The Berenstain Bears

"The Berenstain Bears" are a fictional family of anthropomorphic bears created by Stan and Jan Berenstain in a series of very popular children's literature.

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The popularity of the books subsequently spawned numerous child-friendly television shows and computer games.

The family consists of Papa Bear, the woodworker father; Mama Bear, his homemaker (and sometimes small-business-owner) wife; and their three children: Brother Bear, Sister Bear, and Honey Bear. Stories are set in Bear Country, a society composed entirely of bears. Story lines typically follow the Bear family as they deal with topics relevant to both children and parents.

Each Bear's role in the family is well defined. Brother, as the older sibling, is controlling and protective of Sister and also more cautious in his manner. Sister, as the younger sibling, is more laid-back, energetic and free spirited. Mama typically is the source of wisdom and knowledge. Papa, while also being wise at times, is more bumbling and clumsy in his demeanor. Both Brother and Sister are susceptible to making "poor decisions", particularly in situations that are likely to be faced by children in their age (and sometimes gender-) groups. Sister has, at times, been portrayed as "the more responsible one"; however, the Bears overall are quite malleable, and character traits tend to be fairly unique to each given story. One of the upshots of this is that readers can generally read the books in any order they choose; there is little "backstory" beyond the family itself (and even in this case, there is some flexibility -- in the earliest stories, Sister had yet to be born, and her arrival was the subject of an early Bears storybook).