Sweet Pickles


Sweet Pickles is a series of 40 children's books by Ruth Lerner Perle, Jacquelyn Reinach, and Richard Hefter and published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston, having sold over 50 million copies. The books are set in the fictional town of Sweet Pickles and are about anthropomorphic animals with different personalities and behavior. There are 26 animals—one for each letter of the alphabet. The books were published in 1977 and went out of print in the mid-1990s. The authors also created Stickybear and the Strawberry Library.
The series' name is a pun; in each book, the main character gets into a "" because of an all-too-human personality trait. The front endpapers of the books portrayed the 26 characters, and the back endpapers portrayed a map of the town.
The books were advertised with television commercials and a catchy jingle. There also existed a similar series, The Alphapets, on which Ruth Lerner Perle collaborated in the early 1990s.
The Sweet Pickles books were read in various episodes of the CBS television series Captain Kangaroo.
In 2012, the brand celebrated its 35th anniversary and the books are being re-released as digitally enhanced E-Books. Sound effects, narration and character voices performed by voice actors have been added to the books. The first 26 Books have been available at all major E-Retailers as of Summer 2012. The E-Books were developed by Bento Box Interactive. Bento Box Interactive is a spin-off company of Bento Box Entertainment.

Characters

These people living in the town of Sweet Pickles are 26 animals, with their names beginning with each letter of the alphabet.
Gender: Female
Manager of the Tower Apartments. Always blaming everyone for things.
Gender: Male
Quiet and shy
Gender: Female
Owns the town's Fix-It shop. She is known for being able to fix anything.
Gender: Male
Doubts anything and everything, including himself.
Gender: Female
Owner of the town's supermarket. Tends to overeat.
Gender: Female
She is a town daredevil, known for her motorcycle and her special helmet. She also delivers the newspaper
Gender: Female
Always putting off her chores for later.
Gender: Male
The town's physician, known for his health tips.
Gender: Female
She always tries to imitate everyone else.
Gender: Male
Is always wanting everything that everyone else has.
Gender: Male
The town's practical joker, tends to annoy everyone with his joking.
Gender: Male
Loves everyone in town, or tries to.
Gender: Male
Very emotional, smiling one minute, crying the next.
Gender: Female
Always doing nasty or hurtful things to everyone in town.
Gender: Female
Very outspoken, and not afraid to put a stop to bad things in town.
Gender: Female
Always believes that no matter what happens, it's all for the best.
Gender: Female
She is very indecisive, and is never able to make up her mind.
Gender: Male
The town's banker, who never seems to deviate from his constantly busy schedule.
Gender: Male
The town's postmaster who seems to have an answer to every question.
Gender: Female
Throws a tantrum when she doesn't get her own way.
Gender: Female
The oldest citizen in town who is not too old for having fun. Her often used catch-phrase is "Things aren't what they used to be."
Gender: Male
Always looking at his reflection and thinks he's good looking.
Gender: Male
Worries about absolutely everything, no matter how innocuous.
Gender: Female
She writes signs and doesn't allow anything. She has a stamp in one hand, and a pencil in the other.
Gender: Male
The town's taxi driver who is always chattering and talking.
Gender: Male
Known for his unorthodox behavior, and isn't afraid to be different.

Books in the series

Sweet Pickles is a fictional town with animal residents, whose misadventures impart basic values, ethics and social skills to children. A variety of techniques are employed in the series, such as comedy, music, story-telling, and active play. There was one book for each of the 26 Sweet Pickles characters, each representing a letter of the alphabet:
A poster and a plastic book case was included with the subscription.

Additional ''Weekly Reader'' books

There were also 14 additional Weekly Reader books:
  1. "Sweet Pickles Theme Song" - Pop 26
  2. "What a Wonderful Town This Could Be" - Outraged Octopus
  3. "Lion Looks at Love" - Loving Lion
  4. "I Do It Too" - Imitating Iguana
  5. "Responsible Rabbit Rag" - Responsible Rabbit
  6. "I'll Do It Tomorrow" - Goof-Off Goose
  7. "Havin' Fun" - Zany Zebra
  8. "Isn't It Sweet to Eat?" - Enormous Elephant
  9. "Bashful Bare Blues" - Bashful Bear
  10. "Tantrum" - Temper Tantrum Turtle
  11. "If I Could Make Up My Mind" - Questioning Quail
  12. "Stork Spills the Beans" - Smarty Stork
  13. "Not Allowed" - X-Rating Xerus
  14. "Haw, Haw, I'm Only Kidding" - Kidding Kangaroo
  15. "I'm Gorgeous" - Vain Vulture
  16. "I Am Clever" - Clever Camel
  17. "I'm Moody Moose" - Moody Moose
  18. "I'm Nasty Nightingale" - Nasty Nightingale
  19. "Health is Very Healthy for You" - Healthy Hippo
  20. "It's Your Fault" - Accusing Alligator
  21. "Do the Yakety Yak" - Yakety Yak
  22. "When the Tough Gets Tough" - Fearless Fish
  23. "That's Something to Worry About" - Worried Walrus
  24. "Whatever can Go Right, Will" - Positive Pig
  25. "Down in the Dumps Again" - Doubtful Dog
  26. "It's Not Fair" - Jealous Jackal
  27. "Another Birthday" - Unique Unicorn
  28. "Sweet Pickles Theme Song " - Pop 26
First Cassette - Responsible Rabbit Rag including these songs:
  1. "Sweet Pickles Theme Song" - Pop 26
  2. "Responsible Rabbit Rag" -Responsible Rabbit
  3. "Tomorrow" - Goof-Off Goose
  4. "That's Something to Worry About" - Worried Walrus
  5. "Whatever Can Go Right Will" - Positive Pig
  6. "Taaaantrum" - Temper Tantrum Turtle
  7. "Isn't It Sweet to Eat?" - Enormous Elelphant
  8. "Havin' Fun" - Zany Zebra
  9. "If Only I Could Make Up My Mind" - Questioning Quail
  10. "Stork Spills the Beans" - Smarty Stork
  11. "Not Allowed" - X-Rating Xerus
  12. "Haw, Haw, I'm Only Kidding" - Kidding Kangaroo
  13. "I'm Gorgeous" - Vain Vulture
  14. "Sweet Pickles Theme Song" - Pop 26
2nd Cassette - Bashful Bear Blues including these songs:
  1. "What a Wonderful Town This Could Be" - Outraged Octopus
  2. "Lion Looks at Love" - Loving Lion
  3. "Bashful Bare Blues" - Bashful Bear
  4. "I Am Clever" - Clever Camel
  5. "I'm Moody Moose" - Moody Moose
  6. "I'm Nasty Nightingale" - Nasty Nightingale
  7. "It's Your Fault" - Accusing Alligator
  8. "When the Tough Gets Tough" - Fearless Fish
  9. "Down in the Dumps Again" - Doubtful Dog
  10. "It's Not Fair" - Jealous Jackal
  11. "Another Birthday" - Unique Unicorn
  12. "Sweet Pickles Theme Song " - Pop 26