Tim FerrissNYT Bestselling Author on Writing 200+ Children's Books — Tish Rabe
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Tish Rabe on Sesame Street lessons and Seuss-style rhyme craft
- Tish Rabe said she trained as an opera singer, but a job opportunity on Sesame Street—initially because she could type—turned into years of performing and creative production work.
- She described Sesame Street as a uniquely creative environment guided by educational research, curriculum targets, and focus groups to ensure kids weren’t lost while still entertaining adults.
- She credited Sesame Street writers with teaching her to write endings first, a habit she still uses because the last page is the final message a child hears before a book closes.
- She explained how Random House rejected her rhyming manuscript due to Dr. Seuss’s primacy there, then offered her the chance to write Dr. Seuss science books under strict rhythm-and-rhyme constraints.
- She said she started Tish Rabe Books in her 70s to publish the kinds of books she wanted to exist—like dialogic reading titles—and to support efforts to get books to children who don’t have them.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasA career in children’s media can start from an unexpected skill and a single relationship.
She studied opera (with a jazz minor), moved to New York to audition, and got pulled into Sesame Street because her high school music teacher worked there and asked if she could type—leading to a job as music production assistant and eventually singing on the show and specials.
On Sesame Street, creativity thrived inside strict educational guardrails.
She described Sesame Street as highly improvisational and idea-generating, but ultimately constrained by educational goals: each season had specific learning objectives, and material had to align with what the show aimed to teach.
Writing the ending first is her core structural tool for children’s books.
She said Sesame Street writers taught her to write the ending first, and she applies it by drafting the last page before writing the rest—because it’s the final message kids hear before the book closes.
Keeping parents entertained is part of teaching kids effectively.
She emphasized that Sesame Street pioneered “double-level humor,” writing jokes kids enjoy while layering in material that keeps parents engaged, partly because kids learned more when parents watched with them.
A rejection became the entry point to her Dr. Seuss writing opportunity.
She said Random House rejected her rhyming manuscript because it was “the rhyming home of Dr. Seuss,” then offered her the chance to write a Dr. Seuss science series for early readers; she received stacks of research and had to deliver two books in four months.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesSomebody said once he was a gentle giant with a mind of steel.
— Tish Rabe
The big thing I learned from the Sesame Street writers, and it has saved me many, many, many times, is that they wrote the endings first.
— Tish Rabe
It's a very important page in children's books 'cause it is the last page they hear before the book is shut, go to sleep, take a nap, go out to play, whatever, and I always write the last page first. Always.
— Tish Rabe
I am on this lifetime mission of trying to get free books to kids who don't have any.
— Tish Rabe
Remember that children are our most precious gift.
— Tish Rabe
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
