Photo by Jacqueline Bennett Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, MA.

(3/2/2016 I am re-posting this piece originally published in 2014, and adding Happy 112th Birthday Wishes to Dr. Seuss!! It is a personal favorite of mine because it highlights a wonderful author of children’s books, and seeks to recognize the many teachers who everyday inspire young people to love reading. For me, my sister is tops on that list. I visited her classroom many times and observed her students mesmerized by whatever storybooks she was sharing aloud with them in the most entertaining ways. To pass on a love of reading is one of the greatest gifts one can give in life.- JB)

Write-Up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one else alive who is Youer than you,” – from “Happy Birthday to You!” by Dr. Seuss.

MARCH 2 marks one of my sister Candy’s favorite days, the anniversary of the birthday of acclaimed children’s author and illustrator Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known by his pen name Dr. Seuss. As a grade 2 teacher imparting her love of reading and books, my sister has spent innumerable hours reading Dr. Seuss to her students and preparing for Read Across America. To be celebrated this year tomorrow, March 3, the National Education Association developed National Read Across America Day on Dr. Seuss’ birthday to encourage youngsters and adults to set aside time to read. The work of Dr. Seuss remains the centerpiece of this annual event in recognition of his unparalleled place in children’s literature.

My sister Candy in the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield, MA.

A sampling of Candy’s collection of Dr. Seuss books.

“IT’S just fun to read,” Candy said describing “Green Eggs and Ham”, a Dr. Seuss book that she especially enjoyed sharing with the children.

WHEN all is said and done it is the enjoyment of reading that keeps all of us turning pages, she noted.

Celebrating Read Across America Day, Dr. Seuss & devoted teachers everywhere! 

ALTHOUGH Dr. Seuss’ books are best known as children’s offerings, they are filled with wisdom for all ages. Interviewed and written about often over the years, here are some of his most frequently cited quotes from his books and elsewhere …

*WHY fit in when you were born to stand out?

*YOU have brains in your head, You have feet in your shoes, You can steer yourself any direction you choose -from “Oh, the Places You Will 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  I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.

*THE more that you read, the more things you will know, The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.

*UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not .- from “The Lorax.”

OTHER quotes attributed to Dr. Seuss  with wisdom for the ages include “Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple” and a personal favorite of mine “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

BORN in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904, Geisel was a graduate of Dartmouth College and later attended Oxford University in England. He passed away in 1991 at age 87. According to Dr. Seuss Biography.com his first use of the pseudonym “Seuss” may have been while attending Dartmouth, used in the student humor magazine published by the college. After leaving Oxford, Geisel became a cartoonist for LIFE and Vanity Fair magazines but it was in 1927 that he began using “Seuss” in the Saturday Evening Post. From there he moved on to write books for children. Dr. Seuss Biography.com reports “the turning point” in his career came in 1954 after an article in LIFE was critical of school children’s reading levels, resulting in the recruitment of  “Dr. Seuss” by Houghton, Miffin and Random House publishers to write a children’s primer using 220 vocabulary words. Thus, came the birth in 1957 of Dr. Seuss’ best known character “The Cat in The Hat.”