Children's books about the Berenstain Bears have been popular since Stan and Jan Berenstain's
The Big Honey Hunt was first published in 1962. The Berenstain's son, Michael, began working with his parents in the 1980s. In 2007, I did an
interview with Jan and Mike Berenstain. So much has happened since then that in May 2010, I contacted Mike Berenstain for an update.
Q. Mike, I know that you and your mother, Jan Berenstain, continued to collaborate on the Berenstain Bears after your father, Stan Berenstain, died in 2005. Now that your mother is in her 80s, is she still involved or have you become the sole Berenstain involved in creating the books?
A. My Mom is very, very involved. She reviews all concepts for books and illustrates many of the books herself.
The Living Lights Berenstain Bears Books
Q. You have a new Berenstain Bears series, Living Lights, published by Zonderkidz. According to the publisher, Zondervan, “Living Lights Berenstain Bears help children learn how God wants them to live everyday.†Mike, how did the Living Lights series come about? Was it something your mom and dad had talked about? Was it your idea or did the publisher come to you?
A. It was my idea but my Mom and Dad were very involved in developing it for publication. I wanted to do it because I am religious and wanted to create books about faith, expressing my own interest in this subject. Also, my parents and I sensed that many of our fans were religious and would welcome this.
Q. Are you doing all of the writing for the Living Lights series?
A. Yes, with my Mother’s input.
Q. What about the illustrations? Do you do them or do you have a Berenstain Bears studio of artists who work with you?
A. My Mother and I do most of the illustrations of our books. We have an art assistant who works with us and we also sometimes use freelance artists on some books.
Q. You and your family have worked with HarperCollins for many years, has it been hard to get used to working with another publisher?
A. Not at all, we published with Random House for 40 years, HarperCollins since 2003, and many, many other publishers over the years â€" Scholastic, Abrams, Bantam, Dell, Macmillan, etc.
Q. I personally don’t like heavy-handed “message†books, so I was pleased to see that your Living Lights Berenstain Bears books have the same light touch as your other Berenstain Bears books. How do you approach developing the Living Lights books? Do you and your editor discuss themes, are you assigned topics or do you come up with your own?
A. I suggest possible themes and our editor and marketing folks at Zondervan select those they think will work best in the line. Our intention from the beginning was to make these books accessible to very young children.
Q. What has been the response from parents to the Living Lights Berenstain Bears books? Have you heard from children about the books?
A. We have gotten lots of positive email and letters from both parents and children. Also the sales of the books have been extremely strong.
Q. Has anyone complained that Papa Bear is a little too childish to serve as a good role model or is the loving, but slightly goofy, Papa Bear accepted as enthusiastically by the Living Lights audience as your traditional audience?
A. Interestingly, I don’t think anyone has brought that up.
The Berenstain Bears First Time Books and Other HarperCollins Berenstain Bears Books
Q. Are you continuing to create books for the Berenstain Bears First Time series? What about other Berenstain Bears books for HarperCollins? What’s new or coming soon?
A. Yes! We have full publishing schedule of First Time Books, HarperCollins I Can Read books, Lift-the-Flap books, and large format hardcover storybooks.
The Berenstain Bears Movie
Mike, I know that a movie featuring the Berenstain Bears is in the works, and I have several questions about it.
Q. Will the movie be based on a specific Berenstain Bears book or just on the Berenstain Bears characters?
A. It will be a new story incorporating elements of and references to many of the books.
Q. Will it be live-action, animated or a combination of each?
A. Combination
Q. Who is producing the movie?
A. 21 Laps, Shawn Levy producer, for Fox/Walden, to be distributed by Fox.
Q. Are you directly involved in the movie?
A. Yes, I’m supervising and reviewing its content.
Q. Do you know what age children the movie will be for?
A. All ages from babies to grandparents (maybe great-grandparents.)
Q. Have any of the Berenstain Bears books been made into animated films or TV shows? If so, are they available on DVD?
A. Many! There were an NBC series, CBS series, and a PBS series. About 20 DVD collections of these are available from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The PBS series runs on Sprout cable.
In Summary
Q. What else should we know about the Berenstain Bears?
A. My Mom and I continue to create new books and entertainment about America’s favorite family of talking, clothes-wearing bears!
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