Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster Joins Celebrity Chef Rocco DiSpirito For Free Cooking Demonstration at The New York Public Library

KidsLIVE program on Aug. 3 will teach children about healthy eating

July 19, 2012— The world’s most beloved sweet tooth, Cookie Monster, is taking a trip from Sesame Street to The New York Public Library to co-host a free cooking demonstration for kids with celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito on Aug. 3.

The program – part of the Library’s KidsLIVE series – will take place at 10 a.m. at the Library’s landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. During the 45-minute demonstration and program, DiSpirito will show Cookie Monster how to make healthy cookies, and teach children that healthy foods can also be delicious.

“Me cannot wait to meet Rocco and learn his secret to making healthier versions of me favorite food, cooooookies,” added Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster. “Me going to ask chef Rocco if his cookies are a ‘sometimes food’ or an ‘anytime food.’ If me no like Rocco’s cookies, maybe me can consume Library books instead, me hear they good source of fiber. Oh boy, oh boy! Me so excited!”

In 2004, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, started its Healthy Habits for Life initiative teaching parents and children that health and wellbeing is just as crucial to child development as learning how to read and write. For more information visit www.sesamestreet.org/healthyhabits.

DiSpirito, best-selling author, star of the upcoming nationally syndicated "Now Eat This! With Rocco DiSpirito," is the founder of the Now Eat This! Truck, a not for profit venture that sells healthy comfort food to raise money for hungry children. On “Free Lunch Fridays,” DiSpirito goes to public schools and other places to teach children about healthy food, and distribute free lunches.

“My goal is to prove, especially to children, that healthy food can be delicious, even cookies. If Cookie Monster likes my cookies-its case closed.” said DiSpirito. “With my Free Lunch Friday Campaign I have been able to convince thousands of children and their parents that healthy is possible.”

DiSpirito – whose most recent book Now Eat This! Italy will be available for purchase at the event – will distribute the healthy cookies to kids who attend the program, and in a partnership with Bryant Park Corporation, his food truck will sell healthy goodies all day on the 40th Street side of the Library’s plaza on Fifth Avenue.

“When you buy lunch from my truck, you buy lunch for a kid who needs it,” DiSpirito said.

The program is being held in conjunction with the Library’s new food exhibition, Lunch Hour NYC, which includes a section on school lunch and healthy eating. Space for the cooking demonstration is limited, so parents must reserve seats at the Library’s website, www.nypl.org/kidslive.

About The New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond, operating 90 libraries—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. The Library system offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years, with more than 18 million visits in Fiscal Year 2012. The New York Public Library also serves millions more around the globe online through its website at www.nypl.org, and its extensive social media presence.

All KidsLIVE and TeenLIVE programs are sponsored by the Katerina and Andreas C. Dracopoulos Family Endowment for Young Audiences.

is the Lead Corporate Sponsor of the Lunch Hour NYC exhibition and related programming.

Additional support for this exhibition has been generously provided by the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.

Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Celeste Bartos, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos Exhibitions Fund, and Jonathan Altman.