I belong to my public radio station's "book club", which means that along with my membership, I pay extra so that they send me their book picks every once in awhile. They recently sent me a copy of Michael Davis's book Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. Okay, I love the title!
This book wasn't on my radar screen at all, but I must say I'm intrigued. I loved "Sesame Street" as a child! I love it as a parent! I can sing "Rubber Duckie" and "I Love Trash" with the best of them. I still remember scenes from Sesame Street that I saw when I must have been about four years old.
In the letter sent with the book, it says that author Michael Davis "talks about the creation and history of this pop culture landmark. From its inspiration in the civil rights movement, to Nixon's attempts to cut off its public funding, Davis explores how Sesame Street taught millions of children not just their letters and numbers, but also cooperation and fair play, tolerance and self-respect, and the importance of listening."
So my reading takes this unexpected turn, because I'll certainly give this book a try, though I doubt I would have bought it for myself.
Did you watch Sesame Street as a kid? Did you find it useful, either as a child or as a parent?
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10 comments:
I actually watched Sesame Street as an adolescent. I also spent a lot of very relaxing after school days watching Mr. Rogers when I was about 16. It was a lovely escape from the turmoil of adolescence. There, I have now admitted something I tell very few people!
My own children were big fans of Elmo, and I still do love him.
I watched Sesame Street as a kid. But when I turned it on for my daughter one day, it almost felt foreign to me- a lot of things have changed since I was four. My kid didn't like the "muppet" characters, and was scared silly by the Mr. Noodle. Who would have thought- I think I'm the only mom with a kid who doesn't like Sesame S.
The NY Times gave this a mixed review, but as a childhood fan of Sesame street, I'd be interested to read it.
I loved Bert and Ernie, Grover, the Count, Oscar and co and still remember them vividly. Having seen the odd current episode though, some of the changes make me laugh eg the Cookie Monster's new song, Cookies are a sometimes thing!
We all sing 'C is for Cookie....' around here and act out that particular sketch. Some parts of Sesame Street are just a delight.
I also wanted to thank you so much for the mention at The Book Depository! I was so touched!
My kids loved Sesame Street and I watched it, too, with my younger siblings when I was a little older(grade school?). The author interview on NPR last week made me want to take a look next time I'm at the bookstore. I'll be interested to hear what you think of it.
I like that your local NPR has a membership option that sends you the bookclub picks!
bloglily--I love that you watched Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers as an adolescent--probably very soothing! I know they soothe me now. I think Mr. Rogers should probably be canonized as some sort of secular saint :)
Jeane--LOL! Actually, none of my kids loved Sesame Street as much as I did, though my daughter had an Elmo-loving phase. I happen to love Mr. Noodle and his brother Mr. Noodle, but I can see why they might be a little scary!
Sarah--I had heard about (from my kids--are they sneaking public TV behind my back?) Cookie Monster's new song, which made me giggle, too. Times have changed; I guess vegetables and fruits are the only acceptable anytime snacks now :)
litlove--they produced a few catchy tunes, didn't they? And you're welcome for the mention--I meant it!
JoAnn--I like that my NPR station has that "book club" option, too--it was tailor-made for me :)
Mental Floss magazine recently did a piece about how various muppets got their start (the inspiration behind the characters, etc). It was quite interesting.
I grew up on Sesame Street, as did my four younger sisters, so I watched it from the time I was a baby until adolescence.
"A loaf of bread, a carton of milk, and a stick of butter."
John--Ooh, thanks, I'm going to go look that up!
Lexi--LOL, I had forgotten that one!
I just finished this today - will be linking to your review in mine.
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