Children’s book author and illustrator Jan Berenstain has died at the age of 88. She and her late husband Stan collaborated on more than 300 “Berenstain Bears” books, which addressed children’s common concerns such as peer pressure and going to the dentist or summer camp.  

Both grew up in Philadelphia, and they met on their first day of art school at the age of 18.  They lived in Solebury in Bucks County for many years.  Her son mike says she suffered a severe stroke Thursday, February 23, and died on Friday without regaining consciousness.  Mike Berenstain is an illustrator who collaborated with his mother on the bear books in recent years.