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Children's book creator Stan Berenstain dies

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 16:32 CST

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stan Berenstain, who with his wife created the popular Berenstain Bears children's book series, has died in Pennsylvania, his published said on Tuesday. He was 82.

Berenstain died on Saturday of complications from cancer, according to publisher HarperCollins Children's Books.

Stan Berenstain and his wife Jan co-wrote and illustrated more than 200 Berenstain Bears titles that helped two generations of children learn to read.

Books have included "The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Grownups," "The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food" and "The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners."

The patriarch, Papa Bear, is a carpenter who considers himself an expert in almost everything, "often wrong but never in doubt." Mama Bear is a champion quilt-maker and a fan of honey-cured salmon.

The Bears have three children, Brother Bear, Sister Bear and Honey Bear, the last of whom was introduced in 2000 in "The Berenstain Bears and Baby Makes Five."

Stan Berenstain was born in Philadelphia on September 29, 1923. He was trained in the fine arts at the city's Museum School, now the University of the Arts, where he met his future wife in 1941.

Stan became interested in cartooning during World War II, when he spent more than three years in the U.S. Army, and sold some cartoons to the Saturday Review of Literature.

He married Jan, who was also passionate about cartooning, soon after leaving the military. Before long, they were contributing to magazines such as Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post.

After publishing several books, starting with "The Berenstains' Baby Book," the Berenstains submitted a book to Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, who had become an editor for Random House's Beginner Books.

That 1962 book, "The Big Honey Hunt," introduced the Bear family, "who lived down a sunny dirt road deep in Bear Country." Geisel would edit several Bears books.

A show on the U.S. PBS public TV network would follow. The Berenstains have also written an autobiography and created two children's musicals.

Stan Berenstain is survived by his wife, sons Leo and Michael, a sister and four grandchildren. Jan and Michael Berenstain will continue the children's book series, according to HarperCollins. Funeral services are expected to be private.

Source: REUTERS

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