another birthday wish for Dr Seuss

Today is his actual birthday, so I need another post to dedicate to him.

I think most people love Dr Seuss.  Or at least the circles I travel in are filled with true Seuss lovers.  The repetitive rhyming books have helped many of us learn to read or teach someone to read.  The kids have been studying him this week in school.  Gretchen came home and asked me if I knew Dr Seuss's real name was Theodore Something?  I walked the kids to their classroom this morning and spotted an art project on the table. They made Thing 1 or Thing 2 using handprints.  Hope those come home today! (they did not)  Both kids also brought home Seuss books from the library yesterday.  Carl's AR book is Level 2.1.  That is going to be a challenge.  Imagine being 6 and taking a test on The Cat In The Hat Returns.  I think the book has 174 pages in it.  The AR tests are only 5 questions long... that makes it hard.  Only 5 questions from all that story?   Did I tell you that they moved Gretchen up to AR (advanced reader) testing, too?  Now she gets to check out books to read and take tests on.  It is a cool thing for the kids who are reading well.  I think now, about 25% of the class is in this group. 

They've also been watching little videos of the stories.  Wait until I pull out my copies of these videos this weekend.  The first thing Carl will ask is, "Can we have popcorn?"

 Throughout the week, I have enjoyed my friends sharing wonderful quotes from Dr Seuss...

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."  

 “I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of good fun
that is funny!” -- The Cat in the Hat

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." -- I Can Read with My Eyes Shut

  "And the turtles, of course ... all the turtles are free, as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be." -- Yertle the Turtle

 "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." -- Happy Birthday to You

"Today is gone.  Today was fun.  Tomorrow is another one.  Every day, from here to there, funny things are everywhere." -- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if you only try! ~ Dr. Seuss


This afternoon, our favorite toy store was going to have a project/story hour.  We were heading there at 4:00 to hear The Lorax  and make Lorax mustaches.  The kids love going there just to play.  Add in a character or project and they like it even more. 

But, we had time to kill between 2:30 and 4:00.  So, I packed a snack before picking them up and we stopped at the arboretum on our way.  We ate our cereal bars in the little pagoda they have in the Japanese gardens.  That's where we found this very Seuss-inspired tree.

We were a little early to the toy store, but no one complained about that.  Thing 1 & Thing 2 were on hand to talk to Gretchen and Carl was happy making a parking lot out of their toy cars.  Soon, they made their mustaches and got ready for the story.  As the story was read, every time the kids heard the word "Lorax" they were to raise their mustaches.  They were into it... and paid good attention, too.  Some sort of kiddie take on a Seuss drinking game, perhaps?  Moving on...

Here are a few pictures.  Carl is not always the best judge of personal space.  He needs to get himself right up front.  I have many pictures of him at events in various places where he is right up front as if on stage with the performers.  He was a little upset at first because they didn't let him read.  But, he was nice and quiet during the story.  On the way home, he did announce, "Next time, I am going to read all the other Dr Seuss books."   So, I know he was still thinking about it.  He also kept asking if Dr Seuss was coming.  "Is he going to read the books to us?"   I wish that could have been true.

Since we are still celebrating Dr Seuss's birthday... here are some other Seuss characters...

Last October, we headed over to hear The Cat In The Hat and meet Thing 1 & Thing 2 as well as the Cat himself.  I never posted any photos...

 In November, we got to meet The Grinch and Cindy Lou Who, too.  (She told me that the book was written a long time ago.  She is no longer no more than two.)