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“At the first big party we sometimes forget, that the birthday bear may end up upset.”
Opening quote for "Too Much Birthday"

The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Birthday is a book in the Berenstain Bears series that was published on March 19, 1986.

It was later adapted into an episode of the same name for the 1985 animated series The Berenstain Bears.

Summary[]

Sister's sixth birthday party is coming up and she wants to throw the biggest birthday party ever. However, it becomes too much for her to handle and she starts crying. Mama, Papa, and Brother all teach her the true meaning of a birthday.

Plot[]

While in the woods, Brother and Sister watch as Papa cuts down trees. Sister notices the annual rings on the stump and starts counting them, with Brother finishing for her since she got stuck on the number twelve. When Sister asks, Papa tells her that instead of annual rings, bears and cubs celebrate birthdays then reminds Sister that she herself has one coming soon. Sister asks if she could have a birthday party, which Papa agrees to.

Back at the treehouse, Mama agrees to the birthday party, but instead of having a little celebration as she suggests, Papa had a noisy birthday in mind, with lots of guests, goodies, games, decorations, presents, and a birthday cake. Mama reminds him there's a thing called "too much birthday", but Papa ignores her and they, along with Brother and Sister, get set up for the party.

On Sister's birthday, Mama gave her a present: A white frilly blouse to wear to the party. Papa looks out the window and watches as several bears pull in some ponies and a merry-go-round, surprising Mama. At 3:00, the birthday party got underway. It began with Sister's guests giving her presents then the cubs at the party all began to play games starting with Going to Jerusalem. The cubs ran in a circle and the one that was on the rug when the music stopped was out. Sister happened to be on the rug when the music stopped, so she was out.

The cubs then play a game of Spin the Bottle. When it landed on Sister, the other cubs started laughing and teasing her, and she kissed Brother instead of another cub. Later, the cubs play Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Sister pins the tail in the exact position, but she didn't receive the prize because it was her party and it wouldn't be polite. Once the cubs finished playing the games, Mama then handed out party favors. Sister blew a party pipe at Freddy's face, and Freddy squirted water on Sister with a trick plastic flower, drenching her and her new blouse.

Sister had the least amount of fun riding both the pony and the merry-go-round. The former ride bounced her up and down, and the latter made her dizzy as it spun in circles. Lastly, it was time for the birthday cake, and everyone gathered around Sister as she blew the candles out. At first, none of the candles go out, with the other cubs telling her the old superstition that she'll have six cubs when she grows up, but on the second try, she blows the candles out. Just after everyone sings "Happy Birthday", Sister started to cry. She then explains to Mama that what went on at the party wasn't fair: She was the first one out in Going to Jerusalem, she didn't get the prize for winning Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Freddy squirted water on her new blouse, and she only wanted three cubs, not six.

After her crying subsides, Sister opens her birthday presents and felt much better. The cubs then eat cake and ice cream, then they head home wishing Sister a happy birthday on their way out. Papa then helped Sister realize that she's going to be six years old for a whole year and she has to make the most of it. In comparison to her previous age, Sister has grown an inch and a half, she has improved her handwriting, and paints much better. Last, Papa tells Sister she's allowed to stay up a half-hour later, exciting her. However, Sister is exhausted from her birthday party and falls asleep shortly after, with Papa carrying her upstairs to bed.

The next morning, Papa asks Sister how old she is. She responds with; "Six. Six going on seven!" as she grins.

Characters[]

Differences from the TV Episode[]

  • The TV episode opens with Papa and the cubs leaving to do woodworking in the forest, and Mama talks to a concerned neighbor about how Papa may sometimes be careless but is a wonderful husband and father.
  • After Papa saws down the tree in the TV version, he and the cubs plant new young trees to take its place, very similarly to the later book The Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute (Anymore). After which, Sister notices the tree stump's annual rings, as in the book.
  • In the book, there were seven cubs at Sister's birthday party, but in the episode, there were four cubs, with only one of them being a girl.
  • Cousin Freddy appears as one of the cubs attending Sister's birthday party in the episode. Although there was a cub named Freddy in the book, he is vastly different from Cousin Freddy.
  • In the book, "Musical Chairs" was called "Going to Jerusalem," and had the former name in the episode adaptation. Despite the name difference, both the games played exactly the same, although "Musical Chairs" used chairs and "Going to Jerusalem" used a small rug. In both instances, Sister was the first one out.
  • In the book, after the cubs receive their party favors, Freddy drenches Sister's blouse with a gag flower. This was omitted in the episode.
  • In the book, the bears all sang what was implied to be the traditional Happy Birthday song to Sister after she blew out her candles. Because the song was still under copyright at the time, in the episode, they sing Sister a birthday song to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down.
  • In the book, Sister tells Mama everything that went wrong at the party and mentions her dislike of kissing games. In the episode, the mention of kissing games was omitted, but Sister adds that she bounced while riding the pony and got sick on the merry-go-round.
  • Near the end of the book, it's announced that Sister can stay up a half-hour later, but because of the birthday party, Sister fell asleep earlier than usual. The next morning, Sister proudly says to Papa she is now "six going on seven". The episode ends with the cubs and Mama catching Papa sheepishly eating leftover birthday cake.
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