All I Know I Learned From Dr. Seuss

When The Cat In The Hat Is Cute

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
― Dr. Seuss

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
― Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

I have loved Dr. Seuss since I was a kid. I never grew out of enjoying his work, reading and sharing the books with my own children. Eventually, if I have grandkids, I’ll do the same. There is something so primal and FUN with a Dr. Seuss book. It is also more than just wonderfully silly language, which for me the draw is saying it out loud. Dr. Seuss demands, in my opinion, to be SAID, not just read.

There is a lot to be learned from many of his books: tolerance, acceptance, using one’s imagination, inquiry, self reliance, respect, resourcefulness, good moral choices, how not to be greedy, ecology, anti-war, responsibility, problem solving skills, math and hopping on pop!

Click Here for: All About Dr. Seuss

I had the honor today in performing/reading two Dr. Seuss favorites: The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (video below) and The Sleep Book. I read the latter book, but got to TELL the first one. I so prefer retelling a story as opposed to reading one from a book. That, to me, is not storytelling.  Now, this IS difficult with the majority of his work, done in such tongue twisting rhyme that while I have told in the STYLE of, I don’t feel I’ve ever mastered the complexity of his book language.  Telling some of Dr. Seuss’s work as if it was a prose story can be tricky, but it can work. The 500 Hats… is more story driven and is written in prose, so it’s easier to accomplish.

I volunteered my performance for The Center for Literacy Enrichment, based in White Plains, New York.  The event was organized by two amazing young ladies: Dana Marie (pictured above) and Lauren Zucconi. Under the guidence of Sr. St. John, this is an organization I fully support, and you should too, if you care about the state of education with American youth.

“One of the most satisfying experiences at the Center for Literacy Enrichment is to see children find the excitement in books and realize that reading can be fun! Children are very talented individuals. Some need to be challenged, and others require more support. At the Center for Literacy Enrichment, we look at each child as an individual, plan for that student, and encourage that child to perform to his or her optimal level.”

                          Sister St. John Delany, Ph.D.

                          Director, The Center for Literacy Enrichment

And now….my performance of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins:

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