Tim FerrissNYT Bestselling Author on Writing 200+ Children's Books — Tish Rabe
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 1:20
Random House rejection turns into a Dr. Seuss series opportunity
Tish Rabe recounts calling Random House after hearing nothing about a submitted manuscript and getting a surprising response. The book is rejected because Random House is the “rhyming home of Dr. Seuss,” but she’s immediately offered the chance to write a new Dr. Seuss series instead.
- •Tish follows up by phone after not hearing back about her manuscript submission
- •Random House declines to publish her rhyming dinosaur book due to Dr. Seuss’s place at the imprint
- •She’s offered a new writing opportunity connected to Dr. Seuss
- •Tish’s instinct is to say yes and take the assignment
- 1:20 – 2:35
From opera major to Sesame Street: the unexpected career pivot
Tim asks where Tish’s story starts, and she explains she intended to become an opera singer. After moving to New York to audition, a connection through her high school music teacher leads to a job on Sesame Street—initially because she could type.
- •Tish studied opera in college and loved both singing and writing in high school
- •In New York, auditions provided limited income and momentum
- •Her high school music teacher—now at Sesame Street—asks if she can type
- •She becomes a music production assistant and enters a highly creative workplace
- 2:35 – 4:48
Singing with the Muppets: early Sesame Street work and “I Love Trash”
Tish describes how her role evolved from production assistant work to performing on the show, albums, and specials. She shares her first major on-air moment singing with Oscar the Grouch and reflects on how her parents reacted to that “big break.”
- •Tish initially supports music production and hires jingle singers
- •She sings constantly on the job, eventually earning opportunities to perform
- •She performs “I Love Trash” with Oscar the Grouch as an early standout moment
- •Tim shares his own personal connection to Sesame Street’s early era
- 4:48 – 8:13
Inside Sesame Street’s creative culture—and Tish’s first book pitch
Tish paints Sesame Street as a uniquely creative environment where people constantly invented material while still worried the show might fail. When Sesame Street needed books and merchandise, she pitched a personal childhood story that became her first published children’s book starring Bert.
- •Sesame Street staff felt free to invent, even amid uncertainty about the show’s success
- •The show’s early concept included characters and casting that felt risky for its time
- •Staff were invited to propose book ideas as demand for books and merchandise grew
- •Tish’s childhood memory becomes “Bert and the Broken Teapot,” centered on valuing friendship over “stuff”
- 8:13 – 10:04
Writing endings first: the craft lesson Tish took from Sesame Street writers
Asked what creativity looked like in practice, Tish describes Sesame Street’s educational planning and how writers built stories backward from the ending. She explains how writing the last page first has guided her children’s book process ever since, because it’s the final moment a child hears before the book closes.
- •Sesame Street used extensive educational research to define seasonal learning goals
- •Writers often started with the ending and worked backward to build the story
- •Tish adopted a practice of writing the last page first for her own books
- •She explains why the last page matters so much in children’s reading routines
- 10:04 – 12:50
Jim Henson’s leadership and Sesame Street’s double-level humor
Tish describes working with Jim Henson and recalls him as kind, creative, and intensely hardworking. She also explains how Sesame Street pioneered double-level humor—material that entertained kids while also rewarding parents—based on the idea that children learned more when parents watched with them.
- •Tish worked with Jim Henson for years and describes his work ethic and temperament
- •She recalls him as a “gentle giant with a mind of steel” and a strong businessman
- •Sesame Street intentionally wrote jokes for both kids and adults
- •Research suggested kids learned more when parents watched alongside them
- 12:50 – 18:27
Music on set: counting off the Muppets, studio sessions, and learning by doing
Tim asks how Tish’s musical training helped, and she explains how she cued performers to sync with prerecorded tracks by counting measures near the camera. She shares memories of demanding vocal sessions and a moment when Caroll Spinney struggled to sing as Big Bird but then nailed the performance as Oscar.
- •Songs were prerecorded, so performers needed on-set cues to match timing
- •Tish counted off measures so Caroll Spinney and others knew when to begin
- •She describes intense jingle-singer sessions with quick harmony assignments
- •A vivid example: Big Bird struggles with a song, then Oscar delivers it perfectly
- 18:27 – 19:46
Mission, curriculum, and focus groups: how Sesame Street stayed educational
Tish explains Sesame Street’s original purpose: helping reduce disparities in readiness for kindergarten by teaching letters and numbers. She also describes how “curriculum was king,” with strict educational objectives and focus groups to ensure segments weren’t too advanced and kids weren’t left confused.
