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, which have 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; half are male, and half are female. 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 "pickle" (a difficult situation) 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 were re-released as digitally enhanced E-Books, adding sound effects, narration and character voices performed by voice actors. The first 26 Books (A-Z) have been available at all major E-Retailers since Summer 2012. The E-Books were developed by Bento Box Interactive, 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 that are usually her own doing. Gender: Male Quiet and shy, he is afraid to speak up or try almost anything. 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-and-tank suit, which serves the opposite function of a SCUBA suit, in that it has a water supply which allows her to breathe in air. She also delivers the village newspaper. Gender: Female Is so lazy, she is 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. Metaphorically, he is the hard-working yin to Goose's lazy yang. 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 (which included a personalized decal set) was included with the subscription.

Additional Weekly Reader books

There were also 14 additional Weekly Reader books:

Avon Books and products

Related items and books

First Cassette - Responsible Rabbit Rag including these songs: 2nd Cassette - Bashful Bear Blues including these songs: