‘Sunny Days’ chronicles ‘Sesame Street’s’ origins

In “Sunny Days: The Children’s Television Revolution That Changed America,” journalist David Kamp takes readers on a fascinating journey through the development of one of the most beloved shows on television.

Educational children’s programming was not at all a given before “Sesame Street” began to take over living rooms across the country over 50 years ago. The show started as a type of experiment to determine whether it was indeed possible to use television to bolster children’s learning, especially low-income children who lacked access to other educational resources.

With the show’s rapid popularity, it quickly became a cultural movement and led to the launch of other beloved programming such as “Zoom” and “School House Rock,” the development of which the book also examines.

“Sesame Street,” we learn from Kamp, cemented educational television as a legitimate way to help children learn and to teach them important lessons about the ways of the world.

Of course, the journey to success wasn’t easy. Kamp explores the many trials and tribulations the show experienced in its infancy, the way different political landscapes shaped it through the years, as well as the challenges the show continues to face.

In the 1970s, “Sesame Street” broke barriers for the diversity of its cast, yet the creators’ attempts to produce a harmoniously diverse world did not insulate the show from accusations of racism by African American and Latino viewers.

The portrayal of the first African American Muppet, Roosevelt Franklin, for example, caused heated

“Sunny Days” By David Kamp (Simon & Schuster, $27.50) debates and controversy. While he was wildly popular and no doubt broke barriers, many fans disagreed over whether he was portrayed as a stereotype or was one-dimensional.

The show also received criticism about its portrayal of female Muppets; some saw the depiction of women as too progressive, some not progressive enough.

Kamp dives deep into how “Sesame Street’s” actors and creators responded to these criticisms. Whether they succeeded is still up for debate.

Moving across decades and up to the present day, Kamp also explores the show’s continued fight for funding as well as how that fight has shifted the direction of the show for today’s children.

This week’s fiction releases include “The Girl From Widow Hills” by Megan Miranda. A young woman plagued by night terrors after a childhood trauma wakes one evening to find a corpse at her feet.

Fiction

■ “The Angel of Crows” Katherine Addison

■ “Shadow Fall” Alexander Freed

■ “People of the Canyons” Kathleen O’Neal Gear/ W. Michael Gear

■ “Nothing Can Hurt You” Nicola Maye Goldberg

■ “Party of Two” Jasmine Guillory

■ “Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge”

Cole Horton

■ “The Mist” Ragnar Jonasson

■ “Forest of Souls”

Lori M. Lee

■ “Death in Her Hands” Ottessa Moshfegh

■ “Summer at Lake Haven” RaeAnne Thayne

Nonfiction

■ “Without Ever Reaching the Summit”

Paolo Cognetti/

Stash Luczkiw

■ “Trump and the American Future”

Newt Gingrich

■ “Five Days”

Wes Moore/Erica L. Green

■ “Skincare” Caroline Hirons

■ “The Biggest Bluff ” Maria Konnikova

Richard Termine The Associated Press “Sesame Street” last year celebrated 50 years on the air.