Books like The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers

On the surface, this book is a simple, heavy-handed warning to children about "stranger danger". However, on a subtle level it examines two important ontological oppositions. The primary of these is the relationship between self and other. This duality is present not just in the stranger/non-stranger pairing, but also in the contrast between Sister and Brother. The authors highlight the crucial difference between the siblings as being their adherence to social norms. This text is ripe for a feminist critique analyzing the relationships between the gendered bears (Papa and Brother vs. Mama and Sister) and their perception of society. But that's an exercise for another time. The second duality examined by this text is the relationship between madness and reason. The authors suggest that following a strict set of rules in which a negative is always assumed leads directly to insanity. In fact, the concluding paragraph is little more than an appeal to unstructured rationality. Despite this subtle analysis, the book is only moderately satisfying.