You can bet that when I was engaged in my early childhood and elementary education at Irving School in Blackfoot, Idaho, Aragona Elementary School in Virginia Beach Virginia, and of course, George R. Fishburne Elementary School in Hanahan, South Carolina that I was a big fan of books by Dr. Seuss.
The first book he penned that I read was “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street”. I was hooked from that day forward and I believe I read about every children’s book that he wrote. My other favorites were “The Cat in the Hat” and “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish”.
I watched the animated version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” each holiday season more times that I can count. It was equally entertaining each and every time.
Though there was a depth my childhood perceptions failed to realize, the work of Dr. Seuss is likely a large part of the attitudes I have cultivated over the years with the subliminal mores and spin on his views which were in the mix of that which I read.
Theodor Seuss Geisel
March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991
American author, cartoonist, and animator best known for over 60 childrens books written under the nom de plume of Dr. Seuss. He was also a prolific illustrator for advertising and political cartoons.
My personal attempts at poetry lent extra appreciation for the hallmarks of his work — which include trisyllabic meter and impressive rhyme schemes. My loves of fantasy and whimsy were stimulated by his characters … which push the boundaries of imagination.
His work has been adapted for film, television, and even Broadway.
He won the 1947 Academy Award for Documentary Feature with an animated piece he did for the Department of the Army called “Design for Death”.
National Read Across America Day is an observance in the United States held on March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss.
Tags: Birthdays, Happenings
I also went to George R Fishburne Elementary School, 1954 … at that time there was no Hanahan: it was Charleston Heights then. This was before there were prefixes in phone numbers (our phone number was simply, “48528″); lived off Yeamon’s Hall Road on Sedgefield Dr.
I lived on Hawthorne Circle, just a skip hop and a jump from there. I went to school with Bobby Allison one block over on Allison Street. Our school bus went up Sedgefield and down Dickson en route to Griffin (where I caught the bus) every day. This would have been mid 60s.