If you didnt read the Berenstain Bears when you were little its possibly you had your head buried like an ostrich. This family of bears has delighted children for three decades and 200 books.

The author of the stories, Stan Berenstain, recently died at the age of 82.

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."

Stan and Jan Berenstain began drawing together when they met at Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art in 1941.

The two married soon after he got out of World War II-era Army service and began submitting cartoons to magazines. They became contributors to The Saturday Evening Post, McCalls and Collier's.

They got into the book business when an editor at a New York publishing house who enjoyed their magazine cartoons asked if they would like to do a book, according to their Web site.

Its always sad when people from our childhood die, but thankfully his books will last on beyond him and hopefully entertain our own children in the future.

Mr. Berenstain will be buried with a thousand terra cotta Sister Bears.

ms_n_thrope

Columbia, MO

August 2004

NOV 29, 2005 09:38 PM

they were some of the first books that i ever read. i had no idea they were up to 200. sad, but we still have the books and memories.

dahmer

South Vienna, OH

OLD SKOOL

NOV 29, 2005 09:41 PM

Awww. That's sad. I loved those books as a kid. "The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream" was my favorite.

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH

April 2004

NOV 29, 2005 09:43 PM

I remember owning a lot of those books and loving them.

And I remember in one of them the Berenstein boy had some awesome toys. But that's all I can remember.

Margot_Dent

Los Angeles, CA

February 2004

NOV 29, 2005 09:46 PM

fuck. i still own dozens of those. thats so sad

Arete

SUICIDEGIRL

I'm lost

NOV 29, 2005 10:00 PM

its really sad cos i mean, he died. but seriously....those books were so stereotypical. mama bear ran the household. papa bear was an overbearing idiot. and brother and sister bear were spoiled little buggers.

that being said, i still own like 40 of those books, and i love them all

_Sarah_

Kalamazoo, MI

January 2003

NOV 29, 2005 10:05 PM

Awww. Sad news, indeed.

200? Wow. Our library had about 30, and they couldn't keep them on the shelves. Their Christmas special was always one of my favorites.

Hooraydiation

Boston, MA

October 2005

NOV 29, 2005 10:08 PM

I went through most of my life thinking they were the Bearenstein Bears. Then in high school I asked my friend why a bunch of Jewish bears would celebrate Christmas and she set me straight.

rodan

Baltimore, MD

February 2005

NOV 29, 2005 10:09 PM

I liked the books - but the PBS TV show they made was just horribly horribly horribly abysmal and typical "preach to the kids, THEY won't notice!!" PBS pablum..... I was sad.