Michael Berenstain, a 1969 graduate of Cheltenham High School, went on to become the writer and illustrator of the famous “Berenstain Bears” books.

The series of children books was created by Michael’s parents, Stan and Jan Berenstain, in 1962. They met as art students at the Philadelphia Museum and School of Industrial Arts, which is now known as the University of the Arts. 

Stan died in 2005 and Jan died in 2012. Michael, who attended the University of the Arts in the 1970s, has continued their legacy.

“The people still want new Berenstain Bear books,” he told Philly Voice in 2024. “Since the characters have been around for so long, since 1962, people assume that they were only of the era when they encountered them, when they were kids or when they had kids. But the demand for new content is just constant. And we have hundreds of titles and people still want more. So I have to keep doing new ones. Because as long as people want them, I’ll do new ones.”

Michael, now a Fort Washington resident, is pictured below with his mother and talking to Cheltenham Elementary students in 2013:

CBS News interviewed Michael on Tuesday about the series’ origins, which he says came from his parents’ experiences growing up in Philadelphia during the Great Depression. Check out the clip:

For more on Michael’s career, you can visit his website.

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Screengrab: CBS News