Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to most of us as Dr. Seuss, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904. His father and grandfather were brewmasters, and he remembered his mother chanting rhymes to him to soothe him to sleep when he was a child. Geisel said it was his mother, Henrietta Seuss Geisel, who inspired his love of rhymes, the keynote of the many books he wrote as Dr. Seuss.
During his lifetime, he wrote over 44 books which have sold over 200 million books worldwide. Geisel passed away on September 24, 1991. His second wife, Audrey Stone Geisel, now protects his legacy as president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.
March 2 is Dr. Seuss’ birthday, and every year in schools, libraries, and homes throughout the world, people delight in remembering Dr. Seuss with read alongs, parties, and other events. Here in San Francisco, at Yick Wo Elementary School, kindergarten teacher, Susie Siegel, may be mistaken for a very familiar character from Dr. Seuss’ book, The Cat in the Hat. Miss Susie’s kindergarten class paired with their reading buddies (an upper grade class) to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday. One of the Kindergarten parents, Jo, came into class to read one of Dr. Seuss’ book, and overall everyone enjoyed celebrating Dr. Suess, his books, and the joy of reading together.
Dr. Seuss’ books include: The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who, Oh the Places You Will Go (often read at graduations), and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, to name just a few. Some of the most famous quotes from Dr. Seuss include the following:
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
“I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one-hundred percent!”
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!
“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”
“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.”
“I’m glad we had the times together just to laugh and sing a song, seems like we just got started and then before you know it, the times we had together were gone.”
― Dr. Seuss
“Be awesome! Be a book nut!”
If you would like to plan an event to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with your own Read Across America event, visit Seussville and learn how to get a reading list, certificates of participation, and guides for your own event. http://www.seussville.com/special/read.html
Continue celebrating Dr. Suess’ Birthday throughout March by participating in the following events or by creating an event or party of your own:
San Francisco Public Libraries
Hats Off to Dr. Suess Touring Exhibition
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