In this short video clip Sesame Street’s beloved blue monster Grover learns about Tu BiShvat (ט״ו בִּשְׁבָט) by joining his fellow monsters Brosh (orange) and Avigail (pink) in a tree birthday party. Instead of cake and candles, Brosh, Avigail, and Grover celebrate by planting a tree sapling.
Like Sesame Street episodes, this clip combines puppet sketches with animations and live action, to vary the pace and provide interest, while focusing on a single main topic: planting trees on Tu BiShvat, which occurs on fifteenth day of Shevat (שְׁבָט).
Music sets the tone for the animations and live action segments. Along with music, the live action segments also feature ambient sounds related to the activity depicted. In this clip, there are distant sounds of children’s voices while planting trees and marketplace sounds where harvested fruit is displayed.
The animation segment shows a sunny, warm day. Under puffy clouds in a blue sky, a young boy digs a hole in the ground and plants a tree sapling in it.
Three types of live action parallel the animation segment: tree planting, market stalls, interview segments.
Like the animation segment, the live action tree planting takes place under a sunny day in warm weather. Children plant and water tree saplings in a meadow. The market stall footage depicts piles of fruits harvested from trees planted many Tu BiShvats ago. Finally, footage of adults telling silly jokes and children talking about trees rounds off the clip, in typical Sesame Street style.
The “Grover Plants a Tree” episode is a cross-over between the original Sesame Street series (1969-present) and the Shalom Sesame series, Rechov Sumsum,1983-present, (רחוב סומסום), bringing Grover, Brosh, and Avigail together for a cross-cultural learning experience.
Whether younger or older, this video clip is a fun way to join in the annual celebration and (maybe) start a conversation about the history of the holiday and the blessing of trees in our world.
