It is with much regret that I discovered the passing of Jan Berenstain today. Paired with her husband, Stan who died in 2005, Jan produced some marvellous stories about the Berenstain Bears which have entertained many generations of children.

I’m sad to say I don’t recall these books from my childhood but then that’s a long time ago. On the other hand, my kids loved their books and I enjoyed them thoroughly with them. They’re good, wholesome writing with really lovely illustrations.

I mentioned this over dinner last night and the kids waxed nostalgic. They talked about the books they’d bought from the Scholastic Book Fairs and the cute, little toys that came with some of the books. They even asked where the books were as they’d like to reread them. Bear in mind these books are aimed at early primary school and my kids are grown up, I think it’s fair to say the Berenstains made a very large impact on them.