“Can Little Red keep up the pace? Can the slowest car win the race?”
—Opening quote
The Berenstain Bears and the Big Road Race is a book in the Berenstain Bears series. It was first published on October 12, 1987.
"The Berenstain Bears' Big Road Race", an episode of the 2002 animated series The Berenstain Bears, is based on this book.
Summary[]
There is an auto race in Bear Country, and Brother signs up with his car named "Little Red". During the race, Brother is outpaced by Yellow, Orange, Green, and Blue as they all speed past him and leave him in the dust.
Plot[]
Brother Bear enters an auto race in Bear Country. He registers under the name "Little Red". He is driving Mama and Papa's red car, which is slower and less aerodynamic than the four other racers, registered as "Yellow", Orange", "Green", and "Blue". The four rivals burst off the starting line, while Brother is off to a slow start, but keeps chugging along to the line "Putt, putt, putt, went Little Red". First Yellow gets so overconfident that he will win he doesn't pay attention to his surroundings. So his car hits a big pothole and throws him out of the vehicle. The next part of the track is a hairpin turn that Brother slows down to carefully maneuver, but Orange mocks him and speeds. He careens off course and veers through a fence then lands in a pond "...and Orange was through". Brother then has to face "Green, who was really mean". Green is a racer who is outright dishonest, using nails to flatten the tires of Blue, then speeds to the finish line. Confident of his victory, Green stops at a hamburger stand to really gloat in front of Little Red, who is still taking up the rear. Green may have been at a fast food joint, but "the food was not fast enough" as Green is shocked to see Brother putter forward and cross the finish line to get the checkered flag! The story ends as Mama, Papa and Sister congratulate Brother for getting the gold cup, and the last line reads "Putt, putt, putt, went Little Red".