I noticed on my twitter feed this morning that it is Dr. Seuss’s birthday today. Just his name makes me smile. All day I tried to think of any other author who has accompanied me throughout my life, couldn’t come up with one.
My mother can still recite secctions of Green Eggs and Ham because she read it to me so many times when I was young. I don’t remember that as much, but the phrase “I don’t like green eggs and ham” was a constant refrain in my childhood. Someone in the family said in response to something unpleasant. Brussel sprouts comes to mind. As an adult, attending a fancy dinner party when someone turned up his nose at the latest, fancy food concoction, I reacted with “I don’t like green eggs and ham.” The response was smile, we all understand Sam-I-am.
A lawyer down the hall from me during my early law associate years collected Dr. Seuss books. Without having any children of his own, he signed up for the monthly mailing of two new book and had them delivered to the office. I loved them. More than once after a long day when it felt like everyone in the world was already home, I snuck into his office, pulled a brightly colored book off of his shelf, and rhymed my way through a personal pity party. It’s hard to mope when The Cat in the Hat is your companion.
When my son was born, I signed up for the requisite monthly delivery. I had no idea there were so many Dr. Seuss books! And who was P.D. Eastman anyway? When reading to a toddler,The Cat in the Hat is the longest book imaginable. The whole time I’m wondering why the mother left the kids alone, a thought that never once occurred to me before having my own child. We spent lots of time with The Foot Book (perfect for playing with babies), Hop on Pop, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (Keith even has the tie), but the family favorite is Go Dog Go. We love the dog party at the end. Added to our family-isms is “do you like my hat?” Believe me, now that we have a teenage fashionista in the house, we have lots of opportunities to say it.
Dr. Seuss didn’t leave me in the lurch now that I’m a full fledged adult. In honor of his 82nd birthday, many years ago, he wrote You’re Only Old Once!, a book to accompany me through and help me laugh at my adult years.
Not too long ago, I would have known today was Dr. Seuss’s birthday far in advance. My kids’ elementary school would have sent out a notice that today was crazy hat day in honor of Theodore Geisel’s special day. We’d arrive at school and many of the teachers would be wearing Cat in the Hat hats. No so much for middle school and high school. For the next two or three decades, I’ll hear about Dr. Seuss’s birthday on the likes of twitter and I’ll smile. But when my kids have kids, I can’t wait to arrive at the hospital with The Foot Book in one hand and my grandchild in another and start the cycle all over again.
Tags: Dr. Seuss adult book, Dr. Seuss birthday, Dr. Seuss tribute
-
As the mother of a 1st grader who marched off to school yesterday with a crazy hat on his head and his copy of Green Eggs and Ham clutched to his chest, I have to say… God Bless Dr. Seuss. (c:
-
Who is P.D. Eastman? I thought he wrote Go Dog Go. We just read that last night. I am confused. I think I am going to google it.
-
i thought P.D. Eastman is another pen name for Theodore Geisel and I thought I learned that from the company that sent us the books every month, but Wikipedia says he’s a different. Did you find out anything different?
-
Yeah, Wikipedia says he was a protegé of Theodor Geisel and he was an illustrator. I learn something knew everyday
I guess I can give my kids a little lesson tonight. -
A belated happy birthday Dr. Seuss. I love the books, and have used Green Eggs and Ham a fair bit in regular conversation myself.
I haven’t actually read as many Dr. Seuss books as I’d like to, but there’s still time to change that.
Reply
Recent Articles
-
Wonderful Video of What Happens in a Bookstore at Night
I’ve been in a bit of a posting slump, but I’m working my way out and what better way to start the new year than with this lovely stop action video, “The Joy of Books,” about what happens in Type bookstore at night. I can’t wait to visit Toronto just to stop by Type Books to [...]
-
Scrambling For A Last Minute Gift? Head To Your Local Bookstore!
Farhad Manjoo ignited the latest round of ‘will the local bookstore survive’ with his “Don’t Support Your Local Bookstore” tirade on Slate. (I couldn’t fail to notice that while Salon promotes a campaign to support local bookstores, Slate is bashing them.) Numerous responses Manjoo were published, twitter feeds with special hashtags popped up, and even [...]
-
57th Street Books – Chicago, IL
57th Street, the actual street, is perfect for the meandering bookworm. We started with lunch at the graffiti clad Medici Restaurant. Famous for its burgers and scribbled upon walls and furnishings, we filled the time waiting for our food by adding our own “tags” to the table top. More importantly, within blocks there are three [...]
-
Essay Challenge Recap
I coming in just under the wire this year, this challenge must be completed today!! The Essay Challenge over at Books and Movies is the only one I joined this year, even so, I didn’t keep up with it the way I have the past two years. Not that I haven’t read essays all year [...]
-
Salon says “Support Your Local Bookstore!”
In the latest pitch to keep bookstores alive and well, or at least breathing, Salon.com gave credit to indies for finding and promoting the latest excellent book most of us don’t know: An independent bookstore brings a lot to a city or a town: a showroom for the latest literary releases, an auditorium where authors [...]
-
Small Business Saturday – Shop at Local Businesses on November 26th!
Actually shop at them as much as possible, they are the engine that drives your local economy. But, let’s give the little guys a leg up in the middle of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Drop by a local business, chat with a real person, and contribute to your neighborhood economy by purchasing a Christmas [...]
-
Which authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner?
Taking a riff from NPR’s story last week about which deceased composers Miles Hoffman would invite to Thanksgiving dinner, I pondered the same question for authors and asked quite a few friends. Here are the guidelines: which dead authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner? Which author would you invite to give a reading Thanksgiving [...]
-
Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Opens Today
One of the pleasures of having a teenage daughter is the opportunity to share silly, girlly experiences. While I understand all of the criticism about the Twilght series, and agree with some, as I’ve written before, I’ve enjoyed the ride. Even more, I’m grateful for the opportunity to share the sheer reading fun with my daughter. [...]
-
Abbey Books & Gifts – Valyermo, CA
I spent just over 24 hours last week at St. Andrews Abbey. I’m not Catholic, but I enjoy joining the monks in the Daily Office. For those of you new to that term (and that would’ve been me a couple of years ago), it’s the practice of pausing at several set times through out the [...]
-
Alexander Book Co. – San Francisco, CA
Alexander Book Co. is a traditional independent bookstore tucked around a corner in downtown San Francisco. Wedged between office towers and the Academy of Arts complex, it’s a cozy respite from steel, glass, and marble. The store even smells like good books waiting to be discovered. The first time I tried to visit the store, [...]
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link: http://www.bookstorepeople.com/2010/03/happy-birthday-dr-seuss/trackback/