The Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle

App review by Christopher Healy, Common Sense Media
The Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 3+

Well-made picture book app, but kids defeat parents.

iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire Books
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Parents say

age 6+

Based on 1 review

Kids say

age 5+

Based on 1 review

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this app.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Battle is an electronic adaptation of the picture book of the same name. In addition to reading along with the highlighted text, kids can also tap any character or item in an illustration to hear and see its name. The plot of the book has Mother and Father Bear trying to coax Brother and Sister Bear to bed. The kids argue and fight their parents every step of the way, and in general, they succeed in avoiding their bedtime. At the end, the exhausted parents fall asleep and the kids stay up late.

Community Reviews

Lebron12James3
Lebron12James3 Adult
May 17, 2022
age 6+

Good adaptation, but very short. Great introduction to the franchise for younger audiences, and a bit better than the sequel.

As a fan of Wimpy Kid for over a decade, I will say that an animated adaptation of the series is what I have always wanted, because animation is the obvious way to adapt a cartoon diary book series. That being said, I think that this movie was pretty good for what it was. The animation was very stylized, but I really liked most of the character designs. The set designs and backgrounds looked very realistic and the animation was very high-quality in this context. It was extremely short, and I was sad that a lot of great parts of the book were cut. Despite this, I do think that they chose the right stuff to keep from the book as to progress the story without unnecessary parts. While it obviously shares elements with the 2010 movie (based on the same book), it is different enough to stand on its own as a fun introduction to the animated world of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I think that younger children who like the books will love the movie, and kids who haven’t read them may want to read them after watching this. I would say it is appropriate for most children, but some may not understand that Greg isn’t really supposed to be a role model.
See all 1 parent review

Is It Any Good?

As an app, THE BERENSTAIN BEARS' BEDTIME BATTLE is just as wonderfully well made as any of the other great app books from Oceanhouse Media. The highlighted text makes it easy for new readers to follow along, and the ability to tap illustrations and learn how things are spelled is fantastic. The story here is the iffier element. Sure, many readers will take the poor behavior of the Bear children lightly, as is probably intended. But there will undoubtedly be those who see a bad example being set, especially since the kids win out in the end. Children fighting bedtime is a trope that has appeared in countless other preschool picture books, but usually there's a lesson in that the rebellious kids end up snoring by the last page. Here, the kids just seem stubborn and ill-mannered -- and they get their way.

App Details

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