady Grizzly subsequently "persuades" her husband to provide the rest of the cash by threatening to invite her mother the duchess (whom the Squire dreads, if the illustration at the bottom of the page of him looking at his mother-in-law's portrait and sweating in fright is anything to go by) to come stay with them for a month if he doesn't.
* FunHatingVillain: Once again, Miss Glitch takes on the role of the "fun-hating stern teacher", joined by Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer in voting against accepting the television equipment being gifted to Bear Country School, and when it's accepted anyway, tries to get control of it so she can use it for educational purposes only rather than entertainment as it was originally intended. She also throws out the program schedule for her classroom (as most of the programs have nothing to do with education) rather than posting it for the students to see like she was supposed to.
* GagNose: Referenced -- Too-Tall's nose ''is'' pretty big, as Brother Bear points out early on while taunting him by comparing its size to that of a bowling ball, and the illustrations even show an ImagineSpot of Too-Tall with an ''actual'' bowling ball for a nose in Brother's speech bubble. Fortunately, Too-Tall isn't in the mood for a fight and backs down.
* IdiosyncraticRatingsScale: When Brother and the others are going through the ideas for daily shows to be broadcast on BTV, they come up with a ratings system depending on the quality of the idea:
-->'''Brother''': "How's this sound? We'll have an A pile for the really good ones, a B pile for the okay ones..."
-->'''Queenie''': "And a PEE-YEW pile for the ones that stink!"
* LaserGuidedKarma: Miss Glitch attempts to invoke this on what she sees as a bad thing -- when Teacher Bob is put in charge of Bear Country School's new TV station and his students get caught up in running it and neglecting their studies, Miss Glitch responds by arranging for all the students to have to take a variety of scholastic aptitude tests, figuring that Teacher Bob's students will flunk them and Teacher Bob will get fired as a result. It's defied when the students pull together and cram for the tests as a group so they'll all pass.
* MoralGuardians: Miss Glitch, who's already known for her fun-hating tendencies, objects to Bear Country School having a TV station on the grounds that TV is "destroying the minds of our country's youth". However, she takes it to new levels by doing everything she can to sabotage Bear Country School's new TV station -- even ''before'' Teacher Bob is put in charge instead of herself, she's been talking to somebody on the Board of Education, setting in motion events that will nearly get him fired (ostensibly for being a poor teacher).
* NobodysThatDumb: Acknowledged in narration rather than dialogue. After winning ''[[ShowWithinAShow Talent Hunt]]'' and its grand prize of appearing on station WBBC in Big Bear City, Too-Tall and his gang get a call from an agent who wants them to make a demo record in Bearville. Too-Tall turns it down because, as the narration says, "The agent turned out to be that well-known swindler Ralph Ripoff. And not even Too-Tall was dumb enough to make a business deal with Ralph."
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** When Teacher Bob's class is given the opportunity to run Bear Country School's new TV station, Principal Honeycomb warns them to keep up with their regular schoolwork too. Naturally, everyone -- being third-graders -- gets too caught up in the excitement of being on TV to worry about balancing the station with schoolwork, resulting in their falling behind in their normal classwork and getting in big trouble as a result.
** When BTV goes from operating for half an hour to a full-hour and from an in-school station to an over-the-air station, Ferdy Factual volunteers his uncle's over-the-air broadcasting license (available to the professor and his associates, whom Ferdy considers himself one of due to working for his uncle on weekends) to make it legal. Unfortunately, when Principal Honeycomb is subsequently summoned before the Bear County Communications Board, they point out that Ferdy is too young to legally use the license (or to authorize its use), so they have no choice but to make the school pay a large fine.
* TeachersPet: Miss Glitch openly refers to Teacher Bob as a "''Principal's'' pet" after he gets the job of running the school TV station, apparently unaware or uncaring that Principal Honeycomb only offered him the post after learning that he had experience at the university TV station and radio station.
* {{Technobabble}}: Used when an expert is called in to help Teacher Bob with setting up the TV equipment and seeing if their electrical setup is suited for it, and uses a language that Teacher Bob doesn't understand in the least. Fortunately, Ferdy and Trudy understand him perfectly well, so Teacher Bob lets them handle this end of things.
-->'''Expert''': "Yer frammis grammis isn't gonna fit your ruckus gruckus. And furthermore, yer rollagonk is outa whack with yer zantac."
-->'''Ferdy''': "I take your point, sir. But I would suggest that you bypass the frammis grammis and plug it directly into the zantac."
-->'''Expert''': "Good thinking, son."
* VaudevilleHook: Discussed when Bear Country School gets its own in-school TV station and Teacher Bob starts holding auditions for various roles on [=BTV=] (as the station becomes known). Too-Tall and his gang work security, but when he brings up the idea of using a hook (made from a window pole and a bent coat hanger) to pull any obvious screw-ups off the stage, like he's seen them doing on regular TV, Teacher Bob quickly vetoes it.
* VillainHasAPoint: When discussing who should be in charge of the new TV station, Barry Bruin says it should be him, because "I know TV backwards and forwards. I watch more TV than all the rest of you put together." Babs Bruno immediately gets in a zing at him by saying that's why he's so dumb -- "It's like Miss Glitch says. TV has destroyed your mind."
* WardrobeMalfunction: During one episode of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Top That Stunt]]'', Gil Grizzwold loses his shorts while doing what the illustrations show as a trapeze routine, exposing his underwear.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#15: ''The Berenstain Bears in the Freaky Funhouse'' (1995)]]
* ActingForTwo: An in-universe example -- some of the circus performers are also regular employees. For example, the circus boss Captain Billy is also the ringmaster, his enforcer Otto is Primo the [[WorldsStrongestMan World's Strongest Bear]], and their head clown is the janitor (which turns into a plot point late in the book).
* ChekhovsGun: Near the end of the book, Sister is rifling through the wastebasket to find the original contract (so they can use it as evidence of the circus committing contract fraud) and can only find torn bits of paper. These later turn out to be the original contract.
* ConcealingCanvas: Captain Billy has a safe in his office, kept hidden behind a poster of Coco the Clown.
* CrappyCarnival: Zigzagged with Captain Billy's circus. The games on the midway are all rigged to make it almost impossible to win anything but cheap dolls as prizes, and the owners are crooked scam artists who cheat the people they're supposed to be fundraising for, but nothing is actually ''dangerous'' (save for the circus's strong man and second-in-command Otto), attendees all have a lot of fun and the show in the main tent every night is spectacular.
* CurbStompBattle: Late in the book, Ralph attempts to stop Captain Billy and Otto from getting away with the money for the hospital. Unfortunately he goes up against [[WorldsStrongestMan Otto]].
-->There was a struggle, but it didn't last long. With just one punch, the World's Strongest Bear knocked Ralph to the floor.
* DisneyDeath: The climax sees Ralph Ripoff supposedly killed by the books' villains, who knock him out, tie him up and throw him in the river. Luckily, he turns out just fine, having awoken and, using his old escape artist techniques, slipped out of his ropes before he ran out of breath.
* DragQueen: One of the acts at the circus is a male bear with a big bushy beard who's wearing male clothing the first time he's seen, but Captain Billy tells Dr. Gert that he performs as "Belinda the Bearded Lady". About all that's said about him both then and the one other time he's mentioned is that he's "gorgeous in a low-cut evening gown".
* EscapeArtist: As revealed in the final chapter, Ralph used to work as one in a magic show back in his younger days. In the present day, when he's tied up and thrown in the Great Roaring River, he uses his old talent to slip out of his ropes before he runs out of breath.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ralph Ripoff may be a swindler, but he gets angry when Dr. Grizzly tearfully explains that his ringmaster friend has scammed her out of funds for a hospital charity. He goes to confront the ringmaster in question and nearly gets killed for it.
* FundraiserCarnival: Circus and carnival, and for the hospital, in this case; in a variant, they're a professional circus rather than one set up by the locals.
* InadvertentEntranceCue: While the cubs are investigating the midway games, Cousin Fred is the one to check out the milk bottle game and, on realizing the bottom bottles are weighted down, says that "Nobody could knock these onto the floor! It's a complete ripoff." Cue Ralph speaking up from behind him: "Someone mention my name?"
* LeaveNoWitnesses: Ralph Ripoff is nearly killed when he tries to find evidence that Bear Country Hospital's been scammed out of the money it's earned from a fundraiser. This is apparently not the first time the culprits have done this, as Otto comments that "There's something about getting rid of a witness that gives me an appetite." Luckily for Ralph, he's able to call on his old skills as a performing escape artist to survive the experience.
* ReadTheFinePrint: The villains commit contract fraud by tricking their victim into signing four copies. The first one donates eighty percent of the money they collect to the hospital, while the circus gets twenty percent, minus expenses. The other three copies, which Dr. Gert didn't read after signing the first one, had it the other way around. The culprits, fortunately, are caught when the first contract is located and used as evidence of fraud. Furthermore, it's said that this isn't the first time they've pulled this same stunt, and that the victims never catch on.
