Stan and Jan Berenstain's mid-century illustrations

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My kids have a couple of Berenstain Bears books, which I've never bothered to read, because I don't find the art very compelling. I'm much more interested in Richard Scarry's wry humor, or Dr. Seuss' psychedelic meltiness, or Mel Crawford's primary-colored frankness.

But a couple of weeks ago I visited the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY, and came across an exhibit of 1940s through 1960s era magazine illustrations by Stan and Jan Berenstain, and I was knocked over by how stupendously fun and brilliantly composed they were. The large illustrations, which appeared in Colliers, McCall’s, and The Saturday Evening Post, featured crowd scenes of dozens of kids fighting, making mischief, throwing temper tantrums, crying, taunting, hiding, and marveling at the world around them. The art rivals Will Elder's for its masterfully executed complexity and elements of humorous little details.

It turns out there's a book that has many of these illustrations, called Child's Play: The Berenstain Baby Boom, 1946-1964 - Cartoon Art of Stan and Jan Berenstain. I just ordered my copy and am looking forward to poring over the pages with my kids.

Discussion

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#1 posted by grimc, April 6, 2009 2:08 PM

Those are fantastic. And I can't believe I've gone through my entire life thinking it was "Berenstein".

#2 posted by Lucifer, April 6, 2009 2:19 PM

These are very reminiscent of Sempe and Goscini's work - They cooperated in the writing and illustration of the French series of books "Le Petit Nicolas".

#3 posted by wolfiesma, April 6, 2009 2:21 PM

I think the artwork is pretty cute, but I really love what Stan and Jan do with the prose. One of our favorites is "He Bear, She Bear" which introduces kids to different professions. Which, doesn't sound that exciting, but the way they write it, it actually is. The back of the book has a little bio of the authors, and its a picture of the two of them crammed into an office working on a book together. I thought it looked sort of romantic. :) Old Hat, New Hat was also a very big hit here, and that basically teaches a bunch of adjectives. I'd put them both in about the 2-5 year old range. I guess they have another series of mysteries and cautionary tales and such, but they are mostly for older kids. I'm sure we'll get into those in time...

#4 posted by Stefan Jones, April 6, 2009 3:39 PM

That's great stuff! The penny arcade scene could easily be a MAD Magazine illo.

#5 posted by Mr_Voodoo, April 6, 2009 5:33 PM

Thanks, Mark. Awesome stuff.

@GRIMC - Don't worry about the name mix-up. Those things happen more often than you'd think.

**koff koff Suess? koff**

#6 posted by snarkhunter, April 6, 2009 6:49 PM

When our kids were little and we had lots of Berenstain bears books lying around, it seemed that the books fell into two categories. The early ones were quite good. The later ones were terrible. Reading the fine print showed that the later ones were by "Berenstain, Inc."

#7 posted by Scott Phillips, April 6, 2009 6:57 PM

Lovely stuff....The Berenstains are remembered mostly for their Bear books for kids, but they first became known for rather racy adult paperbacks. The two I remember best from my own childhood were "Lover Boy" and a sequel called "Bedside Lover Boy." Pretty adult stuff, and I remember getting my first bookstore job in 1979 and being a little shocked to find that thy were writing kids' books.

Incidentally that "Berenstain Inc." copyright is most likely an IRS strategy rather than an admission that they weren't doing the books themselves.

#8 posted by Anonymous, April 6, 2009 7:50 PM

my parents have an old book from the berenstains about how to introduce your kids to sex or something like that. it has some human nudity and graphic language, IIRC. all in all a pretty big find for a young'n

#9 posted by alkan, April 6, 2009 8:09 PM

What are the bright patches/dots?

#10 posted by Takuan, April 6, 2009 8:22 PM

reflected house lights in the glass covering the art.

#11 posted by Stefan Jones, April 6, 2009 9:46 PM

#8: "an old book from the berenstains about how to introduce your kids to sex"

For a brief, horrified moment I pictured momma and papa bear talking squicky with the kids.

#12 posted by Anonymous, April 6, 2009 9:46 PM

Reminds me of Jean-Jacques Sempé

http://images.google.de/images?hl=de&q=sempe&btnG=Bilder-Suche&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

#13 posted by Anonymous, April 7, 2009 8:09 AM

Remainds me of Goscinny a lot!
http://www.linternaute.com/sortir/exposition/photo/les-50-ans-du-petit-nicolas/image/petit-nicolas-390055.jpg