Have you ever had deep thoughts…and then what actually comes out your mouth is so simple. I was thinking about the word legacy and the concept and how it applied to my life as my husband drove us over the Strong River and through the Mississippi woods to read at a school at the edge of our county.
Out loud I only said: “What a legacy. All across America, everyone is reading!”
Bill said, “Yes, really!”
That was it! We are comfortable in silences. We each went back to our thoughts as we rode along, enjoying the beautiful faux-Spring day. Blue skies. Still cool temperatures, but no heavy coats nor wool scarves as required so many days in this long Mississippi winter. Woods. Occasional clumps of bright yellow daffodils and jonquils dotting hillsides. Then we arrived at our school.
Celebrate Books and Reading
Bill and I had a great time at Simpson Central School near the Western-edge of Simpson County where we joined the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Theodore Seuss Geisel. The week of March 2-8, 2014, schools and libraries all across our nation celebrated “Read Across America!”
“The Cat in the Hat” was there.
Probably every Mississippi Mom has read aloud at least one book by Dr. Seuss, probably many! When a child enjoys a book he or she wants to hear the book read over and over, again and again, never tiring of hearing the story repeated.
Why are Dr. Seuss books such fun to read? Because… because… because… Fill in your own because!
SOME reasons Dr. Seuss books are so well loved:
Colorful illustrations; comical; rhythmical;
small vocabulary; easy to read; fun!
100th Anniversary of Dr. Seuss
Greeted by the school staff, Bill and I signed-in and received our name tags in the school library. Our escort, Kennedy Hanna directed us to our assigned class and stayed for “my lesson.” Mrs. Shelley Kemp had prepared her Fourth Grade class. The children were attentive, eager to learn, and interested in the lesson I presented.
Horton, the large gray elephant under my arm was the star. Horton was the invention of the creative genius, Ted Geisel.
Theodore Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, March 2, 1094. You may have some of the many Beginning Readers published by Random House: beginning readers, some written by Dr. Seuss using the pseudonym, Theo LeSieg, which is Geisel spelled backward! (Others illustrated these books).
[NOTE: If you are interested in reading more about the details of the life of Dr. Seuss, see Hooray for Books in Mississippi Mom’s Archives from February 21.2013].
Having Fun With Seuss
I enjoy showing children various pages in my Art Exibition Catalog: “Dr. Seuss from Then to Now.”
My personal favorite Dr. Seuss book was his first, “And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street” (1937). Since these early days, several feature films, many other books by and about Geisel, toy cats and hats, elephants and more are available worldwide to honor the career and life of Dr. Seuss! Some of the characters of Dr. Seuss have developed a life of their own: the Cat in the hat; Horton the elephant, and the Grinch.
Legacy: “To Dr. Seuss and Horton”
The children at Simpson were so familiar with the Seuss books that after teaching my lesson about Ted Geisel, I read a story by someone else. Emma Kate has an imaginary friend who is a lovely large delightfully drawn elephant by Patricia Polacco.
To introduce the book, we talked about the words: book dedication and legacy. “A book dedication is “To honor or show esteem.”
Patricia Polacco is part of the legacy of Dr. Seuss!
Post Script: Writing this post, I learned something I can share on Dr. Seuss Day next year. Patricia Polacco wrote: “Of all Dr. Seuss’ books, Horton Hatches the Egg is such a heart warming tale. As a child, I was inspired to climb my grandpa’s cherry tree and sit on the skinniest branch as Horton did.”
Then yesterday my pastor preached on the topic: What Is Your Legacy? So…as a Nana, I’m still pondering legacy.
Mrs. Ginger, you did an outstanding job on this. I miss Simpson Central to a point. My son has three more years out there. I kind of wished they would build a high school out that way.