Stan and Jan Berenstein wrote about something besides "down a sunny dirt road in Bear country"?! I had to investigate. Apparently, they have written quite a lot of books on parenting, including a guide on how to talk to your kids about sex! Now that sounds entertaining. But I'm fairly certain this was their first "parenting" book.
(I guess all of their books are about parenting, in a way. Very moralistic. I LOVED them as a kid, and we had about two billion of them, including the one about 'beary bubbies' - a spoof on beany babies.)
This book was not very well organized, but it was an enjoyable read. It skipped around a ton from topic to topic, and mostly it was a compilation of random humorous stories from their own or their friends' experiences as parents.
At the end of the book, I kind of felt like Stan and Jan were cynical, sex-obsessed alcoholics. I'm sure they just emphasized these types of jokes because, well, they are funny. But needless to say it was a very, very strange experience for me to hear their adult, non-children's-book-framed voices.
They wrote this book in an informal voice, which makes it almost conversational. And believe me, this dates them. They were definitely "old geezers" when writing this.
I was sad to learn, after reading this book, that they had passed away. I'd be interested in their biography. Something with a little less snarky tone, which also opens up their inner lives for the public to think about. Sound good?
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