<p>I’ll never forget reading these books to my young children and my oldest, about 7-8 y/o at the time, said it “sounded” like other BB books we had read the night before. Now this may not seem like “Ah-Ha” to you all, but my oldest went to a special school for LD kids at the time and I was absolutely in shock he picked up the cadence of the writing. Talk about making a text-to-text connection!</p>
<p>Maybe because one of the sons was a classmate, but I bought many of the bear books. i loved the illustrations and the themes. How wonderful it would be to be able to be a children’s author, to write themes about illness, envy, gossip, bullying, whatever came to mind. Most of us are likely to influence a few hundred people in our lives, but rarely can we alter viewpoints of millions.</p>
<p>We loved the BB books in our house!</p>
<p>88 years: may we all be so blessed!</p>
<p>I’m sad she passed, though it looks like she lived a long and productive life. But surely there are people who hated these books as much as I did?</p>
<p>I hope you find the perfect picnic spot.</p>
<p>Those were great books. Also “Magic School Bus” - we were just recently reminiscing about that series/</p>
<p>Mathmom, H says the books were too long when it came time to read to kids before bedtime. He didn’t like them as much as the rest of us…</p>
<p>One of their grandson’s was my D’s roommate. When he came to look at the apt, she said something along the lines of “I keep thinking of those Bears from the books” then he shared that they’re his grandparents, and D was so excited. She adored those Bears as a kid! :(</p>
<p>I loved the short rhymes just before the story. My favorites were Too Much Junk Food and the New Baby.
I thought their tree house was cool.</p>
<p>My adult D’s comment on the news : “If not for these books, I’d probably still talk to strangers, have a case of the gimmes, and eat too much junk food!”</p>
<p>We also had many of the BB books, and they were my D’s favorites. I am a former children’s librarian, and while I appreciate the books and many of the lessons within them were useful and pertinent to our family life, the books were not my favorite to read over and over again. I always read two books of her choice to my D at bedtime, but only one could be a BB book.</p>
<p>When discussing which childhood items she wanted saved as we were getting our house ready for sale, the only items she requested were her dollhouse and the BB books!</p>
<p>For those who saved their BB collections for forthcoming grandchildren, there are many more titles issues in the last decade or so. There are also some recent books with Christian themes co-written with one of their sons.</p>
<p>NPR had a neat interview with the son today
[Co-Creator</a> Of ‘Berenstain Bears’ Book Series Dies : NPR](<a href=“Co-Creator Of 'Berenstain Bears' Book Series Dies : NPR”>Co-Creator Of 'Berenstain Bears' Book Series Dies : NPR)</p>
<p>Sorry for her family’s loss.
There is so, so much quality children’s literature out there. The BB books are not in any way in that category - not well written, overly didactic. Ugh.</p>
<p>There are some great guides to children’s books out there that will help parents find the good stuff - books that you will love reading to your children (or grandchildren) over and over and over again. Why waste time with the insipid, low-quality stuff when there are so many great books out there??</p>
<p>Wow MomCat!
There’s room for all kinds of books for children. I have been a primary grades teacher for almost 30 years. I have shared BB books with my students right along with Caldecott winners and classics. BB books have helped many a family discuss issues that matter to kids like jealousy, sibling rivalry, and greed. If you want to develop vocabulary and teach literary elements, don’t do it with BB, but if you want to relax and read a book that talks about ideas kids and families can relate to I heartily endorse the Berenstain Bears.
By the way I too heard the interview with Stan and Jan’s son. He loved and admired his parents and I could feel the connection between his own family and the “Bear Family.”</p>
<p>My kids liked the BB books too even though they were far from my favorite.
( the book where dad & brother went out for a walk & returned to find a new baby in the house drove me nuts)
I also got pretty tired of reading Green Eggs & Ham. </p>
<p>But just like not everything I read is Tolstoy or Asimov, there also is a place for the BB books & Bad News Ballet. ;)</p>