Yesterday was Sesame Street's birthday! In honor of 36 years of groundbreaking children's programming, we give you some of our favorite characters from the show! Who's your favorite Sesame Street character? Let us know who and why and we'll post your writings here!

Big Bird

When you're a kid, the thought of an 8 foot 2 inch bird can be a scary one. Think dinosaur on the loose. But add a splash of canary yellow, a curious nature, large innocent eyes, and a spirit of adventure to the mix and what do you end up with? A huggable, kindred spirit. That's what Big Bird was to me. An immense yellow birdie who saw the world through my eyes—and spoke to me. He could do all the things I wanted to do—write poetry, draw, ride a unicyle, ice skate, roller skate, dance, sing … and he was only 6 years old!!! But he never seemed out of reach—he told me it was OK to make mistakes, to be yourself, and to not have all the answers to life. He reminded me that "Asking is a good way of finding things out!" Come to think of it, I guess Big Bird’s larger-than-life yellow frame still speaks to me.

When I was growing up and my imagination was running wild, the best character on Sesame Street was Snuffleupagus. It was a simpler time back then and everyone on Sesame Street believed Snuffleupagus to be Big Bird's imaginary friend. For some coincidental reason, Sunffleupagus (or "Snuffy", as Big Bird called him) only showed up to hang out when no one else was around. It drove Big Bird crazy and he was usually distracted when his friend came over to play. He'd run out of his nest (a back alley of Sesame Street) and try to convince people and muppets to come back with him and meet his friend. Meanwhile, Snuffy would realize that he had left the iron on or some other ludicrous thing and would wander away just as Big Bird came back with Oscar or Maria or any one of his peeps from the Street. "Oh Big Bird," they would say, "You have such an imagination!" And then Big Bird's face would turn beat red and the veins would pop out of his forehead and he’d start kicking over garbage cans and punching walls. … Well, maybe I’m embellishing my memory a little. In any case, everyone thought the bird was nuts, and, as a viewer, we never really knew that he wasn't. It was awesome.

I just found out about some neat poetry contests for teens. Here they are, in order of upcoming deadlines:

The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers is open only to high school sophomores and juniors. The winner receives a full scholarship to the Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop and has his/her poem published in The Kenyon Review. The second and third place winners will also see their poems published. Deadline: Nov. 30, 2005. How to enter...

The Christian Science Monitor's 10th Annual Young Poets Contest will publish winning poems of students in preschool through high school in its national edition in January 2006. You can submit one to three poems. The judging will be done by poet Elizabeth Lund. Deadline: Dec. 2, 2005. Get "Ten Tips for Writing a Poem" and download an entry form.

Ann Arlys Bowler Poetry Contest sponsored by READ magazine is open to students in grades 6-12. Choose up to three of your own original poems to enter. Poems may be in any genre (such as open verse, rhymed, narrative), but each poem must be no longer than one typewritten page. Deadline: January 31, 2006. Rules ...

These are good opportunities, but there isn't much time left to send out your work. So pull on your writing gloves and get ready to spin out some verse!