Seuss was a wizard with words. I recall hearing that, with some of his books for beginner readers, the publishers issued him with a set word list and he enjoyed the challenge of creating an interesting and meaningful tale despite being restricted by strict guidelines.
When my children were little, I rediscovered Seuss and read some more of his work. At the age of three my daughter used to go to playschool two mornings a week and she made a friend there who would often come round to play. My daughter had a thing about Seuss's Fox in Socks and one day she asked me to read it to her and her friend. Well, the other little girl loved it too and, for several months after that, they regularly implored me to read Fox in Socks and would chant lines from it in anticipation as I walked them home from playschool. It was full of tongue-twisters and had a strong rhythm and rhyme-scheme. Seuss's books are a pleasure to read aloud and I think they foster an appreciation for the sounds and creativity of language.
My son loved Dr. Seuss even more than my daughter did. By the time he was old enough to read the books for himself we had a whole collection of them and he read them over and over, his favourites being The Sneetches, Yertle the Turtle, The Big Brag, The Zax, What Was I Scared Of? and Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
The Sneetches is my favourite:
Of course, the Star-Belly Sneetches learn their lesson - Seuss introduces moral issues to children in the most fun and inventive manner.But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches
Would brag, "We're the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches."
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they'd snort,
"We'll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!"
And, whenever they met some, when they were out walking,
They'd hike right on past them without even talking.
Certain Seuss verses have become part of our family vocabulary. If someone has made a mess we quote from The Cat in the Hat:
Walking in the countryside past prickly bushes like gorse or bramble, we'll remember the lines from What Was I Scared Of?:...this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall
We cannot pick it up.
There is no way at all!
In September my daughter went off to university and I gave her a present to take with her - Dr. Seuss's Oh, the Places You'll Go!, which begins:I ran and found a Brickel bush,
I hid myself away.
I got brickels in my britches
But I stayed there anyway.
Great stuff!Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
You're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.