STAN AND JAN BERENSTAIN
American authors and illustrators (1923)
Biography:
Janice Grant and Stantley Berenstain were both born in Philadelphia in 1923. They met in 1941, on their first day of classes at the Philadelphia College of Art. Stan's first works as writer and illustrator were at the Army, for he collaborated with an Army newspaper. In 1946 they got married and have two sons.
From 1956 through 1990, they did together their first cartoon feature for McCall's/Good Housekeeping called It's All in the Family (a people family). And soon they got interested for young children's books, to help their sons learn to read. So they created a bear family called Berenstain Bears and in 1962, thanks to Dr. Seuss, The Big Honey Hunt was published. This first book just presented a family of three (Papa, Mama and Brother), but in 1974 they added Sister in The Berenstains Bears' New Baby. This book opened the series of First Time Books, the most popular among parents, children and critics. In the year 2000, the bear family has grown again, for The Berenstain Bears: Baby makes Five has been just published.
Over 250 Berenstain Bears titles have been published to date, written and illustrated by the Berenstain couple, and they have quickly become the most widely recognized and loved bear characters in USA. The best-selling Berenstain Bears book ever is a First Time Book, The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room.
They also worked on books for older children (aged 8-11) with the series Big Chapter Books and Bear Scout Books, deling with current topics like drugs, handicapped children, religion and other pre-adolescent issues.
The Berenstain Beras success is obvious: 35 of the titles are among Publishers Weekly top 250 titles of all time, and 15 are among the top 100 best-selling children's paperbacks.
The Berenstain Bears on the Internet:
There are many pages devoted to the Brenstain couple and their work, but the official site with mails, activities, library and biographies is http://www.berenstainbears.com