* TheRunaway: Referenced -- Cousin Fred mentions one of his favorite stories is about a cub who ran off with the circus. Later, when the cubs are stuck in the back of the funhouse truck as it's driving off, Cousin Fred remarks he'd once dreamed of running away with the circus himself -- "But I never dreamed [[RussianReversal the circus would run away with]] ''me''!"
* ShipTease: A great deal between Ralph and Dr. Gert Grizzly, as they spend a lot of time together and even go on a picnic at one point. Dr. Gert insists she's just showing her appreciation for Ralph helping to raise money for the new hospital wing though.
* TraumaButton: Implied. After Ralph nearly drowned in the Great Roaring River, it's said that while he remained a swindler, "For the rest of his long, dishonest life -- even in the hottest summer weather -- he never ''ever'' went swimming in Great Roaring River again."
* TrickedIntoSigning: The villains commit contract fraud by giving Dr. Gert Grizzly four copies of a contract to sign; however, the first one, which is the only one she read, is a fake which falsely claims that eighty percent of the money they're raising will go to the hospital and twenty percent goes to the circus. The trope applies to the other three copies, which have things the other way around, and which Gert doesn't realize until late in the book. Happily, the fraud is ultimately exposed and the hospital gets its money.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#16: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Showdown at Chainsaw Gap'' (1995)]]
* AnythingButThat: The cubs in Teacher Bob's class react this way when he announces they're going to be studying a new topic in class, in-depth... and the topic, this go-round, is birds, which they find incredibly boring (except for Ferdy and Trudy, of course). Too-Tall even cries out "Say it ain't so, Teach!"
* BackupBluff: Subverted. Too-Tall is eager to punch Ferdy for saying that birds are ''not'' boring and stupid like Too-Tall thinks they are, but Ferdy calmly tells him that Vice-Principal Grizzmeyer is watching from his office window, and will gladly suspend Too-Tall for punching another student. Too-Tall thinks he's bluffing, even after Queenie backs Ferdy up, and when he looks to make sure, he doesn't see Mr. Grizzmeyer and prepares the blow... only to hear a whistle, turn around and see it wasn't a bluff: Mr. Grizzmeyer ''is'' watching, but from the school doorsteps rather than his window. Too-Tall immediately backs down.
* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Discussed in narration. Two-Ton Grizzly's house is ''literally'' built from truck bodies welded together -- he and Too-Too lived in a single truck trailer when they were first married, added a bread truck when their daughter was born, a U-Haul van when their son was born, and another truck trailer when business got better. And apparently the furniture all has seat belts, which is a point of contention late in the book -- when Too-Too and Too-Much side with the chainsaw crew, Too-Much says it's because she's "sick of furniture with seat belts!"
* GreenAesop: Part of the plot revolves around the cubs learning that it's possible for species to go extinct, and that habitat destruction is a part of what can drive them ''to'' extinction. This triggers the titular showdown when most of Teacher Bob's class, joined by a number of adults, ends up standing up to the woodsbears who've been hired to cut down Birder's Woods -- home of the only known yellow popinjay to still be alive. Emphasized by one of the signs seen at said protest, which reads "The species you save may be your own".
* LamePunReaction:
** Early on, Barry Bruin makes up and recites a lame ''poem'' for Babs Bruno ("Roses are red / Violets are blue / Storks have bird legs / ''And so do you!''"). He clearly expects a negative reaction and tries to run away after the last line, but not fast enough to evade the chalkboard erasers that she throws at him.
** He makes another pun in the Hall of Birds at the Bearsonian Institution when he says he knows what kind of fish birds eat -- "''Flying'' fish!" Half the class laughs, the other half groans. Actual Factual's only reaction is "Ah yes, a witticism. Quite amusing, Barry."
* MoodWhiplash: Invoked by Actual Factual. During the trip to the Bearsonian Institution's Hall of Birds, when Barry Bruin makes a crack relating to birds, Actual Factual responds by showing them to a place that isn't funny at all... the Hall of Shame, where some very specific birds are displayed. Cue the lesson on extinction and how a species can be gone forever, and a lot of stunned silence from the cubs.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Late in the book, Brother finds that Two-Ton Grizzly is joining the protestors who are trying to stop Birder's Woods, home of the endangered (and until recently, thought-to-be ''extinct'') Yellow Popinjay, from being cut down. Brother is surprised because he didn't think Two-Ton (despite being a reasonable adult) cared about an endangered bird; Queenie admits that he doesn't, but he ''does'' like living and working in the wide open areas outside Beartown, and isn't happy about a new housing development -- which would be built with the wood gained from cutting down the trees -- being put up next to "his space".
* NotSoExtinct: Benign example -- during a field trip to the Bearsonian Institution's Hall of Birds, Teacher Bob's class gets to see the "Hall of Shame", home to exhibits on bird species that have gone extinct such as the dodo, the passenger pigeon, and the yellow popinjay. Except during the visit, thanks to Bertha Broom, it's discovered (to Professor Actual Factual's shock) that the yellow popinjay isn't extinct after all -- Bertha spotted and videotaped one while in Birder's Woods the past weekend.
* PassingNotesInClass: Early on, when Teacher Bob has introduced the class's new unit and asks for ideas on things they can do with it, Brother has an idea, writes it down and passes it to Bonnie, intending that they have a private bird walk in Birder's Woods on Saturday. Teacher Bob, however, sees the note, confiscates it and reads it aloud, turning the event into a class trip (and spurring Ferdy to suggest another trip, to the Hall of Birds in the Bearsonian Institution).
* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: Between Brother and Bonnie, who come down on opposite ends of the matter of Birder's Woods. Brother wants to protect the forest because it's home to an endangered species, while Bonnie supports her uncle regardless of whether he's doing wrong or not. In the end, after Squire Grizzly announces that he's been informed of the yellow popinjay's status and decided ''not'' to cut down the woods as a result, Brother and Bonnie make up.
* TakeAThirdOption: After learning about the yellow popinjay from his wife, Squire Grizzly effectively has two choices -- continue with his plan to cut down Birder's Woods (which he owns) and possibly drive the species extinct, or cancel the project. He picks a third option -- cancel the plans to cut down the forest, but still go forward with Cozy Corner Cottages via ''buying'' the wood from Big Bear City Lumber Company, which will still provide plenty of work for the woodsbears.
* ThirdPartyPeacekeeper: Mama Bear ''tries'' when she attempts to mediate an argument between Papa and the cubs over the Birder's Woods matter. It doesn't work at the time, because Papa's too stubborn to listen and the cubs end up storming off to their room, but she's more successful when she goes to Mayor Honeypot to help settle things over the fight between the woodsbears and the bears seeking to protect Birder's Woods.
* UnexpectedCharacter: InUniverse -- there are some surprise arrivals at the titular showdown on ''both'' sides, such as Lady Grizzly (who'd only recently learned about what was going on) turning up in favor of Birder's Woods and the mother-and-daughter pair of Too-Too and Too-Much on the woodcutter's side, utterly stunning Two-Ton when they explain why. It happens again when the police arrive in helicopters, accompanied by Mayor Honeypot, Squire Grizzly, Professor Actual Factual and, most surprising of all (as noted in the narration)... ''Mama Bear''.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: During the bird walk in Birder's Woods, after Queenie finds a robin's egg on the ground and puts it back in its nest, she and Too-Tall spot the mother robin, which appears to be injured. Ferdy and Trudy, however, explain that she's only faking to draw them away from her nest. Between this and realizing that baby birds are going to come out of the tiny eggs he saw, Too-Tall ends up realizing that birds aren't nearly as boring or dumb (either intelligence-wise or as a topic) as he thought.
* YouCantMissIt: Namedropped, as Two-Ton usually ends a call from a customer by saying "You can't miss it." The trope itself is subverted though, as the directions he gives for his workplace are surprisingly concise: "We're on the main road between Birder's Woods and Buzzard Flats."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#17: ''The Berenstain Bears at the Teen Rock Café'' (1996)]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Too-Tall fakes being hypnotized just so he can scare his gang member Vinnie and get back at the other cub for mocking him before, Ralph Ripoff (who'd done the hypnosis) quickly catches on, but plays along because he enjoys a good practical joke.
* AscendedToCarnivorism: Joked at when Too-Tall is being hypnotized into acting like a chicken -- he's only faked it, and when the other cubs play at throwing grain at him, he starts speaking in a creaky voice that he doesn't want grain... he wants meat (which actually ''can'' be part of a normal chicken's diet, in the form of bugs, small reptiles and mice, but ''not'' large animals like bears). The chapter is even titled "The Terrible Meat-Eating Chicken" in reference to this.
