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Whenever one of the kids on "Sesame Street" has a problem or concern, he or she can always turn to Gordon Robinson for help.

For 33 years, the kindly father figure has been a comforting presence to the characters who inhabit the most famous neighborhood in children's television.

Today, the actor who plays Gordon could be a gentle motivator for many kids who need to get back into a regular reading routine after a summer of swimming, bicycling and bug catching.

Roscoe Orman is the first of several prominent children's-book authors visiting Salt Lake City this month. He will be followed by Jerry Spinelli, author of the Newbery Medal-winning title Maniac Magee; Pam Muñoz Ryan, who wrote Esperanza Rising; Frank Beddor, creator of The Looking Glass Wars, the popular series that turned Alice in Wonderland upside down; and finally Shannon Hale, a local author with an international following who will debut her newest work for children, Book of a Thousand Days.

"Salt Lake is getting a better and better reputation as a place where [children's-book authors] can come and sell more books. . . . We have a culture that feels like reading is really important," said Anne Holman, manager of The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City.

She said the visits are great for kids. "It's a wonderful opportunity to meet authors . . . and it's free!"

Roscoe Orman

Orman's first book for children, Ricky and Mobo, is a sweet and funny remembrance of his boyhood love affair with a white toy horse and the children's race that tested their union.

"It was one of my favorite anecdotes from my childhood that was humorous and instructional, a lesson in life that I thought was worth telling," he said in a phone interview.

He illustrated the book during breaks in his trailer during the filming of an "Elmo" movie.

Orman said many fans are surprised to learn that he can draw - or, in fact, that he has any life beyond "Sesame Street."

The visual arts were his first love, and he attended a special public high school in New York City to study art. He later graduated from Circle-In-The-Square Theatre School and Manhattan School of Music and made his professional acting debut in 1962.

His 45-year career has included more than 60 theater productions for Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theaters, as well as performances in film. He is not only an actor, writer and illustrator, but also a director, teacher, poet and lecturer. His first book, a memoir titled Sesame Street Dad: Evolution of an Actor, was published last year.

He is especially proud of his history in black theater and said he sees it as his responsibility to stretch expectations and create opportunities for minority actors.

But without "Sesame Street," he wouldn't be the man he is today, he said.

" 'Sesame Street' is something I had no real intention of doing. I didn't seek it out. It wasn't something I ever imagined I would be involved in," he said. But after stumbling into the role in the same year his first child was born, he realized how fortunate he was.

"A steady job on television is a rare thing for an actor. That kind of stability and continuity is quite a blessing when you're raising four children," he said.

The job also afforded him a lot of down time to do other work, including an ill-fated stint as a bad guy on a soap opera. Parents flooded "Sesame Street" with calls complaining that Gordon was beating someone up on another channel.

Today, he said, he often hears comments from adults who say "I was pretty much the only black person they really knew" when they were growing up.

Without all those years working with kids, Orman said he doubts he would ever have written a children's book.

"I've been playing the role of this person for so many years, I think it's informed me in how I relate to children, how to entertain them, how to acknowledge them in a way I wouldn't have otherwise," he said.

"It's certainly made me a better parent than I would have been."

Orman said he has no plans to retire "as long as it remains relevant and we are all still enjoying it."

Jerry Spinelli

Spinelli is the author of more than a dozen books for young readers, including Maniac Magee, winner of the Newbery Medal; Wringer, a Newbery Honor Book; Crash; and Stargirl, a New York Times best-seller. He is promoting his new book, Love, Stargirl.

Pam Muñoz Ryan

Ryan is touring with her new book, Paint the Wind, the story of a lonely girl and the mustang that becomes a part of her life. She is the author of Esperanza Rising, winner of numerous prizes, including an American Library Association Top 10 Best Books for Young Adults; Becoming Naomi Leon; Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride; and more than 20 others.

Frank Beddor

Beddor is the creator of the twisted, violent take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In his world, the "real" story of Alyss Heart is told: Orphaned when her wicked aunt Redd kills her parents, the King and Queen of Hearts, the princess is chased into exile by Redd's henchman, the Cat. In his new book, Seeing Redd, the second in a planned trilogy, Alyss is returned to her rightful place on the throne. But the fight for the queendom isn't over yet.

Beddor also produced the film "There's Something About Mary" and is a two-time world champion freestyle skier. He lived in Sandy and attended the University of Utah in the early 1980s.

Shannon Hale

Utah's own Hale gives new life to a little-known Brothers Grimm fairy tale in Book of a Thousand Days. In Hale's story, set on the central Asian steppes, a mistress and her maid face great danger as well as desperate choices as they are shut up in a castle when the lady refuses to marry a suitor she hates. Booklist has called it a "thrilling, enchanted adventure; and heart-melting romance."

Hale is also author of the best-selling Newbery Honor book Princess Academy, The Goose Girl and more. She lives in Salt Lake City.

Author Ryan said she is excited to visit the Beehive State.

"It's always a privilege to get to meet my audience firsthand, to have them around me, to get a sense of the things they really like about the book," she said.

* Today - Roscoe Orman signs his new book, Ricky and Mobo, from 2:15 to 3 p.m. at Sam Weller's Bookstore, 254 S. Main St., Salt Lake City.

* Thursday - Jerry Spinelli will read from his newest book, Love, Stargirl, at 7 p.m. at Rowland Hall-St. Mark's Larimer Auditorium, 843 Lincoln St., Salt Lake City.

* Sept. 17 - Pam Muñoz Ryan will be at The King's English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City, at 7 p.m. to sign her new novel, Paint the Wind.

* Sept. 20 - Frank Beddor will appear at a closed reading at Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School in Salt Lake City. No public appearances are scheduled.

* Sept. 22 - Shannon Hale will read from her new title, Book of a Thousand Days, at 4 p.m. at The King's English.