From:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~bmariska/bears/bio.htmlStanley and Janice (Grant) Berenstain were both born in 1923 in Philadelphia. At the age of 18, the two met on their first day at the Philadephia College of Art and married on April 13, 1946. Stan spent a few years in the Army, and his first job writing and illustrating came when he began drawing cartoons for an Army newspaper. Together, the Berenstains began their career writing cartoons in their series called "It's All in the Family." This comic, rather adult in nature, was featured in McCalls and Good Housekeeping magazines from 1956-1990. Their art was also featured on the cover of Collier's magazine twenty times.
With the success of their "All in the Family" cartoon and a number of adult humor books based on this series, the Berenstains felt they might like writing children's books, as well. Stan and Jan's two sons, Michael and Leo, enjoyed Dr. Suess books, and the Dr. himself, Theordor Geisel, asked Stan and Jan to write a book in his series of Cat in the Hat/Beginniner Books. The result: in 1962, the Berenstains released their first book about a family of bears, The Big Honey Hunt.
This story was an instant success, and since 1962, over 250 Berenstain Bears stories have been written and illustrated by Stan and Jan. According to the authors, bears were chosen as the central characters "because they can stand up, they look good in clothes, and are fun to draw."
Their sons, now fully grown, also help with many of the books. Michael has illustrated over 25 of the Berenstain Bears books (including most of the Bear Scouts Books), and Leo has written manuscripts for books in the Berenstain Bears Big Chapter Books series. Both sons have also written books on their own. Michael has authored and illustrated over 30 children's picture books of his own, and Leo has published a book of short stories inspired by his travels to Indonesia called The Wind Monkey.
The authors have said that the Bear family and the stories told in Stan and Jan's books are based on their own experiences. As the stories once came from their household and their children, today the stories come from Stan and Jan's four grandchildren. For example, adding Sister in 1974's The Berenstain Bears' New Baby was based on the birth of Michael (even though Michael is a boy and Sister is a girl)!
New Baby was also important because it was the first in the Berenstain Bears' series of First Time Books. This series has been the most popular among parents, children, and critics alike; each story teaches important lessons on important childhood subjects from lying and fighting to spending a week away from home and the importance of recycling. The best-selling Berenstain Bears books ever is a First Time Book, The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room.
Living in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, the Berenstains continue to write. A major shift in past years has been a focus on books for older children (aged 8-11) through the Big Chapter and Bear Scout books. These stories--with minimal illustrating--average over 100 pages and are targeted at kids who have outgrown the more colorful storybooks. The Berenstains use this medium to write stories about ghosts and solving mysteries, but many focus on important pre-adolescent issues. Books in recent years have included encounters with drug dealers, students in wheelchairs, and Brother's first kiss. According to Stan Berenstain, "We try to keep in touch with what's going on. We even know who the Spice Girls are." The Berenstains have not neglected younger readers, however. New books in the Step into Reading Series and Baby Bear series have targeted the earliest of readers.
The Berenstains are always looking for ways to keep stories fresh, interesting, and exciting. The Berenstain Bears and the Big Question (1999) was the first Berenstain Bears book about religion, and in 2000, the series saw the addition of a new member of the Bear Family in The Berenstain Bears: Baby Makes Five.
With so many stories, Stan and Jan can't pick one that is their favorite; they say that's like asking a parent who his or her favorite child is. However, The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers was a book their publisher, Random House suggested, But Stan and Jan didn't want to do it because they thought it was going to be too hard! But it turned out okay and they really enjoyed writing it once they found a way for the book to still be funny. Though they hesitate to call it their "favorite," Learn About Strangers has special meaning to Stan and Jan.
Stan and Jan have seen over 240 million copies of their books sold. 35 of the titles are among Publisher’s Weekly’s top 250 titles of all time, and 15 are among the top 100 best-selling children's paperbacks, making the Berenstain Bears easily the best selling childrens book series ever. And this number is certain to increase -- as many as 10 new Berenstain Bears titles hit the shelves each year, and generations of people who grew up on the Berenstains' books now have children of their own.
When Stan and Jan decide to stop writing, though, it may not mean the end of the Berenstain Bears. With Michael and Leo now helping out with the writing and illustrating of the Berenstain Bears books, and there is a chance in the future of seeing a whole new gamut of Berenstain Bears by a new generation fo Berenstains. Only time will tell.
Compiled by Bradley Mariska, last updated December 3, 2000
