Created in 1981 by the U.S. greeting card company American Greetings,[1] the Care Bears are a group of characters that have appeared in various media. Since early 1983, various companies in the Americas, Europe and Israel have published books based on the franchise. In the United States, the Care Bears' books have been available through Random House, Parker Brothers and Scholastic Books.
English-language books
Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers, a board game company then owned by General Mills, launched its book publishing division in February 1983;[2] its first series consisted of six books featuring the Care Bears.[2][3]: 155–156 Various authors contributed to the resulting series, Tales from the Care Bears; Tom Cooke illustrated most of the stories. At the time of publication, various trade publications took note of Parker Brothers' unique marketing strategy for the books.[3]: 156 On October 30, 1987,[4] Great Britain's Octopus Books released a book under this title (ISBN0-7064-3053-0),[5] containing Amelia Hubert's Sweet Dreams for Sally and Evelyn Mason's A Sister for Sam.[6]
Parker Brothers spent US$1 million in advertising on the original six-book series, which was made to promote the Care Bears characters. According to a company spokesperson, the stories would demonstrate "love, caring, dreams, happiness, friendship, wishes, and feelings". The series made its debut at the 1983 American International Toy Fair, along with other Care Bears products.[3]: 155 John Keller, editorial director for the books, commented on their creation:
The old way was to give authors their head. We, on the other hand, make up a list of, say, thirty interesting plot ideas, and then we do consumer testing ... Once I have the rankings, I call up my pool of authors and give them a plot to work with, and a style sheet explaining the characters. And then I say, "Please write 2,500 words filled with verve and excitement."[3]: 155–156
In 1983, the U.S. publishing company Random House was granted paperback rights to books in the Care Bears franchise through American Greetings and General Mills, as Parker Brothers was unable to secure the exclusive publishing rights at the time.[9] Bruce Jones, a Parker Brothers staffer, could not secure the exclusive publishing rights, and had to settle for a split license with Random House.[3]: 220 During the mid-1980s, Dorsey Laboratories promoted its Triaminic cough medicine through a Random House publication, The Care Bears Help Chase Colds;[10] this promotion helped sell over 2 million units of the product, along with a free copy of said book.[11]
In 1984, Parker Brothers' Tales from the Care Bears made their appearance in Spain as the Un Cuento de Los Osos Amorosos series. The titles in this version were published by that country's division of General Mills, and translated from the original English by Leopoldo Rodríguez Regueira.[16][17][18]
In 1987, Montena D.L. published two books featuring the Care Bears: Juego con los Osos Amorosos (ISBN84-397-1099-2)[22] and Dónde, cómo, qué.[23] That same year, Madrid's Mondadori published Feliz cumpleaños, Osos Amorosos.[24]
French-language books
Tales from the Care Bears
France's division of General Mills published Danièle Laufer's translations of the Tales in 1984.[25]
Around 1987, Israel's Modan published Hebrew versions of selected Tales from the Care Bears, marketed for this country as Sipur mi-sipure Dube'khpat li. ʻIvri Shafrirah Zakai and Tom Ḳuḳ served as the translators.
Shafrirah Zakai wrote another four books featuring the characters, also from Modan: Dube'khpat li ṿe-taḥarut ha-kishronot,[55]Dubeʼkhpat li ṿeha-beʻayah ha-ḳeṭanah,[56]Dubeʼkhpat li ṿe-tahalukhat ha-ḳarnaval[57] and Dubeʼkhpat li ṿeha-mirdaf aḥare ha-otsar.[58]
Polish-language books
Urodziny urwisa, an Ewa Ziółkowska translation of an earlier French work by Imelda Heuschen, was published in 1994 by Warsaw's RTV (ISBN83-85493-53-0).[59]
^The online library catalog database WorldCat lists the full title of this book as Ten Little Care Bears Counting Book: A Learn to Count Game with Doors to Open and Rhymes to Find.[12]
^Listed on WorldCat as The Care Bear Cousins and the Snowy Christmas.[13]
^Product information for The Care Bears Movie: Meet the Care Bear Cousins (Library Binding). Childrens Press. October 1985. ISBN0516090291.
^Rosenblatt, Arthur S. (October 1985). Product information for Keep on Caring (Library Binding). Children's Press. ISBN0516090275.
^"Business Week". BusinessWeek. Part 1. McGraw Hill: 98. 1983. Retrieved September 21, 2010. For example, because Parker has no track record in books, it was unable to obtain exclusive publishing rights to the Care Bears. American Greetings and General Mills cautiously dealt the paperback rights to Random House Inc....
^Murphy, Catherine Frey; Hambleton, Vicki; Broerman, Joan; Pfitsch, Patricia (2000). Children's Writer Guide to 2000. The Writer's Bookstore. p. 163. ISBN1-889715-03-4. Retrieved August 13, 2010. Dorsey Laboratories, in cooperation with Random House, developed a children's book, The Care Bears Help Chase Colds, to promote the sale of their Triaminic cold-care products.
^Catalog information for Ten Little Care Bears. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC10117001 – via WorldCat.
^Catalog information for The Care Bears and the Snowy Christmas. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC12873335 – via WorldCat.
^Catalog information for The Care Bears' Night Before Christmas. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC12078889 – via WorldCat.
^Raugust, Karen (August 18, 2003). "What's Old Is New Again: A raft of properties from the 1980s are being reintroduced in books and other licensed products". Publishers Weekly. 250 (33). Reed Business Information: 30.
^ abCatalog information for Una Amiga para Laura. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC19096479 – via WorldCat.
^ abCatalog information for Una Bruja en la Calle. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC15117329 – via WorldCat.
^ abCatalog information for Una Hermanita para Oscar. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC15117278 – via WorldCat.
^Catalog information for El Cariño Es Lo Que Cuenta. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC15117243 – via WorldCat.
^Catalog information for Dulces Sueños para Mónica. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC15117222 – via WorldCat.
^Catalog information for El Problema de Iván. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC15117171 – via WorldCat.
^Catalog information for Juega con los Osos Amorosos. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC434849587 – via WorldCat.
^Catalog information for Dónde, cómo, qué. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). OCLC21389898 – via WorldCat.
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