Sesame Street Turns 40!!

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!  Believe it or not, this long-running TV show first aired on November 10, 1969.  It's amazing how much it has changed since it's first season... and how much it remains the same.  The set changed from a dirty street to the clean, sunny one we're all familiar with now once they learned that more than just inner-city kids were watching the show.  Oscar the Grouch is no longer orange as he was in the first season -- but he's worn the same eyebrows for 40 years now!  Blecchh!  I'm sure Oscar would love that!

Before I had kids, I never understood Elmo.  I couldn't stand him at all -- and neither did Kevin Clash when he first started puppeteering with Elmo.  What happened to Grover?  Cookie Monster?  Who is this furry red monster taking over the show?  And then... I started watching Sesame Street with my daughter Rowan when she was six months old or so.  Omigawd.  She LOVED Elmo.  She would smile and laugh and kick her feet!  I then began to love Elmo because my daughter did.  She gradually moved on.  Cookie Monster became her favorite, then Grover.  She still watches Sesame Street everyday.  Now my baby Molly is seven months old and in love with Elmo too.

Sesame Street is now broken into six mini-shows and various video clips.  Bert and Ernie are done in stop-action clay now, and Abby Cadabby goes to Flying Fairy School.  (Abby has yet to grow on me.)  Of course, there's still the big skit at the beginning.  They've got a gazillion celebrity guests and an archive of all of the characters -- with videos to go with!  Find out more at Sesame Street:  On Air.  Susan and Bob have been with the show since it's premiere, as has Caroll Spinney (Oscar and Big Bird).  Wow!!

And who can forget that Christmas special ("Christmas Eve on Sesame Street") from the late '70s that had the whole gang ice skating?  Then Oscar gets Big Bird all upset because he doesn't know how Santa gets down those skinny chimneys, and he freezes while sitting on the roof waiting for Santa to come so he can ask him!!

Did you know Mo Willems (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus) wrote, illustrated and directed for Sesame Street in the '90s?  That Pixar's Bud Luckey created animated sketches like "Ladybug's Picnic" and "The Alligator King"?  Did you know the Pointer Sisters sang the "Pinball Number Count" song?  Keith Haring contributed to the show as well?  

I am a HUGE Sesame Street fan.  It's perfect that I have two children under five to give me a legitimate excuse to watch it.

Sesame Street Books:

• The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin --  Who didn't love this book as a kid?!
• Imagination Song by Joe Raposo --  The illustrations for this classic song are wonderful.  I used to play the song along with the book when I did storytime for toddlers/preschoolers.
• 1, 2, 3 by Elmo -- My daughter loved this counting board book
• Elmo's Big Lift and Look Book by Anna Ross and Joe Matthieu -- This lift-the-flap book covers counting, colors, shapes and more.  My daughter spent HOURS playing with this book every day as a toddler!
• Eat Your Colors (A Puzzle Book) by Sarah Albee and Joe Matthieu -- Help the Sesame Street gang build healthy meals, while learning what different color foods do for your body.
• Sesame Street Unpaved:  Scripts, Stories, Secrets and Songs by David Borgenicht -- This Young Adult book was written for the 30th anniversary of the show and has tons of interesting info in it!
  

Some of my favorite clips:

• Preschool Musical:  a spoof of High School Musical
• Rubber Duckie:  Ernie serenades in the bath tub!
• C is for Cookie
• Fuzzy and Blue:  Grover, Henry and Cookie Monster do their thing
• How about Grover and that blue man in the restaurant?!
  
• There are so many great clips!  Find your favorites here!
  

Official Sesame Street Websites:

• Sesame Street:  40 Years and Still Counting:  Vote for your favorites, watch vintage videos, read behind the scenes stories.
• Sesame Street -- from this site you can play games, download free podcasts, watch videos, get teacher/parent guides, print out pictures to color and more!