- •Sesame Street aimed to level the playing field for kids entering kindergarten
- •Tish describes children arriving at school already singing learning songs
- •Creative ideas had to align with a defined curriculum for each season
- •Focus groups with kids helped test comprehension and refine characters and content
- 19:46 – 22:36
From TV production to nonstop writing: 3-2-1 Contact, Random House, and science songs
Tish describes expanding beyond Sesame Street: producing Big Bird in China, becoming senior producer for 3-2-1 Contact, and later working at Random House in home video. She explains how she began writing science songs in-house for speed, including a memorable assignment about animal gestation periods.
- •Tish works on Big Bird in China and later becomes senior producer for 3-2-1 Contact
- •She continues writing books for multiple publishers while building production credentials
- •At Random House, her internal role and author track record create new writing opportunities
- •She writes educational songs for 3-2-1 Contact, including one on animal gestation periods
- 22:36 – 29:40
Songwriting approach and a famous exception: why “Bein’ Green” works without rhymes
Tim asks how Tish builds a song, and she emphasizes starting from what the child must learn, then structuring a verse and a “B section” so the music travels and returns. She also shares the story of Joe Raposo writing “Bein’ Green,” highlighting how unusual it was because it has no end rhymes yet stunned the staff and became a major hit.
- •Tish starts songwriting by defining the educational goal (“what are we trying to teach?”)
- •She prioritizes having a verse plus a contrasting “B section” to shape the journey of the song
- •She describes “Bein’ Green” as having no rhymes, unlike typical kids’ songs
- •She recalls staff being “thunderstruck” when Joe Raposo first performed it
- 29:40 – 42:31
Breaking into Dr. Seuss: taking over science-in-rhyme and mastering the constraints
Tish recounts submitting a rhyming manuscript at Random House, then being tapped to write Dr. Seuss science books for early readers after Dr. Seuss died before finishing the series. She explains how she researched topics via children’s library materials, and details the strict rules she followed: perfect rhythm and pure rhymes—plus occasionally inventing words when needed.
- •Tish is offered Dr. Seuss-related work after Random House declines her separate rhyming book
- •She’s asked to write two books quickly using provided research, then continues the series
- •For later books, she researches by pulling simplified topic books from the children’s library
- •She describes Seuss-style requirements: consistent rhythm, pure end rhymes, and sometimes made-up words to solve rhyme problems
- 42:31 – 49:37
Learning rhyme over time—and fixing a solar-system mnemonic when Pluto changed
Tim asks whether rhyming is innate or learned, and Tish credits a strong high school English teacher and years of practice—plus an early rhyming software tool she used. She shares a production scramble when her solar-system mnemonic referenced Pluto and she had to revise the line while keeping the illustration constraints in mind.
- •Tish credits structured writing practice (poems, sonnets, plays) for building rhyme skills
- •She used a rhyming program early on and later internalized rhyme patterns
- •Her solar-system book included a mnemonic that originally mapped “pizza” to Pluto
- •When Pluto was “demoted,” she rewrote the mnemonic to match revised content and editable art
- 49:37 – 54:17
Music, memory, and bedtime routines: creating Sweet Dreams through a nonprofit partnership
Tish and Tim discuss how music and rhythm support learning and routines, and she describes putting songs into her books using familiar public-domain melodies. She explains how meeting with Pajama Program (now Beyond Bedtime) during COVID led her to create a bedtime book that includes rhyming tips parents read aloud—so kids absorb the routine too.
- •Tish builds songs into her own books and often sets lyrics to well-known melodies
- •She emphasizes that kids want to hear their parent’s voice, regardless of singing skill
- •During COVID, she connects with Pajama Program/Beyond Bedtime, which supports kids facing adversity
- •She writes Sweet Dreams as a story plus rhyming tips that reinforce a bedtime routine when read aloud
- 54:17 – 58:22
Starting Tish Rabe Books in her 70s: creative control, dialogic reading, and the business learning curve
Tish explains why she started her own company after moving to Mystic, Connecticut and having more independent time while her husband fished. She describes wanting to publish books traditional publishers wouldn’t greenlight—like a board book using dialogic reading prompts—and what it meant to suddenly handle illustrators, printing, shipping, and selling directly.