* CoolTeacher: While the cubs are initially scared of her based on her rather intense behavior at the assembly that introduces her to the school, their new choir teacher Ms. Arpeggio (who's in from Big Bear City University for the semester) turns out to be one of these -- she gives Sister a warm smile when Sister messes up on her first attempt at singing, asks the cubs to be patient with ''her'' because of her inexperience with students their age, and later offers them her home to hang out for the afternoon, with all of them having a great time singing while she plays the piano. She also inspires the founding of the titular Café when she tells them about a similar one in Big Bear City.
* DisguisedInDrag: The book features a rash of shoplifting at Bear Country Mall. In the climax, the thieves are revealed as a couple of old ladies... who turn out to be the Bogg Brothers wearing dresses and bonnets, using their dresses to hide the sacks of stolen goods they're smuggling out.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Too-Tall may be a jerk, but when Vinnie insults mall security guard Burly Biggs, Too-Tall tells him off for it and orders him to apologize, since Burly used to work for Too-Tall's dad Two-Ton.
** When Ralph accidentally hypnotizes Lizzy Bruin, he's genuinely concerned for her safety, rather than attempting to take advantage of her by making her do something foolish in her current state.
* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: Several of the staff members at Bear Country Mall -- particularly Mr. Denham, manager of Jeans R Us, and security guard Burly Biggs -- assume the cubs who've hanging out at the mall a lot recently are behind the also recent rash of shopliftings, and would rather focus their efforts on harassing them than on looking at any other suspects. Despite having no evidence, Mr. Denham ''still'' insists the cubs are guilty up until the true culprits are caught.
* HarmlessLadyDisguise: Thanks to Lizzy Bruin accidentally getting hypnotized, the Bear Detectives learn that two old ladies at the mall have been acting suspiciously. Even Ralph thinks they're harmless when he hears the description, until Lizzy describes them as lighting up cigars. With the aid of Chief Bruno, the cubs subsequently expose the two "old ladies" as the disguised Bogg Brothers.
* HypnoFool: At Dr. Gert Grizzly's request, Ralph Ripoff agrees to do a hypnotist's act as part of the opening of the titular Café. While practicing with willing volunteers, he accidentally puts Lizzy Bruin into a trance as well, allowing her to remember events from earlier. These recovered memories allow the other cubs to, with the help of the police, take down a shoplifting ring that's been causing a lot of trouble at the mall.
* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: When the cubs briefly think Ralph Ripoff might be involved in the shoplifting at Bear Country Mall, he protests by saying "I'm a ''swindler'', not a ''thief!''"
* MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks: When Ralph Ripoff agrees to do a hypnotist's act as part of the opening of the titular Café, he also says he'll need time to rehearse with some willing volunteers. During said rehearsal, Ferdy Factual claims he can't be hypnotized, but is easily put into a trance, after which Ralph has him act like the bear he most admires. This gets some laughs when he starts acting like ''himself''. Subverted with Too-Tall Grizzly, who also claims he can't be hypnotized, but appears to fall under Ralph's control easily; it soon turns out he's faking it in order to scare one of his gang who'd mocked him earlier (Ralph, for his part, figured out Too-Tall was faking as soon as he started talking while still in his "trance", but played along).
* StealthPun: The manager of Jeans R Us is Mr. Denham, pronounced the same as "denim", a fabric used to make jeans.
* VoicemailConfusion: Inverted -- when Dr. Gert Grizzly calls Ralph Ripoff to ask him to take part in the opening of the Teen Rock Café, he pretends to be the answering machine, only for his pet parrot Squawk to give away the game.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#18: ''The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion'' (1996)]]
* AdaptationExpansion: ''The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion'' is an expanded version of the 1987 "Happy House Book" ''The Berenstain Bears and the Mansion Mystery''.
* BookcasePassage: There are ''many'' secret passages in Grizzly Mansion, built there by Farnsworth Grizzly. At least two are hidden behind bookcases, which allow the book's villains to emerge and grab both Squire and Lady Grizzly.
* TheButlerDidIt: Bonnie's convinced that this is the case, and it's discussed as the cliché that it is. Squire Grizzly, for his part, isn't willing to believe it until he gets evidence (in the form of "Greeves" leading two other bears in tying up he, his wife and Papa Bear). When they find Greeves himself tied up soon afterward, the squire ''still'' thinks he did it and was turned on by his partners... until they arrive outside the mansion and find the cops waiting with ''another'' Greeves in handcuffs! The leader of the thieves is quickly revealed to be Greeves' EvilTwin Arthur, who was pulling a TwinSwitch.
* DisconnectedByDeath: Downplayed -- at one point, Lady Grizzly is on the phone with a carpenter, asking if they've made a replica of any of the antique furniture that's been stolen from her. The call is interrupted when she's attacked from behind and ''kidnapped'', rather than killed, by the burglars in question.
* EvilTwin: The lead villain turns out to be one of these. Squire Grizzly trusts his butler Greeves implicitly, until Greeves supposedly turns on him and leads a gang of accomplices in stealing from Lady Grizzly's collection of antique furniture. The climax, however, reveals that Greeves has a twin brother named Arthur, who's been [[TwinSwitch impersonating Greeves]] so he and his cohorts can make duplicates of the Squire's antique furniture, switch them out, and sell the originals for a lot of money.
* GuestStarPartyMember: While the cubs are searching Grizzly Mansion to find a missing Papa Bear and Squire Grizzly, Brother makes Bonnie into an honorary Bear Detective for the day.
* TheHighwayman: Bad Bart Grizzly, in the backstory. The founder of Squire Grizzly's family, he was known as the Maniac of Mountain Highway for robbing stagecoaches with his gang, among other crimes.
* LoudSleeperGag: Played for heartwarming -- Sister is scared of ghosts, and of Bad Bart Grizzly, the highway robber that she'd recently learned was the founder of Squire Grizzly's family. When she's trying to fall asleep but can't because she's still afraid, she's imagining that she hears the robbers on the tree branches outside... until Brother starts snoring, and Sister is able to pretend it's the sound of saws cutting through the branches the robbers were on, sending them to the ground and making them run away. As a result, she's finally able to sleep in peace.
* OffOnATechnicality: Downplayed -- the crooks who tried to rob Grizzly Mansion are tried for multiple crimes, but they can only be charged with ''attempted'' robbery rather than ''actual'' robbery because they never actually got their loot off the mansion's grounds. They're still found guilty of this and other crimes in the first place though, which are enough to get them sent to jail for several years.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Suggested -- in the climax, Lady Grizzly sees her family butler Greeves and an exact copy of him standing face to face, and jumps to the conclusion that the second one is somehow the first, and still-living, Greeves's ''ghost''. The real Greeves quickly straightens things out when he identifies the other Greeves as "My long-lost twin brother, Arthur!"
* PortraitPaintingPeephole: While touring the mansion, Sister gets the creeps when she sees the painting of Farnsworth Grizzly and thinks the eyes are following her. Later on, it turns out she was right -- the lead thief explains that he and his gang had cut flaps in the eyes of the paintings so they could spy on the inhabitants.
* RedBaron: The first (in)FamousAncestor in Squire Grizzly and Bonnie's family tree was a ruthless bandit known alternately as "Bad" Bart Grizzly and "The Maniac of Mountain Highway". When his ghost seemingly shows up during a ScoobyDooHoax, he gets a posthumous third moniker: "The Maniac of Grizzly Mansion".
* ReplacedWithReplica: The plot revolves around a gang of thieves who've slipped into Grizzly Manor, steal pieces from Lady Grizzly's collection of antique furniture, create exact copies and place the copies exactly where the originals were set up so nobody would notice the theft. They're discovered when Squire Grizzly sits in one of the fakes and breaks it (he's been putting on a little weight lately), and Papa Bear realizes the switch as soon as he has a chance to give it a good look.
* TheRunaway: During the summation, Greeves explains that his twin brother Arthur ran away from home to join the navy when he was a teenager, and the family hasn't heard from him in forty years.
* ScoobyDooHoax: A pack of thieves disguise themselves as the ghosts of Bad Bart Grizzly and his men (who, according to family legend, are supposed to be haunting Grizzly Mansion) in order to fool anyone who saw them in the act of carrying out their crimes.
* SecretPath: This book reveals that Farnsworth Grizzly built a number of secret passages into his mansion, including some hidden [[BookcasePassage behind bookcases]], behind the walls and other places. Papa accidentally gets pulled into one when he sits in the wrong chair, and the villains make use of them to hide their loot and themselves, as well as for quickly making their way around the mansion.
