Berenstain was stricken at her home in Solebury on Thursday. Just two days earlier, she had still been at work in the studio, illustrating two books that will appear later this year, said her son, Michael Berenstain, an artist who has been her coauthor in recent years. The books, which Michael Bere
Their first work was for the Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin in 1946 or '47, Michael Berenstain said. They did spot illustrations for the newspaper's book-review section that showed people reading, he said. Throughout the 1950s, the couple cartooned for a variety of magazines.
As the couple worked on their second book, Geisel suggested that they work the name Berenstain Bears into the title, said Michael Berenstain. Thus, the book that would have been known as The Bike Lesson was titled The Bike Lesson: Another Adventure of the Berenstain Bears. And thus was a franchise l
Michael Berenstain said that his parents "both grew up in the Depression and they had a commonsense approach to things." He recalled that his mother "would always say kids are a lot smarter than parents think."
"She would always say the book she was working on was her favorite," said Michael Berenstain. But she always seemed to also mention Inside Outside Upside Down, a book about concepts for children 4 and up, which the Berenstains wrote in 1968 and Geisel edited.