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 Advisors
Gregory D. Abowd, Ph.D., D.Phil, Distinguished Professor, School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute
of Technology; Scott Badesch, President/Chief Executive Officer, Autism Society of America; Julie Bascom,
Deputy Executive Director, Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Peter Bell, President/Chief Executive Officer, Eden
Autism Services; Scott Bellini, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School Psychology Program, Indiana University; Director,
Social Skills Research Clinic (SSRC), Indiana University; Yudi Bennett, Director of Operations, Exceptional Minds;
Peter Berns, Chief Executive Officer, The Arc; Leah L. Booth, MA, CCC-SLP, Associate Research Scientist,
Yale Child Study Center; Liz Feld, President, Autism Speaks; Lisa Goring, Executive Vice President — Programs
and Services, Autism Speaks; Isabel Hodge, Senior Program Analyst, Office of Community Support for Military
Families with Special Needs, Department of Defense; Rose Jochum, Director of Internal Initiatives, Autism
Society of America; Laura Klinger, Ph.D., Executive Director, University of North Carolina, TEACCH Autism Program;
Sandra Magaña, Ph.D., Professor, Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago;
Rhonda McEwen, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology
Dear Readers,
and the iSchool (Faculty of Information), University of Toronto; Ari Ne’eman, President, Autistic Self Advocacy
Network; Rebecca Posante, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Office of Community Support for Military Families With
More than 20 years ago, my beautiful son
Special Needs, Department of Defense “(Ret.)”; Wendy L. Stone, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology,
received the diagnosis of autism, and University of Washington; Director, UW READi Lab (Director & Principal Investigator, Research in Early Autism
my world changed instantly and profoundly. Detection and Intervention); Karen Wolf-Branigin, Senior Executive Officer, National Initiatives, The Arc;
Deborah Ziegler, Ed.D., Director, Policy and Advocacy & Professional Standards, Council for Exceptional Children.
I knew nothing about autism, and it
Special Thanks
seemed that those around me—even the
The entire Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children team
professionals—didn’t know much either.
design
Today, happily, that has changed. Kristin Richards Lauricella, Lauricella Design
There’s greater awareness, and there
has been much progress understanding
autism. But it’s still a puzzle, and every
A creation of
child is affected differently. You’ve probably
heard the saying “if you’ve met one person
with autism, you’ve met one person with
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street which reaches
autism.” So what’s the most important thing 156 million children across more than 150 countries. The Workshop’s mission is to use the educational
for people to know? We’re all different power of media to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Delivered through a
variety of platforms, including television programs, digital experiences, books and community engagement,
in some way or another—that’s what makes its research-based programs are tailored to the needs of the communities and countries they serve.
the world an interesting place. And equally, For more information, visit us at sesameworkshop.org.

all of us in our own way are amazing!

major support provided by Generous support provided by
Leslie Kimmelman
Author
KRISTEN ROHR

“Sesame Street®”, “Sesame Workshop®”, and associated characters, trademarks, and design elements are owned by Sesame Workshop. © 2015 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved.

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 We’re Amazing, 1, 2, 3!
Story by Leslie Kimmelman
Illustrations by Marybeth Nelson

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 This is a picture of Elmo’s
friend, Julia. Elmo and
Julia have played together
since they were really little.
They like to do lots of the
same things.

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 3

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 Elmo likes blocks. He builds really tall block towers.
He also likes to knock them down. CRASH!
Julia likes blocks, too. She lines them up in a row.
“Cool wall,” Elmo says.

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 5

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 Elmo likes to play with his toy cars and trucks. So does Julia.
She especially likes spinning the wheels around and around.

Elmo and Julia both like playing games on the tablet. Elmo looks
at the screen and giggles. “Banana begins with the letter Z,” he says.

Julia laughs. “No it doesn’t!” she says loudly.

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 7

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8

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 Julia goes with Elmo to the playground, because they both LOVE to swing.
They even made up a swinging song. “Swingy swing, swingity swing,” they chant. 

Abby arrives at the playground. “Hi, Elmo,” says Abby. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Julia. Julia, this is Abby,” Elmo says. But Julia doesn’t look at Abby.

“Hi!” Abby calls loudly. But Julia doesn’t answer.

“Your friend doesn’t like me,” says Abby sadly.

