Big Bird ' s Busy Book Big Bird ' s Busy Book is a 96 - page book of activities and stories featuring the " Sesame Street " cast . Published in 1975 , this is a good example of the level of work the " Sesame " producers would put into the tie - in books and records in the early ' 70s . Michael Frith , who would soon join the Muppets team , was the co - author and guiding spirit of the " Busy Book " . This is the last of Frith ' s annual series of large - format Sesame Street Storybooks for Random House , following " The Sesame Street Storybook " ( 1971 ) , " Gordon of Sesame Street Storybook " ( 1972 ) , " The Sesame Street 1 , 2 , 3 Storybook " ( 1973 ) and " The Sesame Street ABC Storybook " ( 1974 ) . Each of the five books brings together a variety of writers and illustrators , creating a diverse anthology that ' s unlike anything published in recent years . For this book , Frith drew the cover , and he also illustrated the recurring series of Cookie Monster ' s cookie recipes . He also contributed some illustrated stories - - " A Very Old Shape Story " ( by Nina B . Link ) with Bob telling a story about Caveman Ernie , " Sam the Shoemaker " with Sam the Robot and Maria , and " A Happy - Sad - Happy - Sad - Happy Story , " another Bob story featuring Herry Monster . He also drew a one - page activity segment , " Susan ' s Body Parts Puzzle . " Mel Crawford contributed a number of comics stories in his distinctive , cartoony style , including a series of Sherlock Hemlock stories : " The Case of the Hidden Squares , " " The Mystery of the Missing Alphabet , " " The Case of the Missing Caterpillar , " " What ' s Missing ? " and " The Case of the Lost Lunch . " Crawford also had an affection for Ernie , who was featured in the rest of his contributions . The shifty salesman Lefty tries to shake him down in " Ernie and the Letter M " and " Ernie Buys a 12 , " Bert gets exasperated in " Shape Pictures , " " Bert ' s 10 Collections , " and " Ernie ' s Guessing Game , " and Ernie appears solo in the maze activity " Fire ! Fire ! " A . Delaney illustrates a number of poems in the volume : " Snuffie Learns the Alphabet " [ " sic " ] , " My Favorite Shape , " " A Rain Poem , " " Big Bird ' s Colors , " " When I Grow Up , " " I Used to be Afraid , " " Ankle , Shoulder , Knee , " and " Tall and Short Poem . " Delaney also contributed " The Story of Princess Ruby , " " Grover ' s Neighborhood Games , " and " Big Bird ' s Beak Breakers . " Dave Gantz contributed a series of crafts pages , featuring Oscar the Grouch and Betty Lou making beautiful ( or yucky ) crafts out of trash : " Grouch Alphabet Book , " " The Grouch Garbage Mobile , " " Oscar ' s Trash Can Crayon Holder , " " A Grouch - O - Phone ! " , " Oscar ' s Bad - Time Junk - Band ( featuring Little Jerry and the Monotones ) , " " Oscar ' s Bowling Contest , " and " Oscar ' s Grouch Puppets . " Jon McIntosh provided a two - page comics story , " It ' s the Letter Game ! " featuring Guy Smiley , Herry Monster and Granny Fanny Nesselrode ; the one - page Roosevelt Franklin activities " Guess What I Found " ( one for shapes and a second round for colors ) and " Hot and Cold ; " a one - page Guy Smiley game called " Rainbow Race ; " and " Shape Cut - Outs , " featuring David . Joe Mathieu contributed a few activity pages : " Build a Better Bird Feeder , " " Ernie Plants a Garden , " " The Amazing Mumford ' s Amazing Color Trick , " " Bert ' s Box Town Neighborhood , " and " Ernie ' s Mixed - Up Friends . " Caroll Spinney also contributed a few pages to the book : " Crafts for All Seasons , " " The People in Your Neighborhood , " " Luis ' s Fingerprint Pictures , " and " Front and Back Masks . " This book and " How to Be a Grouch " ( 1976 ) are Spinney ' s only " Sesame " books . Of the five Random House anthologies , " Big Bird ' s Busy Book " has the widest variety of concepts and art styles . It also boasts an impressive cast , featuring just about every character on the show at that time . In addition to the obvious main cast - - Big Bird , Ernie , Bert , Cookie Monster , Oscar and Grover - - the book also features a large number of secondary characters , including Roosevelt Franklin , The Count , Mr . Snuffleupagus , Lefty , Betty Lou , Sherlock Hemlock , Little Bird , Guy Smiley , Herry Monster , Granny Fanny Nesselrode , Sam the Robot , Smart Tina , Hard Head Henry Harris , Baby Breeze , Twiddlebugs , Prince Charming , Harvey Kneeslapper , Grover ' s Mommy , Little Jerry and the Monotones , Biff , The Amazing Mumford and even The Mudman . The human cast is also represented , with Bob , David , Maria , Susan , Gordon , Luis and Mr . Hooper all making appearances . Sixteen pages in the middle are printed in full color . In the rest of the book , the art and photographs are in black and white , with one color used as an accent on each two - page spread . Many of the stories and activities from this book were reprinted later in " The Sesame Street Library " and " The Sesame Street Treasury " series .