My wife's parents kept a lot of her childhood books, which is great because when we visit, we're able to read them to my two year old son. Earlier this month, I was reading the Sesame Street "Circus of Opposites" book and came across a drawing of Elmo dressed as a clown. Elmo is, of course, one of the most popular characters in Sesame Street history but at age 30, I'm much more familiar with Cookie Monster & Big Bird.

I thought it strange to see Elmo because I could have sworn he hadn't been created when the book was published in 1981. Intriguing. So, I did a little research and found out that it was at least two years later that puppeteer Kevin Clash, the man behind the Elmo we know and love today, was given a random red puppet and told to see what he could do with it. My research also revealed that the illustration I was looking at is the first known published illustration of the Elmo character. Cool, right?

The book isn't worth more than a couple bucks. There are a lot of them out there. It is, however, a reminder that the characters we identify with, whether it's Elmo, Huck Finn, or Indiana Jones, are the results of hard work, inspiration, and boundless creativity. They don't spring to life fully formed. Elmo was just a piece of red fabric until Kevin Clash breathed life into him. Often we forget that it's our duty to nurture the creativity around us in order to shape the culture that our children will inherit.