i’ve always loved Dr. Seuss, because my mom has always loved Dr. Seuss, and she’s one of the best read-alouders you’ll ever meet. in my childhood copy of The Cat in the Hat, i used a crayon to color some things in the book. namely, i took a black crayon and marked out the angry buzzkill goody-two-shoes (but very correct) fish every time he appears in the book. (this is funny considering how much more fish-like i am, as opposed to that naughty cat.) every time we get to the pages where i colored the fish, emma says “Who did that, and WHY?!” she’d never dream of coloring in her own books and can’t believe Grandma JoJo “allowed” me to color in mine….

truth is, JoJo probably didn’t notice, because i was reading this one myself from age three (I also used scissors to cut fringe in my favorite Grover book; Emma REALLY goes crazy when we read that one!). i always remember reading Seuss, and i’ve always loved reading Seuss; his cadences are a trip for the tongue, and as an adult i’ve realized that his stories are so very wise.

when i was pregnant, mom sent a special Seuss book for me to read to The Baby Bumble in utero; i read it every day for months, before and after she made her appearance in the outside world. as i was taking these pictures, i recited The Cat in the Hat aloud to her/with her as she turned the pages. she has that same look i always did: she’s known these books all her life, and i think she’s a great lover of books, too.

i am so easily sentimental, to say nothing of whimsical and silly. but on this occasion of his birthday, and as Emma is celebrating Dr. Seuss week at school, and as i’m feeling grateful and joyful and lucky, i just want to say thank you.

for making me a reader.
and a listener.
and a thinker of very big thinks.

. . .

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own.
And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

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

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

~ Dr. Seuss

today’s listening: Seussical the Musical
(of course!)