“When cubs start to twitch or to scratch or to nibble, what they need is some help, not a lecture or quibble.”
—Opening quote
The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Habit is a book in the Berenstain Bears that was published on August 12, 1987.
It was later adapted into an episode of the same name for the 2003 series The Berenstain Bears.
Summary[]
While in class one day, Sister develops the habit of biting her fingernails down to nubbins. Mama and Papa catch on to Sister's bad habit and, with Gran's advice, help her overcome it.
Plot[]
Sister, a first grader at Bear Country School, enjoyed regular school after passing preschool and kindergarten. She liked Teacher Jane very much, but learned there was more work to do. During regular school, some of Sister's classmates formed bad habits while they concentrated. Lizzy twirled her fur, Freddy scratched his head, Norman sucked on his thumb, and Sister bit her fingernails.
One day after school, Mama notices that Sister had been her fingernails clean off, and Sister tells her that some of her fingers were getting sore. Mama goes to a cabinet and pulls out some medicine and adhesive tape for Sister's fingers to help her remember not to nibble her nails. However, the tape proved to be a problem as Sister couldn't hold a pencil, tune the TV, scratch her itch, and she couldn't get higher than twosies when she played jacks. Additionally, the woodland creatures saw the tape on Sister's fingers and they took note how much of a nail biter she was.
At school the next morning, Lizzy and some other cubs started to point at and tease Sister for biting her nails. On her way into class, Sister drops the bits of tape into the trash and resumed biting her nails in class, on the bus, and when she and Brother got home. Brother tells Sister she needs to stop biting her fingernails or she'll be a "full-time nail biter."
Mama, who was loading some gardening tools into a wheelbarrow, explains to Sister about bad habits as Mama went to plant tulip bulbs that Grizzly Gran sent her. Mama then explains to Sister that habits are something people do so often they don't have to think about it. She adds that some habits, such as Sister brushing her teeth, combing her fur every morning, and looking both ways before crossing a street, are good while some habits are bad such as nail-biting. Sister exclaims that she wants her nails back, but she keeps forgetting.
Mama shows Sister the same path she took with the wheelbarrow multiple times that it left a deep rut in the middle of the road and she can't get out of it without a little help. Sister helped Mama out of the rut and wanted to get out of her nail-biting habit herself. Later, Papa, while talking with Mama about Sister's habit, suggests reading the riot act, but Mama turns down the idea as using threats will make Sister more nervous. He then comes up with the idea of giving Sister a dime for each day she doesn't bite her nails.
Sister, who overheard them in the next room while nibbling her fingernails, jumps toward Papa. She then thinks about all the dimes she'll accumulate. However, Sister didn't get a dime as she had to wait an entire day to get one, and she, as well as Mama and Papa, felt discouraged. Mama then went to use the phone to call Grizzly Gran and thank her for the tulip bulbs as well as talk about Sister's habit.
With Gran's advice, Mama and Papa gave Sister ten pennies at the start of every school day to keep unless she nibbled. The sound of pennies jiggling in Sister's pocket reminded her not to nibble as she boarded the bus, jumped rope in the school yard, and in class. The plan worked, and Sister had a total of 93 pennies, but she gave back seven of them beacuse she nibbled some of her nails. After a while, Sister's fingernails had grown back, allowing her to pick up things, tuned the TV, scratch her itches, and she got all the way to tensies when she played jacks.
Brother then declared he should bite his fingernails to get some money, but after seeing Papa look at him angrily, Brother tells him he's just kidding.
Differences from the book[]
- In the book, Sister starts first grade; in the show, she is in third grade.
- In the book, Sister was biting her nails because of the stress of the first grade; in the show, she was biting her nails because she was struggling with fractions.
Trivia[]
- Morals:
- When you develop a bad habit, have someone help you get rid of it if you're struggling to do it yourself.
- Some habits, such as brushing your teeth and washing your face, are actually good for you.