The Silliness of Seuss

It’s no secret that I’ve long had a love for all things Seuss.  As a child, as a teenager, as a teacher, as a mom.  I have just always loved those books!  (In fact, here’s a piece of trivia for you.  In my high school it was tradition to decorate the top of your cap for gradutaion.  My artistic older brother gave me one of the best graduation presents by doing a perfect ink drawing of the Cat in the Hat on mine!  So there’s the proof.  I’ve always been a Seuss-ophile!)

Years ago, I read a fantastic book, Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel: A Biography.  I found it to be incredibly fascinating.  (Though we have already established my nerd status.)  The work of Theodore Geisel was not just timeless, it was groundbreaking.  His foray into children’s literature actually began as a bet between himself and a friend in the publishing industry.  Geisel thought that books for children should be more engaging and fun, but his friend counterchallenged that the books must also include the standard words for basal readers.  A wager was made and a new style of children’s literature was born.

As a child, I loved the silliness of Seuss’ books, as a teacher I’ve learned to recognize and love them for their phonological value, but learning about how it all began made me love them even more for their innovative — almost rebelious — beginning.

With Dr.Seuss’ birthday coming up on March 2nd, there’s no better time to celebrate the groundbreaking work of an American icon!  I’ve been filling up a pin board on Pinterest with Dr. Seuss activities.  (Click here to see the board.)  Here are just a few of my favorites:

Last year, we enjoyed green eggs “dessert-style” – just a dollop of lime sherbet on whipped cream as shown here by Mostly Food and Crafts.

I can’t wait to set out this Dr. Seuss Creature Creator Activity from La Paz Home Learning (photo 1).

I just don’t know if I can resist these cupcakes from Black and White Side by Side (photo 2).   (OK, so I’m a sucker for cute now and then.)

I’ve already taken this activity for a test drive, with great results —  Goldfish Graphing Printable from Oopsey Daisy (photo 3).

Back in the “old days” I wrote a few posts with ideas for incorporating Dr. Seuss to teach preschool skills you might want to check out:

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! (Links to book activities based on 11 of the good doctor’s best books!)

Five Favorites….to Start

A Triple Scoop of Seuss

And brush up on phonological awareness with this post.

So what’s your favorite Dr. Seuss book and/or activity?

Top photo source.