Last updated: Aug 20, 2024
A sample of Sesame Street storybooks.
It's an insane thing to attempt, but for this page of the blog my goal is to photograph and document every single Sesame Street book that I own, and there are a lot! It will take quite a while before this page is finished, so keep checking back to see what has been added. My collection of Sesame books is just an itty-bitty sample of what has been published. Actually, I suspect that there are so many Sesame Street books in the world today that they could fill an entire library. Wouldn't THAT be a cool place to visit!
The Monster at the End of this Book, 1971-present
Of course, I have to start this page with a genuine Sesame Street classic! "The Monster at the End of this Book" has been reprinted in numerous formats and sizes for the last 50 years, so that today it's possible to gather a sizable collection based just on this one book. There's even an audio book version which unfortunately I don't have. This is by far the best Sesame book ever! Today it is one of the top ten Little Golden Books in regards to popularity and volume of books sold.
Above top left is a 1977 oversized edition of "The Monster at the End of this Book" by Western Publishing / Golden Books. I've had this book since I was three years old! Next to it at top right is a smaller "Little Golden Books" edition by Western Publishing/Golden Books with silver foil on the spine, it's the twelfth printing from 1978.
Bottom left is another Western Publishing/Golden Books edition which is slightly larger than the Little Golden Books edition and is a standard book without the silver foil. It has a copyright date of 1971 and no other publishing date info which makes me wonder if it's a first printing? At bottom center is a 1999 "Jellybean Books" edition by Random House. And lastly, bottom right is a much smaller board book edition, also published by Random House in 1999. It measures only 5 and 3/4 inches tall. Below is a side view to show how thick the book is. This book is actually a shortened version of the story and therefore it's missing some of the original illustrations. All five of these books are hardcovers. The Super Grover PVC figure is shown for size reference.
Here are all of the back covers.
Above is the Little Golden Books edition of "The Monster at the End of this Book" that was shown above with the other versions of the book, and next to it is the second sequel "Another Monster at the End of this Book" from 1996 featuring Grover and Elmo. According to Wikipedia The first sequel was titled "Would You Like to Play Hide and Seek with Loveable Furry Old Grover?" and published in 1976. Unlike most of the other Little Golden Books shown below, these two books are not numbered on the front cover. Below are the back covers.
Little Golden Books by Western Publishing Company/Random House
Sesame Street Little Golden Books have been published continuously since at least 1971, as such there is an extensively long list of books to collect. This list is no where near being complete. In fact there are so many titles that it's actually quite a daunting task to attempt to document the collection. Little Golden Books are very distinct because the spine of the books are wrapped with silver foil. I've noticed that at least nine different back covers have been used over the years for these Sesame Street books. (There are even more variations that were used before Sesame Street titles were added to the the Little Golden Books series.) To my knowledge books with a green back cover are the oldest. There are also bright yellow, dark yellow and blue back covers, and the characters shown on the back change as well. Some of the titles from this Sesame Street book series became quite popular and ended up being republished many times, as such the same title can be found with various back covers.
"Grover's Own Alphabet Book" back covers
"Big Bird's Red Book" was originally published in 1977 and has two very different front covers and back covers. The book on the left is numbered in the top corner 108-32 and is a twelfth printing from 1981, while the other book is numbered 108-71 and has a 1990 copyright date.
"Big Bird's Red Book" back covers.
"Big Bird Brings Spring to Sesame Street" is from 1985 and has two different back covers, shown below. The previous owner of the book on the right put a heart sticker on the front that is not originally part of the book. Both are numbered 108-63.
"Big Bird Brings Spring to Sesame Street" back covers. The yellow book has a barcode sticker, while the blue one has the barcode printed on as part of the graphic.
Here are two different covers for "Grover's Guide to Good Manners" from 1992. As you can see the text used for the title on each book is quite different. In addition the book on the left is numbered 109-66 in the top right corner while the book on the right does not have a number and it has a larger "Golden Books" logo at the top left.
Back covers for "Grover's Guide to Good Manners". The yellow book has a barcode sticker overtop of the printed barcode.
"The Together Book" was originally published in 1971. The book on the left is a twentieth printing and is numbered 108-33 at the top right corner. It does not have a Golden Books logo on the cover. The book on the right does not have a number on the cover, however it does have a Golden Books logo at the center next to the text "A Little Golden Book". This book is only dated 1971 and does not have any additional publishing info which makes me wonder if it is a first printing.
Here are the back covers for the books. The one on the left has a barcode as part of the graphic which covers Raggedy Anne's dress and legs. The other book does not have a barcode.
Green back covers, no barcode
The two books shown below both have this green back cover.
