Talk:List of Berenstain Bears books

Merger
This article is a merged article about the Berenstain Bears. The discussion for this merger can be found at Articles for deletion/The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist. I also tried editing the summaries for the books to make them shorter, but I kept most of the information. if you have more you can add, please feel free to do so Z1720 (talk) 21:29, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
 * 2015.  --P64 (talk) 19:19, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

Incorrect Summaries
I've noticed many of the book summaries are incorrect, sometimes having no relation at all to the books. For example, the summary for "The Berenstain Bears and the trouble with Money" states:


 * "The cubs see new jackets in the mall window and want them really badly, but the jackets are expensive, so they decide to save money. They make lemonade stands and map stands, but they go too far when they make their friends pay just to get their own fishing worms and when they refuse to play with their friends and make them pay to borrow pillows. They save up enough money for the jackets, but instead of buying them, they decide to make more money for free hats. They make more stands and chores but see their friends not inviting them to their slumber parties and to the movie theaters. The cubs believe at first that their friends are just jealous that they're (Brother, Sister) getting fancy jackets, but their parents say that their friends are feeling like they're no longer Brother and Sister's friends. The cubs soon realize the error of their selfish ways. So instead of using the money to get free hats AND the jackets, they decide to buy the jackets, but then use the rest of the money to start their bank accounts and to have a party with their friends."

Besides this being entirely false, it is very poorly written. I've began correcting several of them, but since I haven't read all the books yet, I do not know how many are incorrect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.77.174.226 (talk) 01:05, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Not Bear Family
Two books that were on the list, are not Bear family books as far as I can determine from online listings: —MJBurrage(T•C) 15:33, 18 August 2009 (UTC)
 * The Day of the Dinosaur (1987) Random House, First Time Readers
 * After the Dinosaurs (1988) Random House, First Time Readers


 * That's correct. Probably The day of the dinosaur, a 32-page (standard) picture book was the first Stan & Jan book illustrated by Mike. According to [//worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n80-035014 Works by or about Mike Berenstain] in libraries (WorldCat catalog) it is his second most widely-held work in libraries. The other 19 are all Berenstain Bear books, all 1995 or later --although his works solo and with other writers begin 1976.


 * I have added some of that info to Stan and Jan Berenstain (with some more in a hidden comment). --P64 (talk) 21:47, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Neutral Point Of View
I doubt this needs to be phrased as such: "Mama then makes up with the cubs for being a Selfish Jerk." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.151.32.72 (talk) 22:08, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Summaries
Why does this article give summaries of some of the books? I thought it was just supposed to be a list. If it's going to summarize some of the books, shouldn't it summarize all of them? Molly moon  19:43, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Building a better book list
Feeling ambitious? This article would be more accessible and readable if the "Publication summary" and "Story summary" sections were combined into a single table using Template:Book list. &mdash; Ringbang (talk) 03:18, 4 July 2011 (UTC)


 * This article would be more accessible and readable if it covered the main points only. Rissa, Guild of Copy Editors (talk) 23:08, 30 August 2015 (UTC)

Recent, forthcoming, and future?
I checked Jan, Jan & Mike, and Mike in the Library of Congress online catalog. Here are the records for four recent and forthcoming books. The three 2013/2014 records name editors who are not Berenstains. If they continue to be named after the library receives the books, this is a change, perhaps representing editorial control by the publisher that was not exercised previously.
 * 2012 Jan & Mike http://lccn.loc.gov/2011927583
 * 2013-05 J&M http://lccn.loc.gov/2012950646
 * 2013-10 Mike http://lccn.loc.gov/2013935049
 * 2014-02 Mike http://lccn.loc.gov/2013944040

This link may be useful here "forever":
 * Berenstain, Mike, 1951- at LC Authorities --point of entry to LC online catalog for Michael/Mike

--P64 (talk) 21:47, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

Rewrite
There must be a website or fansite where all of this information appears, yes? Wikipedia articles are supposed to summarize information in a concise form, not supply everything that is known about a topic. This article needs to be rewritten to cover just the basic elements. Rissa, Guild of Copy Editors (talk) 23:07, 30 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Related:
 * History shows Berenstain Bears created 2003-06-04 (with "Stan and Jan Berenstain" evidently a redlink). This list article created 2008-05-05 largely by merger of numerous pages following discussion (see also, above).
 * See also Berenstain Bears just before 2008-04-30 and just after 2008-05-05 creation of this list article. --P64 (talk) 19:19, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

Writers and illustrators
The preface should say whether Stan and Jan Berenstain co-wrote and co-illustrated all of the books (as far as we know, because they were always so credited), whether one was only a writer or only an illustrator.

Neither 'Mike' nor 'Michael' appears on this page now, where the role of Mike Berenstain should be covered in the preface as well as book listings.

Book lists/tables should identify writer(s) and illustrator(s). To limit repetition they may be abbreviated in each line or the list/table may be divided, eg one list/table for book written and illustrated by Stan and Jan Berenstain jointly.

Is there any link to Berenstain Bears, which should be mentioned in the preface? --P64 (talk) 19:06, 21 October 2015 (UTC)