A My Name is Annabel by Michaela Muntean (Sesame Street Book Club)

Being a kid of the 80's, I was very much into Sesame Street.  But I'm sure the kids from the 90s, 00s and even today were and are into them, too.  But it's the 80's kids that know exactly what I'm talking about when I say SESAME STREET BOOK CLUB.

For those of you who don't know them or maybe want more info, let me explain:

Before Internet, before email, before video games were more than just a joystick, and most of all, before Amazon.....there was the Sesame Street book club..... and also an outside world but I'm not here to judge.

These books were only available via mail-in and there are about 60 titles available.  Since they are all out of print, thrift stores and online stores are the best place to retrieve them.

But let me tell you, these are well written.  These aren't the books that have one word on each page and basic square and circle illustrations.  These books had thought put into them.  They will teach your kid the basics that they need to know for ages about 2-6 years old.  I remember reading these books and grabbing some vocabulary skills from them.  But your child can also learn math/counting, colors, alphabet, how to deal with life changes and more!

Many you can find in the thrift store for about .50 - $2 but there are some titles I'm still having a hard time finding and might have to resort to getting them online.  Right now I have about 44 of the 60...so I'm getting there.

By the way, you'd think that most of the stories would be about Elmo, it isn't.  During the times these were published, Grover was the most popular muppet.

A My Name is Annabel by Michaela Muntean

This is a great book in regards to teaching your kid the alphabet.  I love how it integrates people's names in order to teach this.  I mean, kids go around, learning other kid's names.  Why not incorporate that with that each kid's name begins with a different letter?  Plus, each page is filled with items beginning with that letter so your kid can point out each one for even more fun.

These books are easy to tell if you have a first printing.  Go to the very last page of the book before you hit the cover.  You will see an alphabet line.  If it starts with A, congrats, you have a first printing.  If it starts with B, it's a second printing, and so on.  Just make sure it's actually printed in the early 1980's.  They did a reprint in later years of these books that have a crazy border around the cover.  

Seriously....I'm being serious.  These books you NEED to add to your child's collection.  They are a must have.

This book in particular you might find at a thrift store, but to be honest, I've only seen it once in 3 years and it's this copy right here.  But you can find it for a great, cheap price (about $4.00 used) on my favorite sites, Amazon and Thriftbooks.  Click the links below to purchase and make your child's library an even greater one: