Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America by David Kamp, CD, 9781797109596 | Buy online at The Nile
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Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America

The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America

Author: David Kamp  

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From bestselling writer David Kamp, the engrossing, 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 collectively transformed American childhood for the better, teaching kids about diversity, the ABCs, and feminism through a fun, funky 1970s lens. With a foreword by QuestloveIn 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 Avenue admen; and more, including The Electric Company, ZOOM, and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. 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. Kamp conducted rigorous research and interviewed such Sesame Street figures as Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett, Sonia Manzano, Emilio Delgado, Loretta Long, Bob McGrath, and Frank Oz, along with Free to Be's Marlo Thomas and The Electric Company's Rita Moreno--and in Sunny Days, he explains how these and other like-minded individuals found their way into children's television not for fame or money, but to make a difference. Fun, fascinating, and a masterful work of cultural history, Sunny Days 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's both a rollicking ride through a turbulent time and a joyful testament to what Americans are capable of at their best.

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Critic Reviews

“" Sunny Days is a splendid, clever, inspiring, and strangely suspenseful history of the revolution in children's television that was Sesame Street."”

"A lively recounting of a particularly ripe period in television and cultural history, when our notion o fhow to communicate with young children was upended, forever."

-- "New York Times Book Review"

"A captivating glimpse at a revolutionary time and a blueprint for what's possible with a little seed money, civic mindedness, feathers, and glue."

-- "Shelf Awareness"

"A deeply researched cultural history of beloved children's TV programs."

-- "Fortune"

"A diligent and lively chronicle...This passionate, highly engaging media history will thrill pop culture buffs and those who remember these shows from their childhood."

-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

"This book, just like its subject, is a tonic and an education, and casts a bright light of hope during these dark times."

-- "Elizabeth Gilbert, #1 New York Times bestseller author"

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About the Author

David Kamp is an author, journalist, humorist, lyricist, and a charter member of the Sesame Street viewing audience. A longtime contributor to Vanity Fair, he has profiled such cultural icons as Johnny Cash, Sly Stone, Lucian Freud, Bruce Springsteen, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. He lives with his family in New York City and rural Connecticut.When he was seven, David Sadzin's first grade teacher gave him a paragraph to read out loud. She interrupted him halfway to proclaim him The Ringmaster in his class's musical extravaganza about the circus. He's been using his voice to get out of trouble ever since. After a few intense years on New York's stages, performing traditional and experimental theater, improv, and sketch comedy, he's now settled comfortably in front of the mic in his home studio in Brooklyn.

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Product Details

Publisher
Simon & Schuster Audio
Published
12th May 2020
ISBN
9781797109596

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