Customer Reviews

Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street

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This is the most comprehensive overview of the iconic PBS TV series Sesame Street on the market, and by being the newest (prepared in honor of the 40th anniversary of the series), it's the most current. Still, those looking for the ultimate history of Sesame Street will be a little disappointed. It appears that the writer (and Sesame Workshop) made a conscious marketing decision to chase a wider audience with Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street.

By trying to cover everything Sesame, a lot of the historical depth of previous books like Sesame Street Unpaved: Scripts, Stories, Secrets, and Songs (1998) and the recently published Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street is eschewed in favor of a "coffee table book" approach. To that end, this book is bigger and more colorful than any other book on the subject, and it appears to be by design. Whereas Unpaved was overdesigned and a little light on a lot of Sesame folklore, and Street Gang was remarkably deep but a bit boring to read, Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street is highly accessible, reads easily and covers so enough information that all but the most ardent Sesame Street fans will enjoy it immensely.

If you buy Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street, an extensive bibliography is included that covers all the things it missed, as well as a DVD of the first Sesame Street episode with a bonus montage of highlights from each of its forty seasons.

I was somewhat disappointed with the book's lack of technical detail, as I am one of the ardent Sesame Street fans, but I personally encourage you to buy this book, because I still really enjoyed this book.

What an amazing book! It's HUGE though. Not a snuggle up to read kind of book. But well, well worth the price. Great pictures, tons of information all about Sesame Street and the Muppets. A must for all fans.

I use Google as my main search engine. All last week they featured characters from Sesame Street on the homepage. The first day it wasn't even a whole character - just some banded orange legs. I bet there are very few people who didn't identify them as Big Bird's appendages!

At forty years, Sesame Street is the longest running children's television show. It's now seen in 120 countries. I was already in school when it first aired, but remember sitting with my little sister and watching it with her when I got home. And then twenty years later, watching it with my children. The theme song is still easily recalled: " Sunny days, sweepin' the clouds away...."

The show is iconic and the book is amazing. It's a wonderfully heavy coffee table book. Glossy stock and over 1500 colour photographs. But it's the stories within that make it such a keeper. Founder Joan Ganz Cooney realized that television could be educational as well as entertaining and broke new ground in broadcasting that has both matched the test of time and stayed two steps ahead, always finding new ways to teach and reach children.

I loved the behind the scenes stuff - how and who is behind and in and under those Muppets? The set itself and the changes it's undergone. Scripts are reproduced, songs, anecdotes, art and oh, so much more. The 'real' folks that appeared are featured as well, as are the celebrities who did guest appearances.

I had such fun, enjoying every page - and it's not a book to be rushed through - there is so much to take in and relish.

And if that wasn't enough, there's a bonus DVD included, featuring clips and moments from the show. I remembered so many of them!! I was singing along to "Who are the people in your neighbourhood?", "One of these things is not like the others..." and a few more!

As Gordon said on the very first show Nov 10, 1969:

" You've never seen a street like Sesame Street. Everything happens here. You're gonna love it."

Back when Sesame Street celebrated it's 40th anniversary I made a comment that it is probably the most culturally significant thing to come out of television...ever. After reading this book, I can say with no shred of doubt that my statement is 100% true.

I'd always been aware that the Street had made its way into other countries but I had no idea to the extent and what the Workshop has done for countries across the globe, not to mention the children in those countries.

In addition to the mind blowing section about the world impact, there's sections on the people in front of, behind and in some cases, below, the cameras. Also talked about are the animated bits that will probably jog more than a few fond memories. There are also sections about the losses of Will Lee (Mr Hooper) and Jim Henson which are very touching.

I imagine the book will read different, depending on what generation the reader grew up with. Being of the first generation of toddlers to see the show, it was like catching up with old friends and meeting lots of new ones. Younger readers may find it interesting seeing the original cast and how things evolved up to the characters they know. There's a lot jammed in here so it's not extremely detailed in any one area but gives a broad overview of all aspects of the show.

If you're remotely on the fence about this book, you should absolutely get it. I think even casual fans will find a lot to like in here...and I haven't even watched the DVD that comes with it yet.

And I almost forgot to mention the amazing photos packed into the book. I can all but promise after reading this book, you'll look at Sesame Street with an even greater appreciation.

This book is excellent! I just received it on 11/19/09 and I am very pleased with my purchase! I really have enjoyed knowing the history of this educational children's TV program and I've enjoyed watching it myself! READING about it is even better, though! That way I have a clearer idea of how this program all came about and the people who put this program together! I thank you for putting this book out for admirers of Sesame Street and I hope that whoever has read this book has enjoyed it as much as I have! Dawn E. Lowenstein

This was a Christmas present for our 25-year-old daughter (!) who grew up with Sesame Street and still harbors a deep and abiding love for all things SS. She was thrilled with this. We would highly recommend it for all who want to remember a similar time when life was simpler and much more fun!

Beautiful hardcover large book for anyone (young or old) who has ever been a fan of Sesame Street. Lots of details of background information on the show. My 15 year old daughter is loving it, then I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Excellent behind the scenes snapshot into what made Sesame Street such a wonderful experience. It provided insight into what was the motiviation for many of the actors and wonderful stories of their experience. The photos were absolutely wonderful revealing the people and mayhem behind the scenes. I would highly recommend this for any fan of Sesame Street or those who work with children's education.

this is a great read for anyone wanting to know about what makes sesame street work. great photos of behind the scenes stuff and all the magic that goes on.

We found this book to be a wonderful way to celebrate 40 years of viewing for children. Our family began watching Sesame Street when it first began in the late 60's. It is wonderful that the programing is still around for the children to see today. Now my grandson's are enjoying it like their fathers did 40 years ago.