The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Habit Paperback – Picture Book, January 1, 1986

With my ADHD son, I've purchased a fair amount of "therapy" books. And yet NONE of them cover this topic. Nor suggest a solution. So imagine my surprise that our beloved Berenstain Bears books had one that fit our need perfectly. All my kids love these books and so does my son. And they cover all kinds of topics that are important to us parents that we struggle with teaching our kids. For example, another favorite in our house is "Too Much Junk Food." These books cover these topics without sounding like a lecture! My kids quote them all the time. They have a gentle narrative that presents the problem in a natural tone, and they always present a solution delivered with a sense of wisdom verses technique (like in thereapy books). In this book, the solution is presented to Sister Bear in a way that gives her (the child) control over her situation. She then connects her choice of behavior to the result of that decision. She gets to keep some or all over her pennies that then get saved up for a bigger prize. It takes time to earn the prize, and therefore breaks the nail biting habit naturally over time. Sister is in charge of how many pennies she keeps a day and it takes her weeks to of continually making that choice, which in turn breaks her of the habbit. Brilliant. And so simple.

All of the classic Berenstain Bears written by Stan and Jan are wonderful. I loved the books as a child and now get to relive them reading them to my children. The Berenstain Bears collection is a must have for all children in my opinion.

I read this book with my 3 year old son yesterday and gave him a sticker from the book as a reminder not to bite his nails (he had it on his shirt all day at pre-school) and a nickel which he has to give back to me if he bites his nails today. All day today, HE DID NOT BITE HIS NAILS! It worked!!! This is first time in almost a year.Will this continue to work and will he break his habit? I don't know. This was my last resort before painting his nails with the icky stuff, which I want to avoid since I don't want to put toxic chemicals (if any) on him that he might ingest. I was so happy to find out he didn't bite his nails and we will keep on giving him the stickers and $$. I'll post a follow up later.follow up:It's been about 2 months since my initial review. My son is no longer a habitual nail biter. The sticker and a nickel per day lasted a week or two and he didn't need them any more. His habit is broken! When I see him biting his nails from time to time, I trim the nails smooth so there is nothing much to bite then he stops. It's important to keep a close eye on the nail length and trim them 1-2 times a week. I am so glad I got this book for him. This method may or may not work with everyone and the result will vary heavily depending on the disposition of your child. But it won't hurt to try this book and introduce the concept of 'habit' and discuss 'bad habits' with your child.

great book and good read

Has a good message. Easy to read and understand. Our child was interested in the formation of bad habits and realizing they are not easy to break.

I read this to my 4 year old son, as he is trying to break his habit of sucking his thumb. It did a good job at explaining what a habit was, and why some are good and some are bad. The explanation needed a bit of clarification, as most kids nowadays likely wouldn't understand the wheelbarrow stuck in a rut metaphor that Mama used, but it was simple enough to explain. It also had a part where Suster us afraid others may make fun of her for chewing her nails, which is a good segue into a short bullying discussion. I liked the final solution that they came up with. For a 4 year old boy, pennies are like pirate treasure, so although older kids might not respond to ten cents, younger kids love it. If you're buying it as a tool to break a habit, I'd recommend it more for kids aged 4-6. Older kids may think it's just silly, but might enjoy reading just for the fun of it.

Get them all for grandchildren. Never go out of date

I purchased this book for my son who was developing the bad habit of nail biting . And this book was perfect for our situation. With this help , me constantly saying “ don’t bite your nails “ and his great discipline . He is no longer biting his nail . I love the Berenstain Bears book ! I almost have the complete collection . It’s the family tradition !