A Dr. your kids actually like

If he were still with us, today Dr. Seuss would celebrate his 106th birthday. No doubt he'd have an appropriately silly, non-sensical rhyme to go along with the occasion. His prolific prose still resonates (The Lorax and The Sneetches come to mind as particularly prescient) and whenever my kids choose one of his titles to read before bed, I breathe a sigh of relief because I know it won't be some inane story about fairies or dragons (who wants to read a scary story at bedtime? Do these authors not know that they are just asking kids to wake their parents in the night?)

In case you've never heard about the origins of The Cat in the Hat, it was written as a way to get kids to recognize what were then considered the most important words for first-graders to know. Publisher Houghton Mifflin challenged Seuss to compose a story using only these words. The resulting tale used 236 of the 250 words he was given. And as any parent can attest, The Cat in the Hat is indeed a classic that still manages to sell hundreds of thousands of copies each year, even though it was first published more than 50 years ago.

Surprisingly, Dr. Seuss never had any kids of his own (though in true Seuss-fashion, he had an imaginary daughter, Chrysanthemum Pearl, to whom he even dedicated one of his books). Before he made his living as a children's writer, he supported himself by writing ads for companies like General Electric, Standard Oil and Ford Motor Company. Most know that Dr. Seuss was a pseudonym (his real name was Theodor Geisel) -- he also wrote under the name Theo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone. He is responsible for more than a dozen of the best selling children's books of all time including those mentioned above, as well as Green Eggs & Ham and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. (an interesting side note -- Green Eggs & Ham was written after a bet that he could not write a book that used no more than 50 words).


His own path to success was marked by fits and starts with more than two dozen publishers turning down his first book. What a great lesson in perseverance for our own kids! Most modern writers can't hold a candle to his creative ingenuity, how fortunate for us that he didn't let a few nay-sayers deter him.

Shortly before his death to throat cancer in 1991, Seuss was asked if he had any lasting words he'd like to leave to America's children. His answer -- "We can...and we've got to....do better than this."

Profound words from a premier poet.

For more great ideas and info on you can best celebrate the life of Dr. Seuss and the NEA's Read Across America Day, check out www.seussville.com