Hi everyone!
While we receive a lot of books for review, I purchased Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: A Visual History
because I wanted to own it and chose to write a review as well. If you’ve seen the wonderful documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
, this feels almost like a companion book to that. There is quite a bit that is talked about in both, though there is a lot in the book that wasn’t part of the movie as well. Just like almost everyone, I grew up (in the 1970s) watching Mr. Rogers and I am glad for the book and documentary to relive some of that experience. I purchased Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: A Visual History for only about $20 on Amazon, almost half off the list price of $35. The full price isn’t excessive for this book, $20 is a bargain in my opinion. Here is my review!
There are six chapters in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: A Visual History although it feels like more. Tom Hanks writes a lovely foreword – of course, he plays Fred Rogers in the fllm A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
. Fred Rogers actually has a Central Florida connection that I didn’t know until recently – he graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park and met his wife there. There are a couple of fun photos with he and his wife at college, in fact the whole book has a ton of pictures – many I’ve never seen, along with handwritten notes, documents and more. Rogers also never watched TV until his senior year of college. Once he did, he wanted to create programming for children. He thought that the shows on tv weren’t respectful to kids and he wanted to give them something of “dignity and substance” to watch.
The book focuses on the career of Fred Rogers and the show from its earliest days. In 1975, the show took a hiatus and it wasn’t certain the show would come back – but it did, in 1979 and continued for another 20+ years. Fred Rogers passed away less than 2 years after the final 2001 episode.
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: A Visual History talks about why Mr. Rogers wore his iconic sneakers, about his ties, about some of his most important shows. There is a sweet story about Mr. Rogers and his fish tank, where he’d feed the fish every day. When he sometimes stopped commenting on the feeding of the fish, a blind five-year old girl was worried about the fish – “Please say when you are feeding the fish because I worry about them”. And he listened and obliged.
There are interviews (neighborly chats) with some of those who worked with Fred Rogers – none more touching than cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who talks about how his friendship with Mr. Rogers began. There are profiles on the characters, on the puppets and SO much more. This is a 300 page book that any fan of Mr. Rogers should enjoy.
I recommend the book highly – it is filled with so much history and behind-the-scenes moments, so many stories and many photos.
Mr. Rogers was one-of-a-kind.
This review includes affiliate links.
Related
