Jan Bernenstain, Creator of The Berenstain Bears, has died
Jan Berenstain, who with her husband wrote and illustrated the Berenstain Bears books, gentle best-sellers that enlightened preschoolers for half a century with simple lessons about kindness and tidiness, and reasons not to be afraid of the doctor, died on Friday in Solebury, Pa. She was 88.
The Berenstain Bears series sought to teach children about issues ranging from dentist visits to money worries.
Her death was confirmed by her publisher, HarperCollins.
With her husband, Stan, who died in 2005, Ms. Berenstain wrote more than 300 books, most of them offering moral lessons through the lives of a tidy nuclear family of plainspoken bears known as Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Brother Bear and Sister Bear.
Books featuring the Berenstain Bears (the authors toyed with penguins at first, but decided bears were more like humans) sold more than 200 million copies. The family also appeared in an animated television series and more than 20 television movies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/arts/jan-berenstain-dies-at-88-created-berenstain-bears.html?hpw
= new reply since forum marked as read