* ThatWasNotADream: When Squire Grizzly's cook Maisie sees Bad Bart Grizzly and his gang carrying a piece of furniture, Squire Grizzly checks out the room where the sighting took place and finds nothing missing, so he comes to the conclusion that she was just imagining it. It's ultimately revealed that Masie ''wasn't'' imagining things -- she'd seen the actual thieves, but they were [[ScoobyDooHoax dressed up as Bad Bart and his gang members]] to fool any witnesses.
* TwinSwitch:
** The lead villain of the book turns out to be Arthur, the EvilTwin of Squire Grizzly's butler Greeves, who disguised himself as the real Greeves in order to fool the Squire and everyone else. His disguise isn't perfect though -- Greeves has bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, while Arthur is well-rested and so doesn't have them.
** Jokingly referenced again in the final chapter:
--->'''Papa''': "Greeves? Is that you?"
--->'''Greeves''': "Of course it's me, sir, ... Who else would it be?"
--->'''Papa''' (''grinning''): "For a second, you looked just like Arthur."
* WhiteSheep: Squire Grizzly's family is revealed to have originated from a long line of wicked bears, up until Farnsworth Grizzly swindled his way into a mansion and title. His son, Squire Grizzly's grandfather, subsequently turned his back on crime and became an honest banker, which made Farnsworth furious to the point of pronouncing a curse on the manor -- that the family's founder, famed highway robber Bad Bart Grizzly, was turning over in his grave at his descendant's actions and would return to haunt the manor as a result.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#19: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Bermuda Triangle'' (1997)]]
* AlliterativeName: Taken a step further with "'''C'''ool" '''C'''arl '''K'''ing, whose nickname ''also'' starts with the same sound as his first and last names.
* CheatersNeverProsper: Invoked in-universe. After the cubs discover that Carl King has stolen test answers from Miss Glitch and sold them to his classmates, they inform the school of his theft and cheating. Miss Glitch promptly works up a ''new'' test, ensuring that those who memorized the stolen test rather than studying properly will fail the new one (and be identified in the process so they can be properly punished)... which she rather bluntly informs the class of right ''before'' they're about to take the test.
* CallBack: Bonnie briefly remembers the events of ''The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes'' and ''The Berenstain Bears and the School Scandal Sheet'' when she's recalling other times that Brother's been led astray, and can't help but be concerned about his spending time with Bermuda [=McBear=] (whose own behavior towards Brother is making Bonnie concerned in ways that can't be described by just jealousy) on those grounds.
* TheCracker: "Cool" Carl King, who acquires Bear Country School's private modem number and uses it to hack into Miss Glitch's account on the in-school network so he can steal her upcoming history test and sell the answer key to the other students in his class.
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: As part of a plan to get Bermuda [=McBear=]'s notepad, Bonnie creates a distraction by making a big fuss about finding a snake in her lunch bag (a rubber prop), and accuses Too-Tall of being behind it. Though not in on the plan, Too-Tall willingly takes the credit to look good to his gang, and happily accepts another black mark on his record from Miss Glitch for it.
* GetRichQuickScheme: This is "Cool" Carl King's motive for breaking into Bear Country School's private teachers-only computer network -- he wants some quick cash to buy more computer games (having already spent his full allowance for the month), and steals the test answers for an upcoming history test so he can sell them to his classmates to get that cash. It backfires on him when his actions are exposed.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Due to Brother being so close to Bermuda [=McBear=] (the subject of their current investigation), Sister, Fred and Lizzy appoint Bonnie Brown as an honorary Bear Detective in his place for the duration.
* HeldBackInSchool: In this book, it's said that Too-Tall has been held back twice, which is why he's in Teacher Bob's class instead of Miss Glitch's.
* LamePunReaction: When Ferdy's discussing the love triangle between Brother, Bonnie and Bermuda [=McBear=], trying to compare it to an equilateral or an isosceles triangle, Barry says it's neither of them -- it's the ''Bermuda'' Triangle. Ferdy just rolls his eyes, but Trudy and Harry [=McGill=] both crack up. Everyone else is confused until Trudy explains about the real-life [[TheBermudaTriangle Bermuda Triangle]], into which ships mysteriously vanish.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: Brother's crush on Bermuda [=McBear=] blinds him to her faults, unaware that she's just using him to get into the school supply room, and from there to the school's computer room so she can steal the number of the in-school modem that's part of the school's teachers-only computer network.
* OhCrap: In the last chapter, "Cool" Carl King is described as having a frozen expression of terror on his face as Miss Glitch describes how the cheating ring (which Carl was responsible for) has been uncovered and the steps that have been taken to thwart it.
* PlayfulHacker: Harry [=McGill=] takes on the role in this book, helping the other cubs (in a chapter aptly titled "Hacking For a Good Cause") break into the teachers-only in-school network and figure out what [[TheCracker "Cool" Carl King]] was after.
* SympathyForTheDevil: After Bonnie accuses Too-Tall of putting a rubber snake in her lunch bag (something ''she'' actually did to create a distraction) and Too-Tall gets another black mark on his school record as a result, Sister admits she feels bad for him. Bonnie, however, explains that he was the most believable suspect -- "Who would ''you'' have accused of putting a rubber snake in your lunch bag? Ferdy Factual?" -- and that he freely took credit for it in front of everyone, while Fred points out that Too-Tall ''likes'' getting black marks.
* TaughtByTelevision: When Cousin Fred shows off the WritingIndentationClue method (which helps the cubs learn what Bermuda [=McBear=] was up to), he explains that he learned it from a Bearlock Holmes movie.
* WeNeedADistraction: Used in lunch one day when Bonnie makes a scene, drawing all eyes to her and letting Sister steal Bermuda [=McBear=]'s notepad without being caught.
* WritingIndentationClue: Used when Sister swipes Bermuda [=McBear=]'s notepad, which reveals that Bermuda had copied down what appears to be a phone number. It's actually the number to the in-school modem, letting someone log into the school's teachers-only computer network and steal information from Miss Glitch's files.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#20: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Auto Graveyard'' (1997)]]
* AlliterativeName: During the climax, it's revealed that two of the four car thieves are known as '''S'''hifty '''S'''heldon and '''C'''larence the '''C'''rook.
* AndImTheQueenOfSheba: Once again, Brother denies that Bonnie Brown is his girlfriend. Sister, not believing him, retorts with "And I'm Mayor Horace J. Honeypot."
* BoundAndGagged: After seeing Ralph Ripoff's houseboat sailing away with a couple of stolen cars on it, the cubs suddenly hear a noise nearby... and discover Ralph himself, tied up and gagged in the reeds nearby. When they free him (and his parrot Squawk, who was similarly tied up and gagged), he explains who was responsible, revealing that his old "friends" Captain Billy and Otto have returned.
* TheBusCameBack: The lead villains of the book turn out to be Captain Billy and Otto, last seen going to prison after the events of ''The Berenstain Bears in the Freaky Funhouse''.
* CurbStompBattle: The climax features Too-Too and Too-Much against two of the "ghosts", later identified as the escaped criminals "Shifty Sheldon" and "Clarence the Crook", who get knocked out easily by the two women.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** Bullies, rather -- Too-Tall may be a bully and a jerk, but he ''begs'' Brother and co. not to tell the cops they found stolen cars on his father's property (which had been hidden there by the real thieves), because it could ruin Two-Ton's business and get the whole family in trouble if he gets investigated by the police. Later, when he sees the actual culprits out in the yard, he rushes out to help his mom and sister, though it turns out they don't ''need'' his help (and he manages to get lost on the way there anyway).
** When the cubs find a bound and gagged Ralph Ripoff and remove the gag, his first word is "Squawk!", much to the cubs' surprise. Ralph has to explain that both he and Squawk, his pet parrot, have been tied up for over a day, and that he's more worried about whether the bird is all right than himself.
* FlatCharacter: The two secondary thieves, "Shifty Sheldon" and "Clarence the Crook". Their only scenes involve them breaking into Parts R Us to try and recover the stolen cars they'd hidden there, only to get taken down by Too-Too and Too-Much, and later a scene of them behind bars in the police station, giving dirty looks to everyone present. They have no dialogue, and their past crimes (other than breaking out of Bear Country Prison with Captain Billy and Otto) aren't elaborated on.
* FundraiserCarnival: This book features a fundraiser ''car show'' for Bear Country School, sponsored and run by the local PTA.
* GuestStarPartyMember: More like "''promoted'' to party member" -- Barry Bruin is a regular member of the supporting cast, but he gets made an honorary Bear Detective in this book because of his classic car knowledge, which helps in tracking down the stolen cars.
* HiddenDepths: This book reveals that Barry Bruin, known mostly for his literal-mindedness and bad jokes, also has an encyclopedic knowledge of classic car models.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: When Brother and Bonnie arrive at Parts R Us, Two-Ton jumps to the conclusion that they've come to tell him about Too-Tall's latest bit of trouble-making, and is fully prepared to get mad at his son. Brother quickly corrects him by explaining that they're actually there as customers, looking for a specific model of hubcap and hood ornament.
