#854: Tish Rabe — 200+ Children's Books, Getting Picked for Dr. Seuss, Lessons from Early Sesame Street, How to Write 300+ Songs, and More

February 18, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

The Format: Intimate, nostalgic interview between podcaster Tim Ferriss and guest Tish Rabe, a prolific children's author with deep Sesame Street roots.
The Key Players:
- Guest: Tish Rabe, celebrated for 200+ children's books (11M+ copies sold), 300+ songs, Dr. Seuss science series, and Sesame Street credits. Famous for rhyming educational tales like Oh, the Things You Can Find About Animals and her new imprint at age 74.
- Host: Tim Ferriss probes her career pivot from opera singer to Muppet collaborator, sharing his own Sesame Street family ties.
The Vibe: Fun, inspiring, and warmly nostalgic—bursting with creativity, humor, and life lessons from a 50-year career.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Tish Rabe**
2 (01:05) **Path to Sesame Street**
3 (04:19) **Sesame Street Vibe and First Book**
4 (07:27) **Creativity Techniques from Sesame Writers**
5 (09:42) **Jim Henson and Music Production Insights**
6 (19:04) **Public Perception and Sesame Impact**
7 (23:20) **Songwriting Process and Examples**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Tish Rabe (@tishrabebooks) is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 children's books with more than 11 million copies sold. She has written for Sesame Street, Disney, PBS Kids, Curious George, Clifford, and many more. She now heads her own children's book publishing company, Tish Rabe Books.

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Timestamps

[00:00:00] Who is Tish Rabe?
[00:00:24] How an opera major became a bestselling children’s author and songwriter.
[00:03:12] Tish’s trashy debut on television treasure Sesame Street.
[00:03:36] Pitching a childhood memory to dead silence — and landing book number one.
[00:07:27] The value of writing a story’s ending first.
[00:09:42] Jim Henson: The kind, gentle giant with a mind of steel.
[00:10:58] Keeping kids and their parents entertained with double-level humor.
[00:11:38] How Tish put her music training to work with Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.
[00:18:56] From nine-note auditions to signing on with Sesame Street‘s mission to level the kindergarten playing field.
[00:22:48] Churning out children’s books and writing bangers about animal gestation periods and lumber measurement for 3-2-1 Contact.
[00:26:56] The zero-rhyming genius of Joe Raposo’s “Bein’ Green” and why it works.
[00:29:59] Curriculum is king: Focus groups, orange Oscar, and making sure the kids aren’t lost.
[00:32:16] Random House rejected her book, but the late Dr. Seuss took a second look.
[00:37:17] Accepting the Widow Seuss’s challenge to write a book for babies in utero and ending up with a bestseller.
[00:40:39] The secret to perfect rhyme in Dr. Seuss’s paradigm.
[00:44:14] Is rhyming