Written by | Jocelyn Stevenson |
Illustrator | Marsha Winborn |
Published | 1988 |
Publisher | Western Publishing |
Series | Sesame Street Get Ready |
ISBN | 0307131092 |
Bert's New Collection is a 1988 Sesame Street storybook featuring Bert and Betty Lou, designed to teach about sorting and "what belongs together." It showcases Bert's penchant for collecting, from his famous collections of bottle caps and paperclips to lesser known passions, such as argyle socks, sponges, and hats with feathers.
Bert even has a song to sum up his hobby: "Collecting rulers is groovy! Collecting sponges is mellow. Erasers, paper clips, bottle caps, too! Oh, I'm such a happy fellow!" Apparently this dates back to childhood, with Luis starting Bert on collecting rulers and Herry Monster introducing him to Figgy Fizz bottle caps.
When Betty Lou admires Bert's collections, Bert decides to teach her how to start her own collection. Since Betty Lou has a single brown button in her pockey, an eager Bert declares her a lucky duck and forcibly drags her out to begin a brown button collection. While Bert is singlemindedly focused on brown buttons, though, he overlooks other collecting opportunities. By the end of the epic, they still have one brown button, but Betty Lou has amassed an enviable collection of blue items.
Notes[]
- Artist Marsha Winborn's visual depiction of Ernie and Bert's apartment varies from the standard set in the sketches and other books. Although there is the customary framed portrait of Bert and Ernie (and elsewhere a framed pigeon photo, possibly Bernice), the apartment also features palm plants (and a planter shaped like a mustachioed man), somewhat garish colored furnishings (e.g. a pink and polka dotted wooden chair), and even an orange pet cat (the cat is unnamed, merely lurking in the periphery and hiding in boxes)
- Maria gives Betty Lou stamps from Puerto Rico, in a rare book acknowledgement of Maria's homeland.
Characters[]
- Bert, Betty Lou, Big Bird, Farley, Felix, Grover, Herry Monster, Homer Hadley, Luis, Maria