Yahoo Lifestyle Beloved children's author dies
Copyright: Associated Press
You'd be hard pressed to find a parent who hasn't heard of the Berenstain Bears - they've been a favourite of children around the world since they first appeared in The Big Honey Hunt in 1962. The series grew to include more than 300 books, and has been published in 23 languages, including most recently, Arabic and Icelandic. The woman behind the books, Jan Berenstain, died peacefully after a stroke on Friday aged 88.
Berenstain created the books with her husband Stan, and theirs was a love story that would last nearly 60 years. They married in 1946 when he was fresh out of the army, and began their joint writing career with a cartoon series that would eventually run in Good Housekeeping for more than three decades. They went on to collaborate on hundreds of books, working together right up until Stan's death in 2002.
Berenstain credits the success of the Berenstain Bears to their focus on gentle family values, and addressing common childhood situations such as the arrival of a new sibling, visiting the dentist or sleeping over at a friend's house. In more recent years, they tackled controversial topics such as childhood obesity, but always with the same gentle, sensitive approach.
'They say jokes don't travel well, but family humour does,' she told The Associated Press in 2011. 'Family values is what we're all about.'
The Berenstain Bears series has sold more than 260 million copies since the first issue was published.
Berenstain is survived by her two sons, Matt and Leo, who have both been heavily involved in the family business over the past few years, and four grandchildren.
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