500 Words On: “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street” Book Review
A while back, the podcast “Literary Disco” reviewed this book and they didn’t love it. I wanted them to be wrong. I wanted this book to dive into the psychology behind “Sesame Street’s” creation, showing how it teaches school room basics, but also helps kids understand complex ideas.
The problem with the book begins with the title. Author Michael Davis would like you to believe that the creators of “Sesame Street” were a scrappy little group of folks with nothing but a dream. What they actually had was millions in funding and tons of allowance to make mistakes. Did they fight for that? Sure. But there were no personal stakes involved in the show’s creation based on the stories told in this book. The true success story lies with the target audience and surprisingly diverse cast and crew who brought “Sesame Street” to life.
What Davis found interesting instead was what came before “Sesame Street” and the wealthy white people in board rooms making decisions about funding and production. The first half of the book (not an exaggeration) talks about “Captain Kangaroo” and “Howdy Doody” and goes back to the parents of the people who created the show (and further back occasionally). By the time the book focuses on “Sesame Street” for any length of time, you’ve nearly lost the point.