* PutTheirHeadsTogether: Late in the book, when two of the car thieves (later identified as "Shifty Sheldon" and "Clarence the Crook") sneak into Parts R Us to retrieve the last few stolen cars, they don't count on Too-Too and Too-Much being out there waiting for them, with Too-Much pulling this technique on the pair and knocking them out.
* ResetButton: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Showdown at Chainsaw Gap'' ended with Two-Ton Grizzly and his family moving out of their... ''unique'' house, made from the bodies of about four trucks combined into one building (and apparently with seat belts on the furniture), into a regular one. Four books later, this one reveals that they've gone back to the old house, seat belts and all, with the justification that after so many years of living in their unusual house, they just couldn't get used to living in a normal one.
* ScoobyDooHoax: The car thieves disguise themselves as ghosts by wearing long white dusters (a type of coat typically worn by people while driving a convertible, to keep the road dust off them) while hiding the stolen cars in the back of Parts R Us. It fools Two-Ton Grizzly when he sees them that first night, but not Cousin Fred later on, as he gets a better look at them with his binoculars and is able to see right through the disguise.
* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: Zigzagged -- there's an auto show going on, and local tycoon Squire Grizzly has entered his four best cars (all extremely rare and well-maintained) in order to ensure that he wins all three trophies for first, second and third. At the end of the book, Papa Bear's roadster (the last car made by a well-known car company before it went out of business) manages to win third. Papa is happy with winning third given how stiff the competition was, while the Squire is envious about not winning all three trophies for the best cars in the country, and actually tries to buy the family roadster off Papa afterward (Papa declines, equally politely).
* SpecificSituationBooks: When the Bear Detectives discover some suspicious tire tracks during their search for the stolen classic cars, Barry Bruin dashes back to the limo they're using and comes back with a book called ''Tires of the World''. And it's apparently volume one of five, to Sister's disbelief.
-->'''Sister''': "Well that speaks ''volumes'' about you car nuts."
* UnmanlySecret: Burly junkyard owner Two-Ton Grizzly claims he has bad night vision to cover up for the truth -- that he's afraid of the dark. His son Too-Tall later admits the truth to the Bear Detectives so they won't call the cops on Two-Ton (for having stolen cars -- which were hidden there by the ''real'' crooks -- on his property), but threatens to pound them if they let it get out.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: According to this book, Two-Ton Grizzly (one of the biggest, toughest bears in Bear Country) is afraid of the dark. He covers for it by claiming he has bad night vision, but Too-Tall admits the truth to Brother and Sister when they wrongly suspect that Two-Ton may be involved in a stolen car ring.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#21: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted Hayride'' (1997)]]
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Ed Hooper, who wants to buy out Farmer Ben. Ben doesn't want to sell his products to Hooper because he'll lose money thanks to Hooper short-selling farmers, so Hooper resorts to damaging Ben's crops with blight (which he illegally bought from a worker at Big Bear City University), leaving fences open so the cows can get out and graze on onion grass, and paying a criminal to loosen a wheel on a wagon, which would have resulted in multiple injuries.
* DisproportionateRetribution: When an angry Farmer Ben chases Ed Hooper away from the farm over his rudeness and greed, Ed Hooper steps in a few cow pies along the way. Consequently, Hooper develops a grudge against Ben and tries to embarrass him and ruin his farm and reputation in revenge, using outright criminal actions to do so.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Early on, Farmer Ben discusses Ed Hooper, who owns the "Hooper's Sooper-Dooper Market" chain and describes him as lowering his prices enough to draw customers away from smaller grocery stores (and claiming he couldn't pay the farmers what they were really worth because of it), and then raising them to even ''higher'' levels once the other stores went out of business, while not increasing what he paid for them. Later, when he appears in person for the first time and Ben tells him that he could easily pay the farmers more for their goods, to which Hooper simply replies that "I could. But I won't." Both of these moments establish him as a rude and greedy {{Jerkass}}.
* FamilyBusiness: It's explained here that Farmer Ben's great-grandfather, Ben Ezra, first set up the family farm, which has been passed down through three further generations (Ben Abner, Ben Noah and Farmer Ben) and is expected to pass to a fourth (Ben Wilmer).
* HumblePie: During their first day on the job, Farmer Ben has Ferdy -- who'd been visibly bored at the idea of manual labor -- demonstrate several chores, only for him to fail epically at each of them via getting fertilizer in his face, getting pecked by chickens and having a milking stool kicked out from under him, each with the other cubs laughing at them. However, at the end of the day, Ben tells the cubs that "We should all thank him for being such a good sport. ''And'' a good teacher. You can learn a lot by seeing how ''not'' to do things, you know." Ferdy ends up admitting that the work certainly wasn't boring, like he thought it would be, and the following week he demonstrates that he's learned from the experience and does a much better job this time.
* LaserGuidedKarma: It's mentioned early on that Ed Hooper had used unfair business practices to run other grocery stores out of business. After his criminal activities get him sent to jail. he ends up having to sell his chain to the owners of those same grocery stores, who promptly lower the prices and arrange to pay fair prices to the farmers they buy their goods from.
* LiteralMinded: Barry Bruin, again. When Brother and Sister inform their friends that they found jobs for all of them, at Farmer Ben's place, they also say it won't be much -- "Just chicken feed." Barry takes them literally, until Fred explains that the expression means "money, but not a lot".
* NewJobEpisode: The plot kicks off when the cubs decide to try and ''get'' jobs so they can earn extra money to help pay for Halloween costumes for themselves and Christmas presents for their families, since their allowances aren't enough to cover those things plus their usual expenses at this time of year. They end up getting hired by Farmer Ben to take care of the chores he can't get done (due to having had to let most of his regular farmhands go).
* PopcornOnTheCob: One of the sabotage attempts at Farmer Ben's farm involves someone setting a fire in the cornfield. The corn isn't destroyed though -- it all just pops on the cob, which Farmer Ben considers bad enough (he was planning on selling it all in its original form to a popcorn company). Fortunately, they're later able to recoup the loss by selling it at the Halloween Festival.
* SavingTheOrphanage: Family farm, in this case, as the cubs decide to suggest that Farmer Ben open a roadside market to sell his goods directly. It works, until sabotage threatens to ruin the farm. In response, the cubs decide to hold a Halloween Festival at the farm to earn even ''more'' money for the Bens and make up for the losses from the ruined crops (salvaging the ruined ingredients to make cider and cream of onion soup, and selling the popcorn from the popped corncobs), though it takes some effort and a fake haunting to convince Farmer Ben to do it because he considers it show business and not farming.
* ShamSupernatural: When Farmer Ben is on the verge of selling the farm, Ferdy comes up with an idea to change his mind -- he and Trudy take a picture of the portraits of Farmer Ben's father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and then use the picture and a voice synthesizer from the Bearsonian Institution to create holographic projections of the trio, which they in turn use to fake a haunting, having the "ghosts" order him both to try new things and to hold the Halloween Festival in order to save his ancestral farm. It works, to everyone's relief.
* TooProudForLowlyWork: Among the cubs, Ferdy is the least happy about working for Farmer Ben because he considers it manual labor and not ''science'', outright stating that "Well, how could farmwork challenge the mind of a genius?" He changes his mind after an actual day of work though, and even more so when Farmer Ben explains how farming involves a lot of natural science and not just dirty work. The two end up forming an odd friendship as a result.
* VehicularSabotage: Ed Hooper's last criminal act (and the one that gets him caught, before they figure out he was behind the other sabotage) is hiring a criminal from Big Bear City to use a crowbar and loosen a wheel on the wagon being used for the Haunted Hayride, which could have caused a lot of injuries if it hadn't been caught in time.
* VillainBall: Discussed in-universe after all is said and done, when Papa Bear is reading the newspaper the afternoon after the festival -- he comes to the conclusion that Ed Hooper's actions against Farmer Ben were ''personal'' rather than just business, and that's what ultimately got him caught. As he puts it:
** Had Hooper simply lowered the prices at his grocery stores for long enough to undercut Farmer Ben's own prices at his new roadside stand, he would have taken a minor financial hit, but in the long run would have won by forcing Ben out of business. Instead, he resorted to sabotage via illegal means, including damaging Ben's crops via blight.
** Further, when Hooper actually attends the Halloween Festival to watch it fail (via the sabotage he'd paid for) in person, his suspicious behavior catches the attention of Chief Bruno and results in his exposure and arrest, which wouldn't have happened if he'd done the smart thing and stayed away.
