00:30Stan and Jan Berenstain.
00:35When summertime ends and the weather turns cool, most little bears are ready for school.
00:43It had been a wonderful summer for the bear family.
00:46They had gone swimming and boating at the lake.
00:49They had picnicked in the woods and taken many walks along sunny paths.
00:55But now summer was just about over.
00:58There was a nip in the air, the birds were beginning to fly south, and the leaves on
01:02the tree house were changing colors.
01:09One evening at supper, Brother Bear said,
01:11I'm getting tired of summer vacation.
01:14I think I'm ready to go back to school.
01:17That is good news, said Papa Bear, because school will be starting again very soon.
01:24Sister Bear's ears perked up at the word school.
01:27Mama Bear noticed.
01:29As a matter of fact, she said, Sister and I are going to meet her new teacher tomorrow.
01:35This year Sister would be starting kindergarten, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about
01:40it.
01:44She liked being at home with her mother and father, her books and toys, and all her friends.
01:51What will school be like, Mama? she asked at bedtime.
01:55We'll find out tomorrow, said Mama, as she tucked Sister in and kissed her good night.
02:03The next day, Mama and Sister packed a lunch and took the long walk down the winding dirt
02:09road to the Bear Country School.
02:12Handy Bear Gus was up on a ladder fixing the roof.
02:15Hello, said Mama.
02:17This is Sister Bear.
02:19She starts kindergarten next week.
02:21We'll be glad to have her, said Gus.
02:24Miss Honey Bear is a kindergarten teacher.
02:26You'll find her inside.
02:31Hello there, said Miss Honey Bear in a loud, jolly voice.
02:36Come right in and look around.
02:38Sister thought Miss Honey Bear's voice was a little scary, but she let Miss Honey Bear
02:43take her hand and lead her into the kindergarten room.
02:47What a big, friendly room!
02:49It had yellow curtains and tables and chairs that looked just right for someone Sister's
02:54size.
02:59What do you do in kindergarten? Sister asks as they sat down for lunch.
03:04We read stories, sing songs, learn our ABCs, paint pictures, play games, make things out
03:11of clay, build with blocks.
03:13We do lots of things, said Miss Honey Bear.
03:17Blocks were all things Sister liked to do, and she had never seen such big jars of paint
03:23or such fine blocks.
03:25There was even a whole barrel of clay.
03:28School must be fun after all, thought Sister by the time she and Mama started home.
03:36But when the big morning came, Sister began to worry again.
03:40Mama, she said, what if I don't like school?
03:44What if I just don't like it?
03:48Just then, a big yellow school bus pulled up to the treehouse.
03:51Oh, stop worrying, said Brother Bear.
03:55School is fun.
03:56You'll like it.
03:57Now let's get going or we'll miss the bus.
04:00He grabbed her hand and away they went.
04:06Every so often, the bus stopped and more bears climbed on.
04:10Most of them were excited like Brother, but some of the smaller ones were quiet like Sister.
04:16As more and more old friends climbed on, they got noisier and noisier, and the smaller ones
04:22got quieter.
04:24The little bear who sat next to Sister began to look worried, so she smiled at him and
04:29held his hand.
04:35At last the bus arrived.
04:37The bear country school looked very nice.
04:40Honey Bear Gus had fixed the roof and painted the trim and cut the grass.
04:44And Miss Honey Bear's kindergarten room looked beautiful.
04:48Everything was ready.
04:53Before very long, the kindergartners got noisy.
04:57Two of them wanted to play with the same dump truck.
05:00Two others wanted to look at the same book.
05:03And a whole gang of them wanted to be the first to play with the blocks.
05:07What a commotion!
05:10Suddenly, a loud, jolly voice called out,
05:13Storytime!
05:14Miss Honey Bear was calling the class to the book corner.
05:18That quieted things down.
05:24After the story, Sister tried everything.
05:27She painted a picture and helped build a block city.
05:32She made a giant clay doughnut and looked at the books.
05:36She ate all of her bread and honey at snack time.
05:40And she fell asleep at nap time.
05:47When she climbed off the bus with Brother at the end of the day, Sister was the excited
05:52one.
05:53Mama!
05:54Papa!
05:55Look what I did in school today, she said, holding up her painting.
06:02A few days later, the weather turned warm again, as it sometimes does in early fall.
06:08Brother was restless at breakfast.
06:11I wish it was still summer vacation, he said, so I wouldn't have to go to school today.
06:16Oh, come on, Brother Bear, said Sister.
06:20School is fun.
06:21Let's get going or we'll miss the bus.
06:28On the bus, all the bears were talking about the things they were going to do at school.
06:32Soccer practice, science projects, music lessons, all kinds of things.
06:38Hmm, thought Brother.
06:41Sister Bear was right.
06:42School is fun.
06:48And off they went in the big yellow bus to the bear country school.
