Child's play : the Berenstain baby boom, 1946-1964

Before the lovable, shaggy-haired Berenstain Bears clan came to live down a sunny dirt road in Bear Country, their creators - Stan and Jan Berenstain - were starting out in their artistic careers, drawing witty cartoons and magazine illustrations on the joys and foibles of parenting.

This profusely illustrated and humorous volume collects the Berenstains' early work, created from 1946 until 1964, inspired by their own experiences as parents in the postwar baby boom era.

More than 200 Berenstain drawings featured in "McCall's", "The Saturday Evening Post" and other publications as well as "Collier's" magazine covers fill these pages evoking an era when the baby population exploded, American prosperity soared and more and more families were escaping cities to live the suburban American dream.

Although much of the artwork is more than 40 years old, it reflects family life and values that we still hold dear.This is very much a reading book, not an "art of" book and will keep readers enthralled - and laughing - for hours.

It is not a book for New Yorker readers but for middle America, whether urbanites or suburbanites.AForeword by Jan Berenstain (Stan passed away in 2005) tells how the games and hobbies of their own childhoods as well as their own children inspired their artwork.And an essay by Mike Berenstain gives the history of how his parent's met and began to collaborate together.