First published 2008
Joan Ganz Cooney sits at a dinner party listening to guests complain about terrible children's programming on television. The conversation sparks an ambitious idea: create an educational show that actually engages young viewers. Cooney partners with Jim Henson and his team of puppeteers to launch Sesame Street in 1969. The show faces immediate challenges as Nixon attempts to slash its funding while critics question whether television can truly educate children. Behind the scenes, writers and producers battle creative differences about how to blend entertainment with learning. The program struggles to find its identity until a red monster named Elmo captures audiences and saves the show from cancellation. Davis follows Cooney and her collaborators as they navigate five decades of cultural shifts, from the civil rights era through modern times. The story reveals how a simple dinner conversation grew into a program that teaches millions of children worldwide not just academic skills but values like cooperation and tolerance.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, education, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, underdog
Setting: United States
Period: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s
380 pages · Hardcover · Viking Adult