- •Tish starts her own publishing company in her early 70s to pursue ideas she couldn’t place elsewhere
- •She highlights dialogic reading prompts as a key feature in Love You, Hug You, Read To You
- •She describes the operational shift from turning in manuscripts to managing the full publishing pipeline
- •She shares personal context about life in Mystic and her husband’s fishing schedule
- 58:22 – 1:05:43
Military families storybook: honoring her POW father with Sometimes Apart, Always in My Heart (and Alaska the plush dog)
Tish shares her father’s World War II story and explains her long-standing goal of writing a meaningful book for military children. After interviews with service members and families—and discovering United Through Reading—she creates a story reflecting deployment realities, incorporates practical ideas like a traced-hand “high five,” and introduces Alaska, a stuffed dog inspired by a real plush that “fell in” her bag.
- •Tish connects the project to her father’s experience as a POW during World War II
- •She researches by interviewing service members, spouses/partners, and children over months
- •She learns about United Through Reading and aims to create a book that mirrors families’ real experiences
- •She adds Alaska the dog character and plush companion to represent pets and connection during separation
- 1:05:43 – 1:12:57
New book ideas, community-driven projects, and a campaign for free books in underserved neighborhoods
Tish highlights additional projects developed through her company, including a financial literacy book featuring three bunny triplets and a children’s book about Central Park. She explains how a Mystic Chamber of Commerce request led to a town book sparked by a sudden visual idea of seagulls, and describes crowdfunding to provide free Central Park books to first graders in underserved communities across New York City’s five boroughs.
- •A bank request inspires a financial-literacy story built around earning, saving, and spending bunnies
- •A Chamber of Commerce meeting leads to writing a children’s book about Mystic on a tight timeline
- •Tish describes a sudden imaginative “seagulls” concept that shaped the Mystic book’s structure
- •She discusses a Central Park book and a crowdfunding campaign to distribute free copies to underserved communities
- 1:12:57 – 1:16:54
Deadlines vs. writer’s block—and a “boring” assignment that became a bestseller
Tish explains she plans for writer’s block by setting internal deadlines earlier than the official due date, giving herself room to step away when stuck. She also tells the story of a health-themed Dr. Seuss-related assignment she initially found boring, her gamble to create original Seuss-style characters, and how the final book gained additional pages funded by Michelle Obama.
- •Tish avoids derailment by building buffer time into her schedule before deadlines
- •When stuck, she stops and switches to other work rather than forcing progress
- •She pitches creating new Seuss-style characters to make a health topic engaging
- •The project succeeds, and she notes Michelle Obama funded 16 extra pages of added content
- 1:16:54 – 1:21:03
Big Bird in China: rain, logistics, and a child actor who memorized the wrong script
Tish recalls traveling with the production for Big Bird in China and describes major constraints like protecting the single hand-dyed Big Bird costume from rain. She recounts persistent downpours, the challenge of shaping a 90-minute special, lack of coffee, and working with a five-year-old lead who spoke no English and had memorized earlier versions of the script.
- •The crew brings one Big Bird costume and must keep it out of the rain to protect the feathers
- •Tish schedules rain days, but the first 13 days are nonstop downpour, forcing tiny shooting windows
- •The special remains 90 minutes despite pressure to shorten it, creating editing challenges
- •A young lead actor speaks no English and sometimes delivers lines from older scripts
- 1:21:03 – 1:25:12
Billboard message and parting thoughts: children, reading, kindness, and a new Rotary Club book
Tim asks what Tish would put on a billboard, and she emphasizes that children are a precious gift and urges more reading. She closes by mentioning an upcoming book created with international Rotary Clubs focused on kindness and sharing, and Tim ends with his customary reminder to be kinder than necessary.
- •Tish’s billboard message centers on valuing children and protecting the future they represent
- •She repeats a core theme: “read, read, read”
- •She announces Kindness is Caring, Friendship is Sharing, created with Rotary Clubs and aimed at encouraging a kinder world
- •Tim closes the conversation by encouraging kindness toward others and oneself
