Happy Birthday Dr Seuss!

Today is a big day!  It's the birthday of one of the best loved children's authors: Dr. Seuss.  But Dr. Seuss' wisdom is not just for children so he's one of my favorite authors too!  Today is also National Read Across America Day - an event sponsored by the National Education Association to encourage young readers.

There are tons of articles out there about the man and his craft but here are a few interesting tidbits that you may not know about the lovable Dr Seuss:

Never having children of his own, he used to say "You have them... I'll entertain them"  And entertain them he did!  Even now - years after his death, he continues to entertain readers young and old alike.

His first book, And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street,   was turned down by 27 publishers before he found one who would take on the project.  A testament to his determination, indeed!

The inspiration for his Cat in the Hat books came from the fact that he found the Dick and Jane reading series that many of us grew up with in elementary school boring.  He felt that he could come up with a more exciting way to help young readers learn and love to read.

He is credited with coining the word "nerd" which appeared for the first time in publication in his 1950 book If I Ran The Zoo.  It was said he needed a rhyming word and he made this one up to suit!

During World War II he worked for the animation department of the US Army.  This is where he also wrote the film Destiny for Death which won a 1947 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.

Accepting a challenge from his editor, Bennett Cerf, Seuss wrote his ever-popular Green Eggs and Ham using only 50 words.  Can you list the 50 words that continue to delight youngsters to this very day?
In case you're curious, they are:   a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would & you.

So, Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss - you have taught and entertained my three girls and are now doing the same for my seven grandchildren... and I am, like so many other parents I'm sure, so glad to have you in their life!