Berenstain Bear book co-creator dies at 82

PHILADELPHIA – Stan Berenstain’s legacy began with a honey hunt and will be continued, appropriately, all in the family.

Berenstain, who with his wife, Jan, created more than 200 Berenstain Bear children’s books over 40 years, died Saturday from complications with cancer. He was 82.

The couple began drawing together at art school and contributed illustrations to magazines in the 1950s. Dr. Seuss himself, Theodor Giesel, urged them to write for children and helped them develop their series. Their first bear-focused book, “The Big Honey Hunt,” was published in 1962.

The books, TV specials and DVDs that followed have touched on youth and family issues, including trips to the dentist, the first day of school and teen drug use.

The Berenstains’ sons Leo and Michael have in recent years helped them write and illustrate, and HarperCollins Children’s Books plans to continue the series.