Stanley and Janice Berenstain
Copyright 1956
Stan and Jan Berenstain are best known for writing and
illustrating the Berenstain Bears books.
Brother and Sister Bear faced all the normal joys and sorrows of
siblings and Mama and Papa Bear did their best to encourage and guide. In real life, the Berenstains had two sons, Mike
and Leo. I can tell by reading their
picture books that they were writing from experience. What I didn’t know is that Stan and Jan also
wrote a couple of parenting books.
This one here, Baby Makes Four, was written after four-
year -old Leo had his world disrupted by new baby Mike. The Berenstain family approached this
experience like all others, with practicality and humor. The advice to not take life with young
children too seriously is so useful if parents want to maintain sanity!
“How in the name of all that’s reasonable can you give the
baby attention it must have without Big Brother getting increasingly fed up
with the whole idea of having a baby brother…It’s simply a matter of tearing
yourself in half and plowing ahead in two different directions.”
Arranging for the older child to be immersed in a project
when you know the baby will be needing attention is great advice. If that doesn’t work, as the illustration
below depicts, “You’ll find that Baby makes a very nice bookrest.”
Adding a brand new baby to a family is a huge adjustment for
each and every member. My thoughts are
with Theo and Baby Marilyn this week as they begin their relationship – and here’s
hoping their parents can find the humor along the way!
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