“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:16

ZONDERVAN

The Berenstain Bears Play a Good Game

ISBN-13: 978-0-310-71252-7

Copyright © 2009 by Berenstain Bears, Inc.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition September 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-86806-4

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zonderkidz, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Berenstain, Michael.

The Berenstain Bears play a good game / created by Stan and Jan Berenstain; written by Mike Berenstain.

p.cm.

Summary: When a fight breaks out during Brother and Sister Bear’s soccer game, Missus Ursula reminds everyone about fair play and sportsmanship.

ISBN 978-0-310-71252-7 (saddle stitch) [1. Sportsmanship—Fiction. 2. Soccer—Fiction. 3. Bears—Fiction. 4. Christian life—Fiction.] I. Berenstain, Jan, 1923- II. Berenstain, Stan, 1923-2005. III. Title.

PZ7.B44827Bgp 2009

[E]—dc22

2008033882

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan.

Editor: Betsy Flikkema

Art Direction: Sarah Molegraaf

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

About the Publisher

Share Your Thoughts

Brother and Sister Bear loved all kinds of sports. They played one sport or another all the year round.

But in the fall, when the leaves turned color and the first frosty nip was in the air, the thoughts of Brother and Sister Bear turned to … soccer! They dusted off the old soccer ball and headed for the soccer field.

Their team was called the Rockets, and they did rocket around the field. They weren’t the best team in the league, but they were pretty good.

Their coach was none other than Brother and Sister’s own Papa Bear. He didn’t really know that much about soccer. But he tried hard and was very good at cheering them on.

Brother and Sister tried hard too. The best players on the team were the Brunowsky twins, Bram and Bam. But Brother and Sister had their strong points.

Brother was a left-footed kicker. He was given the job of corner kicks from the right side. He was great at “bending” the ball in toward the goal.

Sister was a skillful “header.” She could bop Brother’s kicks right into the net with her head.

“My head is like a rock!” she said, rapping the top of her head with her knuckles.

“It sure is!” agreed Brother.

“Hey!” said Sister.

Brother and Sister didn’t worry too much about winning. It was fun just to get out there and play.

“Remember, team,” Papa always told them, “it’s not whether you win or lose that counts, but how you play the game!”

There was one team, though, that didn’t feel that way—the Steamrollers. Their best players were Too-Tall Grizzly and his gang. They were the schoolyard bullies of Bear Country, and they were big and tough and strong. They weren’t very good soccer players, but that didn’t matter. If you got in their way, they just ran over you.

Their coach was Too-Tall’s dad, Two-Ton Grizzly. He was just as rough and tough as his son, only a whole lot bigger.

He said, “It isn’t how you play the game that counts, but whether you win or lose!”

The Rockets’ first game of the season was against the Steamrollers. Brother and Sister were definitely not looking forward to it.

“Don’t worry,” Coach Papa told his team. “Just play your best, and you’ll all do fine!”

The players’ families were in the stands to see the first game. Mama Bear was there with Honey Bear, of course. Grizzly Gramps and Gran were there too. Gramps was already whistling and cheering and stamping his feet.

“Come on, Rockets!” he yelled and, putting two fingers in his mouth, blew a whistle that you could have heard all over Bear Country.

“Now, Gramps!” said Gran. “Please control yourself.”

“Aw, shucks!” he said. “Makin’ a big fuss at a ball game is half the fun of rootin’ for your team. It’s all in good fun.”

Brother and Sister were surprised to see that their Sunday school teacher, Missus Ursula, was in the stands. Missus Ursula had been the Sunday school teacher in Bear Country for a long, long time. She’d even taught Mama and Papa Bear when they were cubs.

Then, Brother and Sister remembered that Missus Ursula was the Brunowsky twins’ grandmother. Bram and Bam waved to her as they ran onto the field.

The families of the Steamrollers were in the stands too. There was Too-Tall’s mother, Too-Too Grizzly, and his big sister, Too-Much. Too-Much really was a big sister—she was almost twice Too-Tall’s height. When she saw Brother, she waved and fluttered her eyelashes. She had a little crush on Brother. Brother just blushed.

The Steamrollers ran onto the field to warm up. They looked huge!

Brother and Sister looked at each other. They were going to get clobbered! Even Bram and Bam looked a little worried.

The referee blew his whistle, and the game began.

