May 2015 – Deep In Bear Country – A Berenstain Bearcast

Episode 3 – The Berenstain Bears and the Bike Lesson!

Episode 3 - The Bike Lesson — Episode 3 – The Bike Lesson

Well, this is exciting! The first NAMED Berenstain Bears book! By which I mean, of course, that it’s the first book which identifies the Bear Family as “The Berensatin Bears.” Much like “The Addams Family” referred to “the family created by Charles Addams.” This all came as a surprise to Stan and Jan Berenstain. Which reminds me! It’s also the first book that refers to them as “Stan and Jan Berenstain” rather than as “Stanley and Janice.” And, isn’t that nice?

So, woo-hoo for this. Be sure to stay tuned for more episodes coming soon. I’ve got a few treats up my sleeves. Also, pop by Twitter and follow us! And, rate and review us on iTunes! It’d be really cool of you to do! Thanks!

Episode 2 – The Berenstain Bears and The Big Honey Hunt!

Deep In Bear Country - Episode 2 — Deep In Bear Country – Episode 2

Finally! An actual book!

“The Big Honey Hunt” marks the introduction of the Bear Family – Papa, Mama and . . . Small. Notice how many ideas that would carry over into later books are already in place: the tree house, the outfits, the attitudes of the bears. This was due to Dr. Seuss’s very exacting editorial hand. He insisted that Stan and Jan build these characters from the ground up; that the Bears exist as fully realized characters before the Berenstains begin writing about them. And, it shows. The Bears arrive fully realized as characters. Not, of course, as the characters they would eventually grow into, but as characters in their own right.

Now, there is a strong Seussian influence on these early books. Specifically, the ramping up of craziness and the physical comedy perpetrated by Papa Bear. This intentional “zaniness” will lighten over the course of the early books, but never fully leave until we get into books for younger children. For now, it’s all zaniness, all the time.

Deep In Bear Country: Episode 1 – An Introduction!

Hello! And welcome to the first episode of “Deep In Bear Country: A Berenstain Bearcast.” In this episode, I take you through the whole reason this thing even exists. I give you a little rundown of the history of authors Stan and Jan Berenstain and hopefully prepare you for the long LONG journey to come.

All of the biographical information in the episode comes from “Down A Sunny Dirt Road – An Autobiography” by Stan and Jan Berenstain. It’s an invaluable source of information and I’ll be covering it specifically in a later episode.