The Berenstain Bears is a series of
children's books created by
Stan and Jan Berenstain and continued by their son,
Mike Berenstain, who assumed partial authorship in 2002, and full authorship in 2012 following Jan's death. The books feature a family of
anthropomorphic grizzly bears who generally learn a
moral or
safety-related lesson in the course of each story. Since the 1962 debut of the first Berenstain Bears book,
The Big Honey Hunt, the series has grown to over 300 titles, which have sold approximately 260 million copies in 23 languages. The Berenstain Bears
franchise has also expanded well beyond the books, encompassing two television series and a wide variety of other products and licenses. While enjoying decades of popularity, the series has been criticized for its perceived saccharine tone and
formulaic storytelling.