Dr. Seuss Day is a full twenty-four hours to make a mess with the Cat in the Hat, dance around with the Fox in Sox, hear a Who with Horton, count the red and blue fish, help the Grinch see the error of his ways, and listen to Sam I Am’s friend complain about his dish of green eggs and ham, the ungrateful hairball!
Learn about Dr. Seuss Day
Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel, commonly known by his pen name Dr. Seuss, was a writer, poet and cartoonist. Though best known as a children’s author (he released a whopping forty-six books for tykes), his career also saw him work as an illustrator for advertising campaigns and a political cartoonist during the Second World War. He was also a true perfectionist, known to discard 95% of his material before settling on a theme for a new book, sometimes spending up to a year writing a single story, and preferring payment upon completion, rather than in advance.
March 2nd is a celebration of his life and works, as it was on this day in 1904 that he entered the world. Having lived eighty-seven years and made an incredible impact on numerous generations, he died in 1991 at his home in La Jolla, California. His many bizarre, colourful and zany tales are still cherished by young and old alike, and, having been translated into more than twenty languages, are read all across the world every single day.
If you fancy paying a fitting tribute, we recommend dressing up with a friend as Thing 1 and Thing 2. All you need are blue wigs and red jumpsuits. Oh, and boundless energy!
History of Dr. Seuss Day
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
Dr. Seuss
Born on the 2nd of March in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts, Theodor Seuss Geisel did not have it all plain sailing. He joined a humor magazine at Dartmouth College, which was called the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern. Things were going well, with Dr. Seuss impressing so much that he became the publication’s editor-in-chief. However, he was forced to resign because he was caught drinking. At the time, there was a zero-tolerance policy, as it was during the Prohibition era.
However, this did not hold him back. During the Second World War, he drew more than 400 political cartoons for “PM,” which was a daily newspaper based in New York. A lot of the drawings were politically charged against dictators Mussolini and Hilter, with Japanese Americans being portrayed as latent traitors. He also wrote films for the U.S. Air Force, as well as critiquing Congress and showing his support for the President at the time; President Roosevelt.
Entering the most famous stage of his career, he wrote a number of children’s books after the war. This is when he started to use Dr. Seuss as his pen name. Some of his most famous books include Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Cat in the Hat. He continued writing until he died on the 24th of September in 1991. His children’s books continue to inspire people today, with a number of his books being turned into films and his stories continuing to sell well today.
How to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
Dr. Seuss
There are a number of different ways that you can celebrate Dr. Seuss Day. A lot of schools in the United States will have group readings and reading activities on this day. You can also find such events taking place at community centers and libraries. As well as the readings themselves, there will also be educator and student videos, as well as further information about staying involved and making certain that reading is a priority.
Another way that you can celebrate Dr. Seuss Day is by writing your own story. Children’s books that have been written by the man himself are filled with infectious rhymes and interesting situations. You could use this as inspiration for your own books. If you don’t know where to begin, don’t worry! You could start by making a brainstorm of your ideas.
Finally, we can’t mention ideas on Dr. Seuss Day without talking about the option of reading one of his books. There are lots of books that everyone knows, but what about some of the less popular ones? There are probably a few that you have not read yet or some that you may not have heard about. This includes the likes of The Butter Battle Book and Bartholomew and the Oobleck.
