Berenstains celebrate anniversary of first book

SOLEBURY, Pa. -- Since moving into their treehouse deep in Bear Country 40 years ago, the Berenstain Bears have helped children cope with first trips to the dentist, new siblings, summer camp and messy rooms.

Now, with the release of their autobiography, authors Stan and Jan Berenstain want to share a few firsts of their own -- from their first college art class together to the early meetings with Dr. Seuss that grew into more than 200 books featuring the Berenstain Bears.

"Down a Sunny Dirt Road" initially alternates chapters between Stan and Jan as they unspool stories about their childhoods in Philadelphia during the Depression, and their admiration of each other's drawing at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. Their narrative voices blend as they become a writing and illustrating team with their marriage after Stan's return from service in World War II.

The publication of "Down a Sunny Dirt Road," due in bookstores Tuesday, coincides with the 40th anniversary of the first Berenstain Bears book, "The Great Honey Hunt," in 1962.

The Berenstains, both 79, honed their family friendly humor drawing cartoons for The Saturday Evening Post, McCalls and Colliers. Examples of these early sketches and other pre-bear artwork will be included in a retrospective of the Berenstains opening in October at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa. The exhibit is curated by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass.,

The Berenstains developed their series with children's author Theodor Geisel -- better known as Dr. Seuss, then head of children's publishing at Random House -- intending to teach children to read while entertaining them.

Jan Berenstain said they chose bears because of their anthropomorphic qualities.

"Bears are a tradition in children's books. They stand up and they wear clothes and they're great fun to draw. We drew them a lot as art students. We can give them the same kind of facial expressions we put on the people we draw," she said.

They still begin every Berenstain Bear book by hand. Stan Berenstain sketches covers for a DVD collection of their animated television specials. Across the room, Jan Berenstain points out paint splatters on the floor from where some of the earlier books began.