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Berenstains: Life lessons for the pre-ironic

  March 08, 2012

Jan Berenstain, who died last month at 88, created one of the most enduring lines of children’s books in American history and proved that simplicity can breed success. With her husband Stan, and later with her son, Berenstain created the Berenstain Bears, whose very names - Mama, Papa, Sister, and Brother - conveyed how universal their stories were meant to be. Adults chafed at their tidy, moralistic messages, but the bears had an enduring appeal to children.

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