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Title details for Sunny Days by David Kamp - Available

Sunny Days

The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America

by David Kamp
David Sadzin
Audiobook
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1 of 1 copy available
One of the "Best Books" of the year from The Smithsonian, The Washington Independent Review, and more!

From bestselling writer David Kamp, the "fun, fascinating, and surprisingly touching," (People) behind-the-scenes story of the cultural heroes who created the beloved children's TV programs Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Free to Be...You and Me, and Schoolhouse Rock!—which transformed American childhood for the better, teaching kids about diversity, the ABCs, and feminism through a fun, funky 1970s lens.

With a foreword by Questlove.
In 1970, on a soundstage on Manhattan's Upper West Side, a group of men, women, and Muppets of various ages and colors worked doggedly to finish the first season of a children's TV program that was not yet assured a second season: Sesame Street. They were conducting an experiment to see if television could be used to better prepare disadvantaged preschoolers for kindergarten. What they didn't know then was that they were starting a cultural revolution that would affect all American kids.

In Sunny Days, bestselling author David Kamp captures the unique political and social moment that gave us not only Sesame Street, but also Fred Rogers's gentle yet brave Mister Rogers' Neighborhood; Marlo Thomas's unabashed gender politics primer Free to Be...You and Me; Schoolhouse Rock!, an infectious series of educational shorts dreamed up by Madison Ave admen; and more, including The Electric Company and ZOOM. It was a unique time when an uncommon number of media professionals and thought leaders leveraged their influence to help children learn—and, just as notably, a time of unprecedented buy-in from American parents.

"Sunny Days is full of such nostalgic jolts...it makes the era a pleasure to revisit" (The Wall Street Journal) and captures a wondrous period in the US when a determined few proved that, with persistence and effort, they could change the lives of millions. It is "a lively and bewitching recounting of a particularly ripe period in television and cultural history" (The New York Times Book Review) and, as the Los Angeles Times notes, "a sublime book about a variety of creative people coming together not in the pursuit of fame or money, but to enrich the lives of children."

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 12, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797109572
      • File size: 252132 KB
      • Duration: 08:45:16

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      David Kamp's meticulous research provides a history of the Children's Television Workshop, and narrator David Sadzin is a fine guide through the neighborhoods of Make Believe and Sesame Street. Sadzin's friendly, open narration captures the feel of the '60s and '70s--that sense of wanting to make change for the greater good. Devoted to improving the quality of children's television, CTW figures Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett and actor/writer/producers Rita Moreno and Marlo Thomas explain the political obstacles they faced in order to air such groundbreaking programs as "Free to be You and Me," "The Electric Company," and "Sesame Street." In a matter-of-fact tone, Sadzin delivers the behind-the-scenes struggles as well as the sunny days. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from February 17, 2020
      In this diligent and lively chronicle, Kamp (The United States of Arugula) honors the creators of Sesame Street and the Children’s Television Workshop. This “smallish, bourgeois, bohemian circle” bucked the lowbrow, profit-driven conventions of children’s programming with a single educational mission: using entertainment to create a level playing field for inner-city kids lacking access to preschool education. The first part details the show’s three-year incubation and its early success. “Tunics and ponchos flapping,” Kamp writes, the integrated cast arrived in November 1969 with colorful sets, a “jazzy house-band sound,” and Jim Henson’s Muppets—its setting “a mélange of faded brownstones, gray litter-strewn sidewalks... felt real and inviting.” Kamp is a meticulous and entertaining writer, as when, in the second part of the book, he describes subsequent series, including The Electric Company, Zoom, Schoolhouse Rock, and, most notably, Free to Be... You and Me—a song-filled “revolutionary children’s primer on feminism, and gender politics.” But Reagan-era FCC deregulation undid more than a decade of children’s educational TV, Kamp argues, allowing for more commercially driven shows like The Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This passionate, highly engaging media history will thrill pop culture buffs and those who remember these shows from their childhood.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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