WP: Author Stan Berenstain ("Bears") Dies at 82

Author Stan Berenstain Dies at 82
By Matt Schudel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 29, 2005; 6:30 PM


Stan Berenstain, who taught generations of children to read with the Berenstain Bears series of books he launched with his wife, died Nov. 26 from complications of cancer at his home in Bucks County, Pa. He was 82.

Beginning in 1962 with the first title in their series about a lovable family of bears, "The Big Honey Hunt," the Berenstains found a formula that drew millions of young readers and propelled their books into one of the most successful franchises in children's literature. In the past 43 years, the husband-and-wife team wrote and illustrated approximately 250 books about the bears.

More than 260 million copies have been sold, and the Berenstain Bears have also branched out into two television series, videos, stage musicals, toys, cereal and other products. Mr. Berenstain and his family managed the entire enterprise by themselves until 1997, when they hired an employee to run the computer.

Pitched primarily toward children between the ages of 4 and 8, the books introduced vocabulary words and gentle moral lessons to their young readers. The bear family originally consisted of a father, mother and one son, but over the years the den expanded with another male and female cub. (The girl bear, always wearing pink polka-dot dress, liked to play with her "Bearbie" doll.) The family lived in an idyllic five-story treehouse....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/29/AR2005112901210.html

Other than that I loved his stuff.. RIP.

it was creepy becausethe shells on the bottom of the water were so sharp!

A little too preachy and sappy for me though.

Kids love them but adults can read them as well without puking.

Still do as an adult. Thanks for the great memories :hug:

we laughed so much at Papa bear. So clueless!

Very sad to hear. :(

Sad to hear this. I know many kids who learned to read via Dr. Suess and Stan Berenstain. At 82 he had a long life, but not as long as some would have wanted him to have.

Next week will be MS last week. Mort Mortensen (aka James Earl) will do the Weekly Remembrance on Monday. I'll be listening for Stan's eulogy.

very sad

:(

May he RIP.

If a hideous Nazi murderous freak hates you that much, you must be doing something right.

I read these books to my kids. They and I loved them.

still hasn't learned to read or write. If it weren't for Berenstain Bears he'd have no motivation to learn at all. The books are a daily staple around here.

We still have them somewhere in the attic. I used to love reading them, and I hope to someday share them with my children.

Especially the alphabet ones. Especially the "B" Book. Big, beautiful, blue baboon breaks ... baby birds balloon.

They asked for the "Spooky Old Tree" book a brazillion times!

was a kid. I sent her the article. May he rest in peace. :(

because you created these characters and shared them with us.

My son had his favorites that we read so often that we had to buy multiple copies of the same books over and over because they just plain fell apart from the love of the stories in them. My daughter also loved the stories and had her favorites as well.

RIP Stan ... and may the honey be plentiful for you ... where ever you are now. :hug: <--- warm fuzzy hug for Stan.

I enjoyed those books. I was just looking at some this past week and thinking about getting them for my niece and nephew.

He did good work. May he get his reward for helping so many ease into reading.