In 1969, when I was 10 years old and into comic books, an ad kept appearing in them. It was for some new show on TV called Sesame Street. I didn't watch the show because I was a big kid and had already learned all of what Sesame Street had to offer. But I had a baby sister. As she got bigger, I and my sisters watched her and watched Sesame Street. Then when I became a parent, my son watched Sesame Street. And again, I watched the show. Now there is a book that captures all of the memories of Sesame Street. The title of the book is Sesame Street Unpaved. The book was written by David Borgenicht and published by Hyperion.

The subtitle of the book is Scripts, Stories, Secrets and Songs. This pretty well sums up the contents of Sesame Street Unpaved. It is a collection of memories of the first thirty years of Sesame Street.

Sesame Street Unpaved has a total of five chapters with a Forward and an Introduction thrown in. It has 191 pages with a closing quote from Oscar the Grouch " Glad you liked it. NOW SCRAM!"

Chapter 1 is called Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street: The Sesame Street Story. This chapter covers how Sesame Street got started and who was involved in putting it together. Did you know that the Muppets weren't supposed to be regular members of the original cast? They were only supposed to fill in between show segments. But they became so popular that the Muppets were written into the show as regular cast members.

Chapter Two is titled I Can't Hear You-I've Got A Banana In My Ear: The Classic Moments. The title of the chapter is from a Bert and Ernie skit in which Bert tries to tell Ernie that he has a Banana stuck in his ear. Yeah, you remember that one. Learn the words to the song, King of 8 (As if you couldn't already recite it from memory?) Take a stroll down memory lane with Big Bird and relive some of his best moments. There is also a segment about how the show, and especially Big Bird, dealt with Mr. Hooper's death.

Chapter Three is The People In Your Neighborhood: The Cast. This chapter takes you backstage and introduces you to the person behind your favorite character. Whether it is Susan, Bob, or Oscar The Grouch, all of the actors and puppeteers are revealed to you.

The fourth chapter is called Sing-Sing A Song: the Music and Poems of Sesame Street. Here you will find your favorite Sesame Street song. Go along with Ernie as a guy tries to sell him an "O". Sing "C" Is For Cookie and "Bein' Green". Did you know that the Carpenters had a Top 40 hit with their remake of "Sing"?

The last chapter, Psst! Hey Buddy! is a behind the scenes look at the Street. Learn about how a Muppet is made. Learn how Muppets work and how many people are needed to operate each one. There is also a brief biography of each puppeteer.

For a delightful look into the life and times of Sesame Street read this book. Then you too will be singing " Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?"

Copyright © 2000 Bruce E. Von Stiers