The World’s Most Beloved (and Criticized) Family of Bears!

If you are a '90s child like myself (or a '70s child, or an '80s child, or a 2000s child… or even a 2010s child), I can guarantee that you know a family of bears… that live in (pretty much) the coolest treehouse ever… and whose sister and brother magically (almost) always get along. I grew up envying this small family and their adventures in pumpkin patches and at school. (So get to the point, you say?) Well today we thought we’d do a short feature on our favorite (fictional) family of bears… the Berenstain Bears.

The Berenstain Bear family and franchise was created by Janice and Stanley Berenstain in 1962, and has since become a series of over 300 titles. Since his mother's death in 2012 (Stan Berenstain died in 2005), the couple's youngest son, Mike Berenstain, has continued the family tradition by authoring the titles. A full family project, in a sense! Let’s see how it all came about…

In 1941, Janice Grant and Stanley Berenstain met on their first day at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art and became close very quickly. At the onset of World War II, they took up different war effort posts (as a medical illustrator and riveter), but were eventually reunited and married in 1946. They found work as art teachers, then eventually became co-illustrators, publishing works like the Berenstain’s Baby Book in 1951 followed by many more (including, but not limited to Marital Blitz, How To Teach Your Children About Sex Without Making A Complete Fool of Yourself and Have A Baby, My Wife Just Had A Cigar). In the early 1960s the Berentain’s first “Berenstain Bears” book made it to a very important colleague and publisher – Theodore Geisel – or, as some of you may remember from our somewhat recent blog, Dr. Seuss! 

 

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Berenstains' Baby Book (First Edition)

by Berenstain, Stanley & Janice

New York: Macmillan Company, 1951. Fine/Very Good. First edition. Fine in cloth and papercovered boards, in a very good or better dustwrapper with some modest chips at the extremities. The first book by the Berenstains, later famous for their long-running Berenstain Bears series.

Offered by Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc.

 

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Geisel traded ideas with the Berenstains for over a year – until he finally felt like they had a marketable product for the American public. In 1962, The Big Honey Hunt hit shelves across the USA. The Berenstains were working on their next book – featuring penguins – when Geisel got in touch to say another bear book was needed by demand, as The Big Honey Hunt was selling so undeniably well. Two years later The Bike Lesson came out… which began a waterfall of publications… at least one a year since then, but typically more than a few. A record 25 Berenstain Bears books were published in 1993 alone! Six titles have already been published in 2018. The immediate success of the Berenstain Bears lead to a situation not unlike the popular Hardy Boys series or Nancy Drew’s popularity – only for a younger age range and with a somewhat different tone. [Read more about the syndication of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew here...]  Not to mention all written and illustrated by the same authors -- at least until Mike Berenstain began contributing to the franchise in 2005. Jan and Stan were quite a busy pair for a number of years.

 

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The Bike Lesson

by Berenstain, Stan & Jan 

NY: Random House / Beginner Book (1964). 8vo, pictorial boards, 64p., owner inscription on endpaper else near Fine in dust wrapper with closed tear and sl. frayed at spine ends. Early edition. Illustrated in color by the authors, the second book about the Berenstain Bears. 

Offered by Aleph-Bet Books, Inc.

 

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Now why were the Bears as successful as they were? Though some criticism has fallen on the books over the decades for its “formulaic” and “syrupy” tone, the books have also seen 35 titles in the Publishers Weekly top 250 titles of all time, and 15 titles in the top 100 Children’s Paperbacks. As an educational series (each title dealing with a somewhat moral or educational lesson for youngsters) it has received many accolades. However, as stated, the series has also received criticism for being outdated and perpetuating stereotypes from its beginning. That being said, I do not believe that anyone, even those critical of the texts, can deny the obvious influence they have had on children and families… for decades! The bears provided a learning ground for warm and cuddly (if only mildly didactic) lessons for young children in the United States.

And the rest of the world. Because they have been translated into 23 languages.