Condition of Employment: Growing Up Grouchy: The Story of Oscar the Grouch by Michaele Munteon

EVERYONE AGREED THAT THE TINY BUNDLE OF GROUCHINESS SHOULD BE NAMED OSCAR.

He was named for a passing garbage truck with the sign Oscar's Trash Service on its side and a motto that read "Dump It or Lump It."

ALL GOOD GROUCH BABIES CRY AND FUSS A LOT, AND OSCAR WAS ONE OF THE CRANKIEST BABIES THEY HAD EVER SEEN.

And as he grows, Oscar meets all the expectations of the Grouch family. He grows a unibrow which looks as if a caterpillar is napping over his eyes. His favorite food is crabapple sauce, and for his first birthday, his family gives him his first little trash can and a starter pack of garbage.

OSCAR'S FIRST WORD WAS "YUCK!"

And would you believe Oscar's second word was "NO?"

It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it, and being a grouch is actually a condition of employment for Oscar. He takes to his frowning, scowling, and pouting lessons as if he was born to it--which it seems he was. Think about it! Because Oscar takes care of being grouchy, the other Sesame Street characters don't have to be. They're free to be fun-loving and friendly, while Oscar is the Bah-Humbug Scrooge of Sesame Street.

In celebration of Sesame Street's fiftieth anniversary, Random House has introduced a series which reveal the backstory of their star characters, and in the new Jelly Bean Books edition, written by Michaela Muntean and illustrated by David Prebenna, Growing Up Grouchy: The Story of Oscar the Grouch (Jellybean Books(R)) (Random House/Jelly Bean Books, 2019) gives toddler fans of Sesame Street a chance to meet Baby Oscar. Share this one with How to Be a Grouch (Sesame Street).