* WrittenInAbsence: It's mentioned early on that Bonnie Brown is away at the time, traveling with a musical show, which is why she can't talk to her uncle about providing the other cubs with jobs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#22: ''The Berenstain Bears and Queenie's Crazy Crush'' (1997)]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Mr. Smock makes a somewhat snarky remark about Smirk's name (commenting that "And from the goofy expression on your face, I can see why they call you Smirk."), even Smirk himself can't help but blush in amusement.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Mr. Smock is very good at analyzing a situation and a person's character just by observing, as demonstrated a few times.
** During his first class, Mr. Smock is able to tell something important about each student, and typically judge their character very well, just by looking at the subject matter they painted.
** Zigzagged when he can't figure out Queenie has a crush on him... until he actually shows up at her house and, finding her parents aren't there and ''she'' tried to make dinner for them, realizes what's happening. He's also able to put Too-Tall's actions from earlier together with this and realize that Too-Tall was jealous of him over Queenie's crush.
** After seeing how Too-Tall took care of his painting while it was in his possession, Mr. Smock realizes the cub has a hidden talent and respect for art, even if Too-Tall himself may not be willing to admit it.
* BadMoodRetreat: Too-Tall resorts to using Brother's Thinking Place after finding out that Queenie has a crush on Mr. Smock. He ends up getting the idea to win her back by [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame out-doing Mr. Smock at painting]].
* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: When Too-Tall finds out about Queenie's crush on Mr. Smock, and her attraction to "artistic types", he gets the idea to try and win her back by proving he can be artistic too. He actually does a very good job, but misses a few points in color, resulting in Queenie mocking him.
* CallBack: At one point, Skuzz brings up the water prank the gang pulled on Ms. Barr in ''The Berenstain Bears Accept No Substitutes'', suggesting they do something similar for Mr. Smock. Too-Tall shoots it down on the grounds that repeating the prank would make it ''too'' obvious that he was behind it.
* ADayInTheLimelight: This book focuses almost entirely on Too-Tall and his gang, along with their reactions to Queenie's crush on Mr. Smock.
* HiddenDepths: Too-Tall turns out to have a surprising talent for art in this book, limited only by the supplies he had and, in one case, not realizing the right color combinations. Even Two-Ton is surprised when Mr. Smock refers to Too-Tall as "a budding young artist".
* HotTeacher: This book introduces Mr. Smock, who is rather attractive in the eyes of the girl cubs at least -- especially Queenie, resulting in her getting a ''major'' crush on him.
* HypocriticalHumor: During the assembly to introduce Mr. Smock, Ferdy comments of him that "The Ego has landed." [[InsufferableGenius Given his opinion of his own intelligence though]], he's hardly one to talk.
* MeaningfulName: Discussed during Mr. Smock's first art class, when he comments that "And from the goofy expression on your face, I can see why they call you Smirk." Everyone laughs, and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny even Smirk himself finds this amusing.]]
* MistakenForRomance: When Queenie's first art project of the year involves a portrait of a heart and the inscription "Q & S", Too-Tall gets mad and starts thinking she's secretly seeing his gang member Skuzz behind his back, or Smirk after it's pointed out that his name ''also'' starts with "S". Both of them truthfully deny it though.
* MistakenIdentity: In his first class, Mr. Smock observes each of the cubs' watercolors and comments on them. When it comes to Ferdy's though, he misidentifies the portrait as being of Ferdy himself, as an adult and scientist. Ferdy corrects him by explaining that it's his uncle Actual Factual, who (as readers know) looks like a grown-up version of Ferdy himself.
* ObliviousToLove: Mr. Smock is completely oblivious to Queenie's crush on him at first, until he actually shows up at her house and finds she's alone there rather than with her parents (who've gone out to dinner together), like he was led to believe.
* OneNoteCook: It's noted in his thoughts that Mr. Smock isn't much of a cook, to the point where he only makes peanut butter and honey sandwiches for himself. This is why he's happy to accept a dinner invite from the [=McBear=] family.
* OutOfFocus: Brother and Sister, for a change. Brother appears only briefly in Mr. Smock's first art class and is mentioned once later, and Sister isn't even ''mentioned''.
* PrankDate: Inverted when Mr. Smock arrives at Queenie's house, thinking her parents invited him over to dinner. It's actually Queenie inviting him to a date, and once he realizes what's going on, he politely but firmly turns her down and leaves.
* PrecociousCrush: The titular "crazy crush" is one that Queenie, a pre-teen, develops on the school's new art teacher, Mr. Smock. Mr. Smock himself doesn't realize it until Queenie tricks him into coming over for dinner... whereupon he finally figures it out and does his best to gently but firmly let her down, while also informing her parents of what happened.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Mr. Smock, Bear Country School's new art teacher, as demonstrated a few times.
** When he learns Queenie -- a pre-teen -- invited him to her home as a date, he politely but firmly turns her down, leaves and contacts her parents, explaining everything.
** When Too-Tall returns the painting he stole from Mr. Smock, Mr. Smock (who has already realized why Too-Tall did what he did, and recognizes his talent as an artist) attends his expulsion hearing and speaks on his behalf, arranging for him to only get a week's suspension and to show what he's learned by making another oil painting of his own.
* SabotageToDiscredit: After his first attempt to make himself look better for Queenie than Mr. Smock doesn't work out, Too-Tall decides to resort to this trope -- he steals Mr. Smock's masterpiece and substitutes a horribly ugly painting of Queenie, which he also figures will kill any interest she has in him. It backfires when he accidentally leaves his mother's apron on the painting in place of the covering Mr. Smock had used, which Queenie figures out and thus determines that he was behind it.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: After years of only getting detention or suspended for the trouble he causes, when Too-Tall is caught out for outright criminal theft (having stolen Mr. Smock's new painting and swapped in one of his own), he's facing ''serious'' trouble, to the point where he's nearly expelled for it (and ''would'' have been had Mr. Smock himself not stepped in after Too-Tall returned the painting, unharmed, and apologized for doing so).
* TitleDrop: Done by Ferdy when he and Trudy are discussing Queenie's crush with Bermuda [=McBear=], and Bermuda admits to being worried about how Too-Tall will react to it. Ferdy, however, dismisses her worries by pointing out that Queenie has ''no'' chance with Mr. Smock, and believing that Too-Tall will realize this:
-->'''Ferdy''': "It is only logical that Too-Tall will then forget all about Queenie's crazy crush."
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: This is Too-Tall's reaction when he learns his girlfriend has fallen for Mr. Smock. Bermuda [=McBear=] promptly reminds him that Queenie likes art and artists, so it's only natural for her to fall for a man painting a masterpiece for the museum.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#23: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Big Date'' (1998)]]
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: In the last chapter, Ronald Grizzington III ends up tricking Brother into accepting and getting hit with a [[TrickBomb paint bomb]] in retaliation for Brother not warning he and Bonnie in time about the one that Too-Tall had rigged ''Ronald's'' gift for Bonnie with, resulting in the gift getting ruined and her being hit with paint. When he explains it though, he says it in "a friendly, joking way", and grins, resulting in Brother grinning and the narration remarking that he thought it was pretty funny too.
* DealWithTheDevil: Downplayed -- Brother ends up getting jealous of rich, snooty and jerkish Ronald Grizzington III, and comes to Too-Tall and his gang (who also hate the guy's guts) to deal with him... but backs out before actually ''making'' said deal. Despite this, the gang decides to go ahead and prank Ronald on Brother's behalf anyway, rigging a paint bomb in a gift he was planning to give Bonnie.
* GoldDigger: Queenie comes off as one early on when she sees a new and obviously rich cub arriving at school, and remarks that he's probably the type to spend a lot of money on his girlfriend, if he has one. "And if he doesn't, it's about time he got one..." The other cubs are not amused by her attitude.
* InadvertentEntranceCue:
** After Queenie's attempt at making Too-Tall jealous (via flirting with Barry Bruin) ends up falling flat when he catches on, she remarks that "What we need around here is a new face or two for me to flirt with--", only to suddenly notice a limousine stopping and letting out a cub in a suit and tie, who instantly catches her attention.
** In the climax, Ronnie admits that he didn't want to push his parents ''too'' far by inviting Too-Tall and his gang to the current party, but says they'll be welcome at his ''next'' one -- cue Too-Tall popping up and saying "In that case, we accept!", revealing he and the gang had snuck past the guards to crash the current party.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Too-Tall once again proves to be this -- he's annoyed with Ronald Grizzington III, a rich new kid who Queenie has her eye on, but is willing to ignore it. Then the kid's limo blocks the handicapped entrance so he can ''make a phone call'' long enough to make Harry nearly late for school and, as the illustrations show, suddenly Too-Tall is ''pissed''. He also freely agrees to help Brother to mess with Ronald, even when Brother can't bring himself to actually ask him to do anything.
** Ronald himself is one too -- he proves rather snobbish at first, but eventually admits that he's only acting this way because it's what his parents expect of him.
