The Berenstain Bears' Trouble with Money

0:00This is Belie, one network, every topic, everywhere. Oh, K.R. friends. So today we are reading a very special Baronstein Bearer's book for you, because if there's one thing I hear a lot of, it's people saying, can you do more Baronstein Bearer's books? And I was, yeah, how can we can? I just need to find the right ones. And so my friends, I found a two-for-one, two stories in one book. And the first one is called Trouble with Money. And the second one is called Dollars and Sense. And so I'm going to read these stories back to back for you as a fun surprise. These stories were written by Stan and Jan Baronstein and they will be read by Mommy and... The symmetry guy. The symmetry guy? We like balance, don't we? Yeah. And the reason why we're doing this is because somebody,

1:02the symmetry guy, found a penny in our yard. Seven pennies are not symmetrical. Some pennies are not symmetrical. But I thought to myself, a penny saved as a penny earned. So we're going to talk about money. And we're going to read some Baronstein Bearer's books. So the first one is called Trouble with Money. And it says, When little bears spend every nickel and penny the trouble with money is they never have any. Are you ready? Well, let's do it. Brother and sister bear knew quite a lot about the ways of bear country. They knew where the most beautiful wildflowers grew. They knew where the wildberries were the thickest and chewiest. They knew the best spot for watching sunrises and sunsets. They knew where all the best honey trees were.

2:05They even knew a very special place where you could almost always see a rainbow from a secret place behind the waterfall. But there were some things they didn't know very much about. And one of the things brother and sister didn't understand very well was money. Oh, they knew money was fun to have and even more fun to spend. And whenever they got some as a present or for doing a chore, for a neighbor, or for no reason at all, from grisly gramps who tended to spoil them, or from Papa Bear who spoiled them even more. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them to the bear country mall and spent it for honeycomb on a stick, a balsa wood glider that did the loops, a tiny little mouth organ that only played three notes.

3:06They never bought anything sensible and they hardly ever saved. And once in a while sister would put money in her piggy bank. But she usually shook it out again before it had a chance to cool off from her hot little hand. Brother didn't even have a piggy bank. Mama was becoming concerned about the cubs carefree, spend-thrift ways with money. I think brother and sister should have a regular allowance. She said one evening when she and Papa were working on the family books. And allowance? Said Papa. Yes. So they can learn to use money sensibly to save it to plan ahead. Oh no. Said Papa. They're much too young for that sort of thing. Let them enjoy themselves.

4:07They'll have to worry about money soon enough when they're grown-ups. He added with a sigh. But it was Papa who first lost patience with their carelessness about money. It happened one day when the cubs had been at the mall spending some pennies and neighbors had given them for walking her dog. That was when they saw the new video game. It was called Astro Bear. And it looked very exciting. So we can see them looking in at the arcade and seeing the game and they high-tailed home. A video game at the mall? Papa shouted, you must think I'm made of money. The cubs thought no such thing. And when they pictured it, it seemed very strange. Mama could see they were puzzled and she explained.

5:09Made of money is just a figure of speech, my dears. That's when the cubs realized that their situation was serious because Papa Bear only used figures of speech when he was upset. You must drink money grows on trees. He shouted another figure of speech. And the kids are picturing their Papa if he were made out of money. Doesn't look anything like their real Papa. And they're also picturing a tree growing money on it. Also, that's not how it works, is it? Video games indeed. He continued becoming more and more upset. There was no such thing as video games when I was a cub. Why, I didn't know what money was until I was almost grown.

6:09Precisely, my dears. Interrupted Mama. And that's why this might be a very good time to start brother and sister on a regular allowance so they can absolutely not. Rod Papa knocking over a chair. They must earn their money. That is what life is about working, earning money, saving for a rainy day. The cubs knew how really serious the situation must be. Papa had used three figures of speech and knocked over a chair. They decided right then and there to mend their careless, spend-thrift ways. It turned out that the cubs were very good at earning money once they set their minds to it. First, they gathered wildflowers from those special places they knew about.

7:12Then, they made them into bouquets and sold them by the side of the road. For ten cents, a piece. Business was very good. They gathered those fat, juicy wildberries and sold them door to door. Business was very, very good. Brother and sister were turning out to be even better at making money than they had been at spending it. They organized guided tours of bare country's finest beauty spots. Sister's piggy bank was jammed full. They started a very successful pet-minding service. Pet-minding ten cents an hour. Brother had to borrow Mama's sugar bowl to keep the extra money. At first, Papa was very impressed and pleased. But when the cubs started to sell maps showing the locations of all the best honey trees,

8:14Papa began to have doubts. Those honey trees are a family secret. He complained. The cubs don't seem to understand that some things are more important than money. They've gone from caring too little about money to caring too much while just look at them. They're turning into greedy, selfish little misers right before our eyes. That is a very unkind word. Don't repeat that. Miser's? Yeah. That's true. It's not a kind thing to say. I wonder what's going on with Papa, don't you? He pointed at the cubs. Who did, indeed? Look, like little misers, greedily counting their money. A famous example of a miser is Ebenezer Scrooge.

9:16He kept all of his money hoarded and counted it all and put money as more important than anything else. It would not at all be a kind thing to be. Cubs said Papa in his sternest voice. We're going to have another talk. But before you could start a speech, the cubs took all their money that they'd earned selling flowers and berries and doing chores and minding pets and selling honey tree maps and dumped it on his lap. Air Papa said, brother. This is for you. That's right. Said sister. We thought if we made some money for you, you wouldn't have to worry about it so much. We hope it's enough. Papa was so startled and so embarrassed at having been so wrong about them that he was speechless. That's very generous.

10:18Said mama. It's quite a sum of money and I know Papa appreciates it, but I have what may be a better idea. Papa does worry about money, of course. Most mamas and Papa's do from time to time. But what Papa is really worried about is you. He wants to be sure you understand that there's more to know about money than how to spend it. You know what I think. Said Papa. I think we should start brother and sister on a regular allowance so that they can learn to use money sensibly to save, to plan ahead. A next-lont idea. Said mama. Smiling.

11:20It was her idea the whole time, wasn't it? But what about the money we earned? Asked the cubs. You earned it and it's yours. Said mama. What I suggest is that we take it down to the mall and put it in the bare country bank. Good suggestion. Said Papa. That money can be your nest egg. Oh dear. I tried the cubs together. Another figure of speech. Does that mean that's not being perpetrated? They're thinking maybe. And a very appropriate one. Said mama. She explained that the nest egg is the one that the farmers leave in the nest to hatch another chick. When they put money, when you put money in the bank, it hatches.

12:22Interest. Interest. Asked the cubs. Puzzled. The bank will pay you for leaving your money there. That's called. Interest. That day the bare family went to the bank and opened an account for the cubs. It happened that the bank was right next to the video arcade. No. Say that looks interesting. Said Papa when he saw the astro bear game. Let's give it a try. So the bare family gave astro bear a try. And Papa ended up with the lowest score. You know, he said, we're not video games when I was a cub. We give him another chance at this sometime. No.

13:22It was pretty good at video games. Yeah. Anytime at all. Said brother and sister giving their Papa a great big hug. You know what I think? I think it's important to have quality entertainment. Yup. And I think it's also important to plan for your future and to invest your money wisely in things that are going to be of value to you in the future. And I think the bear is doing a pretty good job of organizing themselves. And I think you do too. And I also think we should read another Bernstein Bear's book about my tomorrow. What do you say? Yeah. Alright, and that for now is the end.