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Berenstain Bears co-creator Jan Berenstain dies

Jan Berenstain, who with her husband Stan created the Berenstain Bears books that have charmed preschoolers and their parents for 50 years, has died. She was 88.

Mike Berenstain says his mother suffered a severe stroke on Thursday and died Friday without regaining consciousness. She was a longtime resident of Solebury in southeastern Pennsylvania.

The Berestains’ gentle stories of Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Brother Bear and Sister Bear address childhood subjects like coping with new siblings, summer camp and peer pressure.

Stan and Jan Berenstain, both Philadelphia natives, were 18 when they met on their first day at art school in 1941. Stan Berenstain died in 2005.

The first Berenstain Bears book, “The Big Honey Hunt,” was published in 1962. More than 300 titles have been released in 23 languages.

(via apsies)

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khaleesi:

A GREAT BIG GIANT ASS LIST OF FEMINIST LIT. Being both a starter kit of sorts and a list of titles that are important to the history of feminism or current feminist movement.  

Please note: The author of this post has not read everything suggested here but has compiled this list based on recommendations, academic courses, etc. Many of these texts are admittedly problematic, but are included because this feminist believes it’s important to know where we’ve come from in order to move forward.

Go forth and read! And feel free to add titles if you reblog!

NEW TO FEMINISM?
Manifesta by Jennifer Baumgardner
Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks
Full-Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti

DIG IN!
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
Backlash by Susan Faludi
No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women by Estelle B. Freedman
The Essential Feminist Reader edited by Estelle B. Freedman
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism by Daisy Hernandez
Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy
Feminism Without Borders by Chandra Talpade Mohanty
Cunt: A Declaration of Independence by Inga Muscio
Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher
Wonder Women: Feminisms and Superheroes by Lillian Robinson
The Spiral Dance by Starhawk
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft; BUY IT | READ IT ONLINE
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolfe

FEMINISM AND THE BODY:
Unbearable Weight by Susan Bordo 
FAT!SO? Because You Don’t Have to Apologize For Your Size by Marilyn Wann
The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf 

FEMINISTS DO IT BETTER.
Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti 
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Judy Norsigian and the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective
The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti

GET INVOLVED!
Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism by Jennifer Baumgardner, Amy Richards, and Winona LaDuke
Leading the Way: Young Women’s Activism for Social Change by Mary K. Trigg 

(via crookedindifference)

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weasleyappreciationblog:

thedailywhat:

Stamp Set of the Day: New from the UK’s Royal Mail — “a special set of stamps featuring some of the world’s most famous wizards, witches and enchanters.”

[guardian / o|w.]

cum 2 me

(via thingssheloves)

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Dear Apsiring Writers (including myself):

Take note. While toiling away, trying to write a meaningful story that justly captures some aspect of the human experience, remember that publishing, like any creative pursuit, is first and foremost a business. You could write the greatest tale that has ever been told, but if no one believes that’s it’s marketable, no one will publish it. Meanwhile, someone who is famous for tanning, teasing her hair and getting excessively drunk in public will get a book published almost instantly because the publisher knows it will make them a lot of money.

Some depressing statistics about books:

• 33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
• 42% of college graduates never read another book after college.
• 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
• 57% of new books are not read to completion.
• 70% of books published do not earn back their advance.
• 70% of books published do not make a profit.

Knowing all of this, publishers pander to the lowest common denominator. They are far more likely to publish a terrible book that will sell a million copies than a brilliant book that will sell five hundred copies. Taking a gamble on a book they know almost no one will read is simply not worth their money.

However, you can at least try to take solace in the fact that in twenty years, people will still be reading, analysing and loving Poe’s work, yet no one will remember or care who Snooki is.

This is pathetic.

I’m never without a book. I can’t imagine not reading. What do people who don’t read do with their time?

(via galdikas)