RIP, Jan Berenstain

[pikkewyntjie.livejournal.com]

Obituary here and here. 

The Happy Meal prize is books (yes, books!), not a crappy plastic toy. Not sure the year, but it's from the 1980s, according to a similar video that was of a poorer quality, but Papa Bear saying "totally awesome" should be sufficient proof! 

Comments

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

I read those books to my kid until they fell apart!

I hadn't heard either, but I'm glad she was still working like that.

[pikkewyntjie.livejournal.com]

I think it's great if you can work into your 80s as long as you enjoy what you do and you don't have to work (unlike, say, a Walmart greeter, which is probably what I will be doing if my 401k continues to crap out).

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

Ha, I know what you mean. I work as a caretaker in a nursing home. I think I'll be doing that until I fall apart and need to go into one.

[pikkewyntjie.livejournal.com]

I hear ya! I used to work in a nursing home, too, in the kitchen, and we and the nurses would talk about how we hoped we would just die suddenly and not end up in a place like that. It wasn't a bad place, either. Just the whole idea of it isn't appealing even though many of the residents seemed okay with it. Oh, yeah, many of the staff were as old or older than the residents!

[meezergal.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hadn't heard this-- thanks for posting. I'm sad to hear she passed. :'( I was too old for "The Berenstain Bears and... ", but I LOVED the earlier books! One of my very first books was "The Bears' Picnic" (no Berenstain yet). It was hilarious! I still love it. :D

[princesslollyoz.livejournal.com]

I HAD THESE, i remember one came with little pens or markers or something, and one had like little squares of color on the last page that you wet with water and they became water colors to paint the other pages with

[pikkewyntjie.livejournal.com]

Nice! Definitely better that the cheap craptastic junk they give kids now. It's probably a good thing, though, otherwise I would probably let my kids have Happy Meals more often. Heck, I would get one for myself! Now we only get them when we're desperate like when we're on a road trip and passing through a small town.

Actually, Chik-fil-a seems to have pretty good prizes with their kids meals, or at least on the few times I have gotten food there. A few years ago, they were giving away copies of an abridged version The Jungle Book. Literature with lunch? Way to go, Chik-fil-a! It's still fast food, though. :P

[ukashi-goshi.livejournal.com]

Completely off-topic, but -

ICON LOVE.

[whoseline_wlsc]

I loved the Berenstain Bears when I was younger (heck I still do). They have a cartoon I watch on Sprout sometimes. RIP Jan.

[1geek-queen.livejournal.com]

:( My condolences to her family and friends. I love The Berenstain Bears!

[fickletastictot.livejournal.com]

Noooooooooo~ I loved Berenstain Bears! :( Heck, I pretty much learned how to speak English through Berenstain Bears Books.

RIP, cool lady!

[pikkewyntjie.livejournal.com]

That's a great legacy!

[shortsweetcynic.livejournal.com]

i loved these growing up. i remember this promo, too.

sad news. :(

[surreallifehero.livejournal.com]

The news made me incredibly sad, who didn't love the Berenstain bears as a child? And even though I was well past the preferred viewing age I enjoyed the PBS cartoon too. Sadface.

[pikkewyntjie.livejournal.com]

I was lucky enough to have kids at the right age so I was able to watch it with them. I think I enjoyed it more than they did. I just now learned that Michael Cera did the voice for Brother Bear! I just remember they all sounded really Canadian.

There was another series back in the 80s, but I pretty much missed that one. Too old to watch it and no kids to watch with me.

[surreallifehero.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, I'll admit it without shame. Even though I am a senior in college, I would still absolutely watch PBS kids shows if I could. I grew up on that stuff, and when other people my age get all sentimental about Rugrats or other things on cable I have to shrug my shoulders and admit I honestly have no idea what they are talking about. However, do you remember that episode that Arthur wrote that jingle for Crunch cereal? I still sing it whenever I pour myself a bowl in the mornings!

...And that's why I have no friends. xD

I cannot wait to be a parent and get to do that. My kids will be watching Mr. Rogers putting on his shoes every day. Minus the puppets. They always bothered me.

[jadedragoon.livejournal.com]

I recently bought the collection of happy meal toys off Ebay, loved the books as a kid too!

[hpfangirl71.livejournal.com]

I remember reading those books when I was a kid and I've always read them to my kids... Her passing is saddening. I wonder if her husband will continue writing the books?? We still read these to the younger kids and they love the tv show on PBS... <3

[pikkewyntjie.livejournal.com]

Stan Berenstain actually passed away in 2005. It would be nice if someone could carry on with the stories, though. :)

[hpfangirl71.livejournal.com]

Oh I wasn't even aware of that cuz the bks still had his name on them...
Yeah it would be nice if they got a ghostwriter for the bks since they are so beloved by little kids!! <3

[honeypants.livejournal.com]

I think their son still writes them, but they have more of an overt Christian bent now.