* NoSell: When she sees Ronald Grizzington III arriving, Queenie immediately goes over to flirt with him. He proves completely immune to her charms, as he's only got his eye on Bonnie.
* NotMeThisTime: Inverted -- after Bonnie thinks Brother had rigged up a [[TrickBomb paint bomb]] in the gift Ronald Grizzington III was giving her, Too-Tall shows up during her and Ronald's date to make sure she knows ''he'' was actually the one responsible, ''not'' Brother, and that Brother had been too uncomfortable to go through with asking him for help.
* OperationJealousy:
** As the book starts, it's spring, and Queenie's openly flirting with other boys to make her on-again, off-again boyfriend Too-Tall jealous... and it works, for a bit, until he catches on and shrugs it off, much to Queenie's disappointment.
** Discussed later when Queenie tells Brother about Bonnie and Ronald's date. Brother suspects that she's just messing with him to try and stir up trouble by ''making'' him jealous (which he is, but he's not about to admit it to her). When it turns out Bonnie really ''is'' going on a date with Ronald, he ends up feeling even more jealous, to the point of nearly making a deal with Too-Tall and his gang to mess with them.
* RichBitch: Male example with Ronald Grizzington III, whom Bonnie thinks of as "rich and stuck-up", which is precisely why she ''isn't'' interested in him, despite her aunt and uncle's encouragement. Later subverted when it turns out he's actually a nice guy and is just acting this way because it's what his parents expect of him.
* SharpDressedMan: When Ronald Grizzington III arrives at school for the first time, he's wearing a suit and tie, which (along with the limousine and chauffeur) immediately attracts Queenie's attention. Ironically, Bonnie Brown -- the one girl ''he's'' interested in -- ''isn't'' attracted to him because of his looks, or in any way at all.
* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: When he introduces himself to the cubs, Ronald Grizzington III tells Bonnie she can call him "Ronnie"... but when Brother tries the same thing, Ronald coldly tells him "That's ''Ronald'' to you." He lightens up after Bonnie has a serious talk with him about his behavior during their date.
* ToxicFamilyInfluence: Zig-zagged. Ronald Grizzington III acts highly stuck-up towards most of his classmates because his parents always discouraged him from interacting with what they call "ordinary" cubs, and pursues Bonnie romantically because it's what his parents expect of him due to their similar social status and their families' business connections. At heart though, he's really a nice guy who only behaved that way so as not to disappoint his parents, and tones down the act after Bonnie has a talk with him about it.
* TrickBomb: Too-Tall and his gang end up rigging Ronald Grizzington III's gift for Bonnie with a paint bomb in an effort to shut down her date before it can start. Later, he admits to Ronald's face that he did it on Brother's behalf (even though Brother didn't actually ''want'' them to do it, which Too-Tall also gleefully explains); in return, Ronnie ends up having Skuzz rig up a paint bomb to splat Brother, as a way of getting him back for not warning them in time to keep the gift from getting ruined.
* YouGotGuts: As described by Ronald Grizzington III, this was said by Too-Tall when Ronald went to his clubhouse to have words with him about the [[TrickBomb paint bomb]] Too-Tall and his gang had rigged, partially because he came to them without any bodyguards and partly because he had the nerve to blackmail them, trading his silence about the source of said paint bomb in return for them helping him with a prank on Brother.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#24: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Love Match'' (1998)]]
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Milton Chubb may be a GentleGiant most of the time, but he's also capable of lifting ''four cubs'' -- including Too-Tall Grizzly himself, who's at least two years older than him -- and throwing them on the ground before crushing them with a "running splash" move.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Milton and Bertha fall for one another because of their common backgrounds -- both of them grew up on farms, and Milton's still working as a hand on one when he's introduced. They're also both far stronger than people would assume at first.
* CallBack:
** During his first real talk with Milton at Farmer Ben's, Brother tells him about the time he and his friends worked at the farm in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted Hayride'', as a way of showing that he's genuinely impressed with Milton's strength and proving he can see more from the other cub than just his size.
** Coach Grizzmeyer mentions the time he tried to keep Bertha off the school football team in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback'', and acknowledges how it was a mistake on his part, which is why he's supporting her efforts to stay on the wrestling team.
* CountryMouse: Milton Chubb and his family, who come from a ''really'' small town and have just moved to the comparatively bigger Beartown at the start of the book, to the point where he outright calls Too-Tall and his gang "Smart-aleck city cubs" after they mock him.
* TheDreaded: Milton becomes this to Too-Tall after he shows off his strength by flattening he and his gang members ''on purpose'' (as opposed to accidentally, as happened during their first gym class together), with Too-Tall going out of his way to avoid the other cub and even forfeiting his spot on the wrestling team when Milton loses enough weight to get into the light heavyweight class.
* DudeNotFunny: After Sister makes fun of Milton's MeaningfulName, Brother tells her it isn't funny before explaining to his family about how much Milton was being mocked over his size that day.
* FreudianSlip: When Brother and the other cubs see Milton for the first time, the first thing they notice is his size, and are told to be friendly without mentioning it. Unfortunately, words like "fat" and "large" slip into their introductions, to their embarrassment. Brother later apologizes for it when they have time to talk alone, which Milton accepts after being able to tell that Brother truly means it.
* GentleGiant: Milton Chubb, the new cub in town. He's normally a nice, if extremely shy, and extremely ''large'' bear, the latter of which makes him a target of mockery.
* InSeriesNickname: While Too-Tall initially mocks Milton Chubb by nicknaming him "Massive Milton" because of his size, the other cubs and Coach Grizzmeyer gradually end up calling him it as a compliment.
* LightningBruiser: Milton eventually evolves into this, losing some weight (and some of his brute strength in the process) over the course of his conditioning for the wrestling team, but making up for it in speed and endurance.
* LoopholeAbuse: After Coach Grizzmeyer is informed that there's still a rule against girls being on school wrestling teams, Bertha offers to quit and let a boy replace her, and makes Coach Grizzmeyer promise "not to make a big fuss". He gets around this by setting up a court challenge, entirely legal, rather than letting any of the students (specifically talking to Queenie about it) make a big deal out of it at school. In fact, they're ''so'' good at keeping it quiet that Bertha doesn't find out until after the court case has been won.
* MeaningfulName: Milton ''Chubb'', the chubbiest guy at school. Sister even lampshades it when she says "Milton Chubb. Which is a real kick, because he's the chubbiest cub in the school. Isn't that hilarious?" Brother promptly gives her a DudeNotFunny reaction.
* RageBreakingPoint: Milton may be shy and generally patient. But when Too-Tall and the gang push him too far by insulting his crush Bertha Broom, he shows why it's not a good idea to mess with him.
* ShippingTorpedo: Brought up twice.
** After figuring out Brother had set up a rumor to distract him from Milton, giving the other cub time to become close to Bertha Broom, Too-Tall becomes determined to invoke the trope and break them up in retaliation. It doesn't work though, because he inadvertently hits Milton's RageBreakingPoint (by insulting Bertha) and gets clobbered as a result.
** Discussed when the cubs think that Milton or Bertha winning the match for the heavyweight spot on the wrestling team could break them up. Fortunately, it doesn't, and they become even closer.
* ShrinkingViolet: Milton Chubb, at first. He's very soft-spoken and nervous in front of the other cubs, not helped by Too-Tall's constant mocking of him for his size and farming background.
* SpottingTheThread: For Milton's second day at school, Brother starts up a rumor about Too-Tall having a secret crush, claiming he heard it from Harry [=McGill=], who'd gotten an e-mail from an unidentified person. The following day, Too-Tall confronts Brother and reveals that he's found out Harry had an online chess match planned for that night with Cool Carl King... ''but'' he couldn't make it because of a power failure in his neighborhood, on the same night he supposedly got the e-mail. That was enough for Too-Tall to figure out he'd been played.
* StrongerThanTheyLook: Milton Chubb may be hefty, but he's also ''very'' strong, which Brother discovers when he sees Milton pitching hay up into the loft of Farmer Ben's barn -- a feat Brother admits he'd tried and failed at in the past.
* YouAreFat: When Milton Chubb is introduced, a couple of the cubs can't help but accidentally make remarks about his weight. Too-Tall, on the other hand, doesn't bother to hold back and starts outright insulting Milton's size.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#25: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Perfect Crime (Almost)'' (1998)]]
* AnachronisticClue: This is how Ferdy determines that the George Grizzington document has been replaced by a forgery -- studying it, he determines that the last part of the signature was written with a ''fountain'' pen, rather than a ''quill'' pen as with the rest of the document. Fountain pens ''didn't exist'' at the time of the original signing.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Ferdy is able to notice ''at a glance'' that there's something wrong with the George Grizzington document being displayed. With a little time to investigate, he figures out that the document has been switched out for a forgery.
