Friday, March 2, 2012

This Day in History March 2, 1904


I find this day in history rather intriguing and well-timed in light of the movie opening today. Yes, the author of The Lorax was born on this date in1904. Good old Dr. Seuss himself!

Originally, his name was Theodore Geisel, and he was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He used his middle name (also his mother's maiden name) as his pen name. He authored 48 books for both children and adults. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide and have been translated into multiple languages.

My favorite book by Dr. Seuss is And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.  I learned on Jeopardy some years ago that this first book of his was rejected some 37 or 39 times. And it is true. I never forgot that determination.

He is possibly best known for movie and TV versions of his classics--The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Of course, with "The 'orax" coming out today, we will see that his influence has gone far beyond his death (September 24, 1991).

I really like this story concerning The Cat in the Hat.  He wrote it because a publisher challenged him to write an entertaining book using 220 new reader vocabulary words.  And it certainly revolutionized reading for kids!

I can remember reading Dr. Seuss books.  However, I also refused to check them out of the school library from first grade and on because they were "I Can Read Books."  I was always checking out books that challenged me.  And in many ways, I still do that!

For more information, here are a couple sites to check out:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.favimp.com/DrSeuss.html

2 comments:

  1. we are having green eggs and ham tomorrow in his honor!

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  2. Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss!

    momto8, that is a great way to celebrate!

    I read "The Lorax" to my 6th grade students today and had a great time discussing the message. I was amazed at how interested the kids were in listening to the book. I think they had a great time.

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