The Rockets had the ball, and Bram and Bam quickly brought it down the field, passing it expertly back and forth. Bram took the ball and headed for the goal.

“TAKE HIM OUT!” yelled Two-Ton from the sidelines.

Too-Tall came charging in like a water buffalo, slide-tackled Bram, and stole the ball. Bram went flying head over heels.

“Foul!” yelled Coach Papa.

But the referee shook his head. “He was going for the ball—no foul!”

“Going for the ball!” muttered Papa under his breath. “He was going for the ball right through my player!”

Too-Tall and his gang hustled the ball down the field and quickly scored a goal.

“How you like that one, shorty?” Too-Tall sneered at Bram as he trotted off the field.

“That’s enough of that!” said the referee. “Play soccer!”

“Talk about poor sportsmanship!” muttered Papa.

The Rockets had the ball again. But the same thing happened. The Steamrollers just steamrollered them, scoring one goal after another. At halftime, the score was Steamrollers, five; Rockets, zero.

Coach Papa gave them a pep talk. “Don’t let it get you down!” said Papa. “You’re playing a good, clean game! The Steamrollers don’t play fair. All they’re interested in is winning, and they don’t care how they do it. You wouldn’t want to win that way, would you?”

“No,” said Bram

“But,” said Bam, “it would be nice to score just one goal.”

“I know how!” said Brother, getting an idea. “Let’s set up a corner kick.”

“Yeah!” said Sister. “They don’t know that Brother kicks left footed. Maybe we can fool them!”

So the Rockets tried it. The next time they had the ball, Bam kicked it off Too-Tall’s leg on purpose, and it went out of bounds. That set up the corner kick.

Carefully, Brother placed the ball in the right corner and kicked it hard with his left foot. The ball curved beautifully. Sister was right there. She leaped straight up, tipped her head, and bopped the ball into the goal! The score was now five to one.

But as Sister came down, Too-Tall charged her. He plowed into her and knocked her flat. Sister saw stars circling around her head and heard little birds chirping.

“Wha’ happened?” she asked.

“Too-Tall happened!” said Brother, helping her up. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” said Sister, standing up. “Yeah, I’m all in one piece.” Sister was a tough little cub.

Brother looked around for Too-Tall. He was so mad he was going to run right through him. But the referee had Too-Tall over to one side and was handing him a red card. Too-Tall was getting thrown out of the game for unnecessary roughness.

“WHAD’YA MEAN—UNNECCESSARY ROUGNESS?” bellowed Coach Two-Ton, running out onto the field.

Two-Ton and the referee stood nose-to-nose, hollering at each other.

“Uh-oh!” said Brother. “Here comes Papa!”

Coach Papa came running onto the field too.

“That was my daughter who got unnecessarily roughed, you big lummox!” he yelled at Two-Ton. Now the referee was trying to keep them apart.

The stands emptied. Everyone ran onto the field. The players watched in amazement as Mama and Grizzly Gramps and Gram tried to drag Papa away while Too-Too and Too-Much Grizzly tried to hold Two-Ton back. Everyone was shouting and shoving and name-calling.

That’s when a slim, slightly bent figure walked slowly onto the field. The crowd quieted down. A few of them took off their hats.

It was their Sunday school teacher, Missus Ursula.

“Now, Papa Bear,” she said sternly. “And you too, Two-Ton Grizzly.”

“Yes, Missus Ursula?” they said meekly.

“I’m very disappointed with both of you,” she said, shaking her head. “Is this the way I taught you to behave in my Sunday school?”

“No, Missus Ursula,” mumbled both coaches, hanging their heads.

“Is this any sort of example to set for the cubs?” she asked.

“No, Missus Ursula,” they said.

“Well, then,” she said. “Remember, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.’ Now, let’s see you two shake hands and finish the game.”

So Papa and Two-Ton shook hands. Everyone took their seats, the referee blew his whistle, and the game went on.

For the rest of the game, no one heard a peep out of Coach Two-Ton or Coach Papa. The Steamrollers scored one more goal, and the Rockets scored two. The final score was six to three. Everyone played fair and had a lot of fun … whether they won or lost.

After the game, both teams got together and went out to dinner at the Burger Bear.

Too-Much Grizzly sat next to Brother and fluttered her eyelashes at him. Brother just blushed and munched away on his double cheeseburger.

About the Publisher

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

About the Publisher

Share Your Thoughts