I sat down and had a visit with a new friend. As it turns out this friend and I have a lot of the same friends, and yet we hadn’t met until today.

I grew up with his friends Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch and all the other characters of Sesame Street. For at least an hour a day, these creatures were my friends. And when Sesame Street wasn’t on for me to watch, I was wearing these mutual friends on my clothes, playing make-believe with them, and singing along with them on my records. Sitting down with Caroll Spinney today was like visiting an old neighborhood. Did I have the great pleasure of actually visiting Sesame Street? No. I simply read “The Wisdom of Big Bird” written by my new friend, Caroll Spinney.

What a pleasant time Caroll and I had today. Opening this bright yellow colored book allowed me to put my feet up and enjoy a chat with my new friend. Caroll takes us through the early years of his career with his first performance as a puppeteer with a dedicated audience of sixteen. Not bad for a puppet monkey and a stuffed snake. From there Caroll takes us to his venture in animation and how that led him to full time puppetry. It really wasn’t until some time later that Caroll first encounters Jim Henson. I won’t give it all away as I want you to read the book yourself, but as it turns out, Caroll was asked twice by Jim Henson to work with the Muppets before Caroll found his way to Sesame Street. How grateful we are to have Caroll Spinney when we read that he almost left Sesame Street after the second season.

Most Muppet fans reading this know how Big Bird works. Caroll has an arm raised high in the air working Big Bird’s head while watching a tiny camera. But what fans probably don’t know is just how much Caroll hated the puppet when he first saw it. Readers get into the evolution of Big Bird and how he has become the beautiful bird he is today. Caroll has such insight as to what fans want to know and you dive right in, wanting to know everything from this gentle man.

Caroll also lets us in to his personal side. We get to really know the man behind the Bird and the Grouch. We learn his feelings about the competition. Just how does Caroll Spinney feel about that purple dinosaur? Caroll also shares with us his thoughts on Elmo and how he dealt with the new kid on the block. Readers also learn about his feelings on being a grouch, his difficulties with Jon Stone, how he struggles as a dancer, and of course his feelings on Mr. Hooper and Jim Henson’s death. Caroll also opens up to us outside of the Street. We learn of his love for the Chinese culture and how filming “Big Bird in China” changed his life. And for the first time, readers are introduced to his wife Debra and just how strong his devotion is to her.

Recommended: Yes