I looked online to see if anything interesting happened on September 29th when I noticed it was Stan Berenstain's birthday. Sadly, Stan passed away in 2005, at the age of 82. However, his books will live on in the hearts of children forever. Stan met his wife, Jan when they both started art school together in 1941. The rest is history and their books are loved by children around the world. My children love the Berenstain Bears books. My girls used to read them when they were younger, and now my boys read them. Reading a Berenstain Bears book to my boys is part of their nighttime routine. It's just not the same without one of these fun stories before bed. What I love about them is their readability -- the words flow extremely well. Every now and then I read a story to the boys and I struggle and stammer over the words. That never happens with Berenstain Bears. My boys absolutely love them, and fortunately, I love reading them too. I can totally relate to Mama Bear, especially when she's all ticked off and yelling. Even though Stan is no longer with us, Jan continues to write and illustrate stories with her son, Mike. Just the other day we added 4 new books to our collection. If you'd like to learn more about Stan Berenstain, click here. Stan Berenstain was a true blessing to children's literature.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Happy Birthday Stan!
I looked online to see if anything interesting happened on September 29th when I noticed it was Stan Berenstain's birthday. Sadly, Stan passed away in 2005, at the age of 82. However, his books will live on in the hearts of children forever. Stan met his wife, Jan when they both started art school together in 1941. The rest is history and their books are loved by children around the world. My children love the Berenstain Bears books. My girls used to read them when they were younger, and now my boys read them. Reading a Berenstain Bears book to my boys is part of their nighttime routine. It's just not the same without one of these fun stories before bed. What I love about them is their readability -- the words flow extremely well. Every now and then I read a story to the boys and I struggle and stammer over the words. That never happens with Berenstain Bears. My boys absolutely love them, and fortunately, I love reading them too. I can totally relate to Mama Bear, especially when she's all ticked off and yelling. Even though Stan is no longer with us, Jan continues to write and illustrate stories with her son, Mike. Just the other day we added 4 new books to our collection. If you'd like to learn more about Stan Berenstain, click here. Stan Berenstain was a true blessing to children's literature.
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That was a really sweet dedication Rena. We love the Bearenstein Bears books too. Jonathan was in pre-school since 6 weeks old and knew he had to share but didn't actually get the concept about sharing until I read a Bearenstein Bears book to him one day. That was already years ago but I appreciate those stories now just as I did when I was little. And so will Jonathan's children and their children and so on.
ReplyDeleteWow! I didn't realize that his wife and son have continued the legacy! How wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiring post!
Christy
I loved the Berenstain Bears as a kid. Especially the illustrations - their candy and food always looked so darn yummy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rena. :)
Gale
I confess I missed out on many of his books. We used to read The Spooky Old Tree. I'll have to catch up on our next trip to the library.
ReplyDeleteI remember being so sad when he passed away. It's great that Jan is continuing with her son. I didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteGreat tribute.
My family always enjoyed the Berenstain bears, too. I'm really dating myself here, but I remember as a child that the Berenstains had a comic strip in a women's magazine my mother read. Lady's Home Journal? McCalls? One of the two, I think. The strip used human characters. I looked for it in every issue. I think this was before they did any books.
ReplyDeleteOur family also loves these bears! The books and the TV show. Funny though, there was a big to do here a couple of years ago. I remember reading that 'someone' felt some of the books were not politically correct and that Papa bear was not always appropriate. I have to laugh because I read the books to my kids and we have never found this! I guess there is always 'someone' out there who will find fault with everything!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you mentioned that, Tracy. The older books are not that PC and Mama & Papa Bear often lose their tempers and such. The newer books have a different feel to them, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe newer ones have a new sense of "crudeness" too, such as Little Lady's dog poop on the floor and stuff like that which probably wasn't in any of the older books.
We love the Berenstain Bears books, Rena. When I was in 1st grade I remember the librarian showing Berenstain Bears film strips, maybe they were actual movies. I have loved them since. I'm happy my kids love them too. My 4 year old and I went to the library yesterday and checked out a Berenstain Bears book, the one about being grouchy.
ReplyDeleteErin
When I was a children's librarian I use to read these books during the story time and the children were always on their best during the stories...what wonderful books....
ReplyDelete