* TheBusCameBack: Mr. Dweebish makes his third appearance in the series, attending Bear Country School for a few days in honor of Bear Country's bicentennial to lecture on George Grizzington, and once again plays a major part in the story.
* CallBack: Late in the book, while confronting the thieves and forgers, one of the thieves comments that they have to ''prove'' he's guilty, reminding Brother of what he learned in Mr. Dweebish's "Foundations of Democracy Class" (way back in ''The Berenstain Bears and the Red-Handed Thief'') -- "''Innocent until proven guilty''". Chief Bruno says he's right, agreeing that they don't have the evidence yet that they need to prove the pair's guilt.
* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: Variant -- while the cubs are cleaning off the Bear Country School bulletin boards (some of which have some ''really'' old notices on them), they find a notice about Actual Factual, then a student, getting a one-day suspension for making a rotten-egg smell in chemistry class. Ferdy asks if he can have it, because "It could come in handy the next time I need a favor from Uncle Actual".
* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The plot revolves around the two-hundredth year anniversary of the Bear Country's independence after the Revolutionary Bear War, their equivalent of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution.
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: During the big confrontation over the stolen George Grizzington document, Squire Grizzly says that according to Fritz Braun and Ralph Ripoff, they got the document from the ''real'' thief and forger, a Phil Grizzinski, or "Phony Phil". Naturally, the pair are setting Phil -- a rival criminal -- up to throw suspicion off themselves.
* GrailInTheGarbage: While cleaning old notices off the school bulletin boards, the cubs find the very oldest notice on it -- a historical document calling for a town meeting, signed by none other than George Grizzington, commander of the Revolutionary Bear Army and first president of Bear Country and dating back to when the teacher's lounge was the original town meeting room, later incorporated into the school when it was built.
* GuestStarPartyMember: When the cubs agree to investigate the George Grizzington document, which Ferdy suspects may be a fake, he gets sworn in as an honorary Bear Detective for the case. Subverted by Too-Tall, who agrees to help them break into the school, but declines to actually get involved in the investigation.
* HandcuffedBriefcase: Used as one of the security measures to protect the notice from George Grizzington -- as Mr. Dweebish explains, the document will be kept in the briefcase, which will be handcuffed to Mr. Dweebish, while Chief Bruno carries the key.
* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: At the end, it seems Ralph Ripoff and his associate are going to walk for their crime of forgery. However, Chief Bruno points out that he can still nail them for possession of stolen property (which they ''are'' guilty of), even if they can manage to convince a jury of their innocence in the original theft later.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed:
** The book's plot revolves around a celebration of Bear Country Independence Day, including the nation's first president -- [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington General George Grizzington]], commander of the Revolutionary Bear Army.
** [[Creator/BenjaminFranklin Bearjamin Franklin]], Bear Country's first secretary of state (a position his real-life counterpart never held), also gets namedropped.
* PunnyName: At one point, it's mentioned that General George Grizzington crossed the Dela''bear'' River, a bearified version of the Dela''ware'' River.
* StupidestThingIveEverHeard: When the cubs are caught after having broken into the school, Ferdy explains to Chief Bruno about why they were there, and how he's determined that the George Grizzington document has been replaced by a forgery. Chief Bruno, for once though, isn't in the mood to listen and calls it "the dumbest thing I've ever heard".
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder:#26: ''The Berenstain Bears Go Platinum'' (1998)]]
%%[[/folder]]
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[[folder:#27: ''The Berenstain Bears and the G-Rex Bones'' (1999)]]
* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: InUniverse, this trope is what exposes the titular G-Rex (short for Gigantosaurus rex) as a hoax ''because'' the hoaxers took too much artistic license with the design -- the dinosaur is twice the height of ''Tyrannosaurus rex'', but its bones are only twice as thick, and [[SquareCubeLaw the laws of physics suggest]] that it would be impossible for animal with ''T. rex'''s body shape to be twice its height -- otherwise its bones would have to be so thick that there would be no room for flesh and internal organs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#28: ''The Berenstain Bears Lost in Cyberspace'' (1999)]]
* InternetStalking: Teacher Bob talks about this, including how random strangers on the Internet will take advantage of your personal information to lure you into a trap and kidnap you. Lizzy is shaken despite pointing out her dad is chief of police. She also finds other criminals by accident in a poetry chatroom and runs to school in a panic after realizing the poems are code for extortionist plans.
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder:#29: ''The Berenstain Bears in the Wax Museum'' (1999)]]
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%%[[folder:#30: ''The Berenstain Bears Go Hollywood'' (1999)]]
%%[[/folder]]
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[[folder:#31: ''The Berenstain Bears and No Guns Allowed'' (2000)]]
* AxesAtSchool: This book features a serious discussion about cubs bringing guns to school. Too-Tall scares the kids in the climax by bringing a water pistol (which looks like a ''very'' realistic normal gun) to squirt Ferdy. Lizzy calls her dad, and everyone is worried that Too-Tall wanted to actually kill Ferdy. Even though Ferdy uses their rubber band gun on Too-Tall in return, making him lose their feud by default, Brother and Sister are still shaken.
* MoralGuardians: InUniverse with Miss Glitch -- due to the spate of general violent behavior and a recent incident involving a cub bringing a loaded gun to class at another school, she thinks Bear Country School should remove violent literature from the shelves; Principal Honeycomb vetoes this though, since it would involve removing a lot of classics.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Too-Tall gets busted for using a ''squirt'' gun and the police confiscate it. This may seem over-the-top, but under super-strict zero-tolerance rules, kids ''can'' and ''have'' been suspended or even expelled simply for bringing squirt guns to schools, even if it was only by mistake. In certain cases, kids have even faced ''prosecution'' for this.
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The plot is heavily inspired by the Columbine massacre and other school shootings.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:#32: ''The Berenstain Bears and the Great Ant Attack'' (2000)]]
* AntAssault: The plot revolves around an escaped queen ant, a hybrid of a normal ant and an army ant from Bearneo, producing an army of extremely voracious ants that will eat anything organic and even bite bears.
* AntWar: Subverted, and it's not a good thing -- ant colonies would normally fight when they encounter one another, but when three colonies of the super-ants team up instead, they become an even bigger problem.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: The book starts off with the Bear family going to see a movie, ''Giant Insects from Outer Space'', about... giant insects, which serve as the villains of the film.
* BiologicalWeaponsSolveEverything: Suggested in the climax. According to Dr. Smythe-Jones, hybrid species catch certain diseases easier than normal species, and she suspects that's what happened to the super-ants when they suddenly start dropping dead -- their mixed DNA made them more vulnerable to some natural illness. It also saves the bears from resorting to spraying a super variety of DDT, which could have caused even greater environmental damage by killing good insects as well as bad.
* ButtBiter: The ants tend to chomp bears on their backsides, starting with the Bear family when they first show up and later Mayor Honeypot as he's on the phone with Chief Bruno, which prompts him to make a quick decision for once.
* TheDitherer: Discussed by narration -- it's mentioned that Mayor Honeypot just doesn't seem able to make decisions and keeps putting them off. However, he proves he can subvert it with the proper encouragement -- in this case, when it affects him directly, as he'd been hesitant to call "a few bugs" an "emergency" until an ant chomps him on the rear, prompting him to call for aid in dealing with the insects.
* ExplosiveBreeder: The book revolves around ants, which breed fast in real life. When the super-ants (which breed even ''faster'' than their parent species) suddenly start dropping dead in the climax, Ferdy suspects they just ran out of reproductive power because of how fast they were breeding.
* ExtremeOmnivore: When the Bear family encounter the titular super-ants for the first time, they comment that the ants not only devour regular food, they eat the picnic blanket too. Professor Actual Factual later states that the ants will eat ''anything'' organic, but not stone or metal.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: Professor Actual Factual and his nephew Ferdy create a new species of hybrid ant intended to eat insects that damage crops, only for the resulting species to be far more voracious than intended... which becomes a problem when a queen ant escapes and starts reproducing.
* HypocriticalHumor: While the Bear family is on a picnic, Papa tells Brother "No sneaking tastes, please" when Brother is about to sneak a bit of cake frosting. Brother soon has to tell Papa the same thing when he catches Papa sneaking a pickle.
* IntroducedSpeciesCalamity: Variant -- the plot revolves around an ''escaped'' ant hybrid created to eat other specific insects that were casing problems, one not intended to be released until it was properly ready, that threatens to wreak havoc on the local ecosystem.
* {{Nepotism}}: A variant -- it's implied that Mayor Honeypot keeps getting reelected not because he's related to a ''superior'', but because he's related to ''half the bears of Bear Country'', which is why they keep voting for him.
[[/folder]]
%%[[folder:#33: ''The Berenstain Bears Phenom in the Family'' (2000)]]
%%[[/folder]]
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