Stan Berenstain, who authored the popular Berenstain Bears children's books with his wife Jan Berenstain, has died at age 82. USA Todaysays the author pair created over 200 books together.
In more than 200 books, the Berenstain Bears, written and illustrated by Stan and Jan Berenstain, helped children for 40 years cope with trips to the dentist, eating junk food and cleaning their messy rooms.
The first Berenstain Bears book, The Great Honey Hunt, was published in 1962. The couple developed the series with children's author Theodor Geisel — better known as Dr. Seuss, then head of children's publishing at Random House — with the goal of teaching children to read while entertaining them.
Despite changes in society in the last four decades, little has changed in Bears Country.
"Kids still tell fibs and they mess up their rooms and they still throw tantrums in the supermarket," Stan Berenstain told The Associated Press in 2002. "Nobody gets shot. No violence. There are problems, but they're the kind of typical family problems everyone goes through."
The Washington Post also has an article today about Stan Berenstain. You can learn more about the Berenstain Bears on the official website. Stan and Jan Berenstain also published an autobiography called Down A Sunny Dirt Road.