"The Four Seasons", 1979, numbered 108-[last two numbers are unknown, cover is worn out in that spot]
"Bert's Hall of Great Inventions, 1979, seventh printing, originally published in 1972, numbered 109-3
Green back covers, printed barcode
"The Amazing Mumford Forgets the Magic Words!", 1979, numbered 108-35
"Ernie's Work of Art", third printing 1981, originally published in 1979, [unknown number, original price tag is covering the number]
Yellow Back Covers with Pink Panther
In 1975, Little Golden Books had a yellow back cover with a barcode printed on as part of the graphic. These back covers featured the Pink Panther, a kitten in overalls with a bucket, and Raggedy Anne along the left side.
This copy of "Oscar's Book" has the above yellow back cover. The book was originally printed in 1975. I'm not certain if this is a first edition or not. It's numbered 108-41 on the cover.
Yellow Back Covers with Bugs Bunny
In the 1980's Little Golden Books used a yellow back cover with no barcode. These covers featured Bugs Bunny, a kitten with yarn, two bears and a clock along the left side. The following books all have the same back cover:
"The Day Snuffy Had the Sniffles", 1988, numbered 108-65, possibly a first edition
"I Think That is Wonderful", 1984, numbered 109-9, possibly a first edition
"Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree", 1977 copyright, likely republished in the 80's, originally published in 1971, numbered 109-52
"Big Bird's Day on the Farm", 1985, numbered 109-65, first edition
"Count Al the Way to Sesame Street", 1985, numbered 203-56, first edition
The above two books were based on the box office movie "Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird" which was released in 1985.
"I Can't Wait Until Christmas", 1989, numbered 456-10, possibly a first edition
Blue Back Covers with Bugs Bunny, large barcode
By 1992 the back covers changed to blue and kept all the same graphics of the characters. The barcode was a large rectangle printed as part of the graphic.
"Happy and Sad, Grouchy and Glad", 1992, numbered 108-67, possibly a first edition
"Me Cookie!", 1994, numbered 109-69, possibly a first edition
"Ready, Set, Go!: A Counting Book", 1995, possibly a first edition
Blue Back Covers with Bugs Bunny, small barcode
The barcode on this back cover is smaller with rounded corners.
"Puppy Love", 1983 copyright date, numbered 109-63
Yellow Back Covers with Wacky Witch
By 1993 the yellow back cover was revised again, this time replacing Bugs Bunny with Golden Books' own character Wacky Witch. The barcode was once again printed as part of the graphics.
"From Trash to Treasure", 1993, no number on cover, possibly a first edition
"Which Witch is Which?", 1996, no number on the cover, possibly a first edition
"Growing Up Grouchy", 1997, no number on cover, publishing info states "first edition"
Back covers with images of Little Golden Book covers
"Elmo Loves You", 2014, original copyright date 1997, no number on cover
"Elmo's Mother Goose Rhymes", 2017, originally titled "Sesame Street's Mother Goose Rhymes" published in 1993, no number on cover
"Time for Bed, Elmo!", 2014, original copyright date 1997, no number on cover
Smaller sized Little Golden Books
These are roughly 5.5 inch square sized books.
"I Can Dress Myself" was published in 1983, "Count to Ten" was published in 1986.
Both of the books have a different back cover.
Sesame Street Books by Signet
This softcover book is from one of the first series of Sesame Street books published in January 1971 by Signet, roughly a year after the debut of Sesame Street in Nov 1969. Several books were made in this format as part of this series.
TELL-A-TALE BOOKS, by Whitman /Golden, 1970's -80's
During the 1970's and early 1980's Whitman / Golden published a wide assortment of children's books based on Sesame Street. Shown above are smaller sized "Tell-A-Tale" books which measure roughly 5.5 inches wide by 6 1/4 inches high. I recall these small books were sold in grocery stores at the time, displayed in baskets that hung from the shelf in the aisles of the store. That's a smart way to sell a children's book, as it's something kids can grab from their perch in the shopping basket that parents would let them hold onto to keep quiet! A shrewd bit of marketing!
"Sherlock Hemlock and the Great Twiddlebug Mystery" was published in 1972.
"How to be a Grouch" was written and illustrated by Caroll Spinney himself (the original puppeteer who performed Oscar and Big Bird). It was published in 1976.
"Big Bird Follows the Signs" was published in 1980.
More Sesame books by Western Publishing / Golden Books:
This book is from 1980, published by Golden Books / Western Publishing Company. The cover and all of the pages of this "Sturdy Shape Book" are made from a thick cardboard that doesn't bend. I especially like this cover illustration of Big Bird.
"Where is the Puppy?" Sesame Street Books
These books all feature a small black puppy which is hidden throughout several pages of the book, similar to Where's Waldo. Reader's Digest did a series of PVC figures based on this line of books. The set included a figure of the black puppy.
"The Post Office" was published in 2014 by Bendon Publishing International, originally published in 2001 by Reader's Digest.
Back Cover
Other books in this series: Hooper's Store, The Train Station, and Grover's Farm.
Many more books coming soon!
Text and photos copyright Mikey Artelle