“Elmo doesn’t think that’s true,” Elmo says. “It’s just hard for her to talk when she’s swinging.”

So Abby waits till Julia is done. “Hi, Julia,” she says again. “Can I play with you and Elmo?”

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10

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 But Julia just looks down. Abby is confused. “Elmo’s daddy told Elmo that Julia has
autism,” Elmo says. “So she does things a little differently. Sometimes Elmo talks
to Julia using fewer words. And sometimes Elmo says the same thing a few times.”
“Can I play?” Abby asks Julia. “Can I play?” But Julia doesn’t look at Abby.
“Oh, and sometimes Elmo waits a long time for Julia to answer,” Elmo adds.
So Abby and Elmo wait. Finally Julia says, “Play with Abby and Elmo.”
“Sparkle-tastic!” Abby says. “What should we play?”
Then Julia says, “Spy?”
“I Spy? I love that game,” Abby says. “I spy with my little eye…a blue feather.”

11

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12

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 Julia looks around. She quickly
spots something, runs over to it,
and comes back with the feather.
She laughs and flaps her hands
around and around. Flapping is
what Julia does when she’s excited.
Elmo jumps up and down and Abby
spins in a pirouette. That’s what
they do when they’re excited.
“You’re an expert at I Spy, Julia,”
Abby says.

13

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14

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 Julia starts to sing. She has a pretty
voice. She sounds loud and happy.
“Wow, your singing is really pretty, Julia,”
says Abby. She joins in, but she forgets the words to
the song. She asks Elmo what comes next.
Elmo thinks. “Sorry. Elmo doesn’t remember.”
But Julia remembers. She remembers the words to song after
song. The three new pals sing together for a long time.

15

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 “So what should we do next?” asks Elmo.
“Snack!” says Julia. Off to Hooper’s Store!
But inside Hooper’s store, Julia seems scared.
She claps her hands over her ears.
“What’s the matter?” asks Abby.
“Julia has really good ears,” explains Elmo.
“Sometimes she hears noises that Elmo doesn’t
notice. Like the noise the blender makes.
She really doesn’t like it!”
“Don’t worry, guys. I’ll turn the blender off,”
says Alan. Then, Julia takes her hands away
from her ears.

16

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 17
17

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 “Hot cocoa for me!” decides Abby.
“Hot cocoa for Elmo, too,” Elmo says. But now
Julia seems worried. She shakes her head
back and forth. “No hot!” she says.
Alan thinks for a minute. Then he tells her,
“Cold chocolate milk for you, Julia.”
“Thanks!” Elmo and Abby say.
“One, two, three,” counts Julia.
“Yeah! And one, two, three friends!” counts
Abby, pointing to each of them.

18

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 19

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 The three friends sip their drinks.
“And one, two, three milk moustaches,” counts Elmo, giggling.
“We’re all amazing, one, two, three!”

20

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 Dear Teachers, Parents, and Caregivers,
Like Elmo, Abby, and Julia discovered on their playdate, we are all amazing! As you enjoy the story
again and again, continue to celebrate, explore, and honor the amazing in each child:

FREEZE! To introduce the idea that we all experience
the world differently, say, Everyone freeze! Close your
eyes and listen. Now name the things you hear around
you. Does everyone hear the same things? Then say,
Everybody freeze. Look carefully all around you. Now close
your eyes. Name the things you saw. Did everyone notice
the same things?
You Are Amazing Children can make cards for
friends and family with the message “You Are
Amazing!” They can dictate to you what is special
about the recipient and you can write it on the card.
Fingerprints Set out a nontoxic inkpad and white
paper, and let children make a collage of their own
fingerprints, then examine them (provide hand wipes
afterward). Just like snowflakes…no two individuals
have exactly the same fingerprints.
AnD…EXPLORE THE AMAZING! It’s okay to get
sidetracked in conversation as you read each page
together. Remind children it’s great to ask any
questions they have.

Story Scene Once children know the story, invite

them to act out their favorite scenes. Ask them
to show what they do to show they’re excited, or
what they do to show they’re worried.

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  ee Amazing
S
on your device!
Visit sesamestreet.org/autism or download the Sesame and Autism iPad app for:
» New Sesame Street videos
» Daily routine cards
» Fun activities and printables
» PLUS a narrated version
of this story!

Grown-ups, show us how you use this storybook!

Post your picture on social media with #SeeAmazing

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