Dr. Seuss is one of my favorite authors (and probably one of yours, too). I loved reading his books as a child, reading them to my children, and then to my students as a teacher. But psst... true confession: After reading all of the famous titles about a million times each, I kind of prefer Dr. Seuss's little-known books, just as a change. And if you're not familiar with them, do I have a treat for you.
Not that there's anything wrong with The Cat in the Hat, Hop on Pop, or Green Eggs and Ham. Far from it! They're enduring classics that should always have a place in every child's library. I can recite GEaH by heart at a moment's notice, and I can zip through the tongue-twisting Fox in Socks at a breakneck pace. (I especially enjoy the Tweetle Beetle section.) But sometimes a grownup just gets tired of reading the same pages over... and over... and over. After a while, your mind starts to turn to dark thoughts: Shouldn't Sam-I-Am be respecting his friend's right to say no? What was that mom thinking, leaving her kids alone in the house for the whole day? And who cleans up after all those animals in One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish? The Zans and the Gack must need one heck of a pooper-scooper.
Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote more than 60 children's books, according to ThoughtCo; most were published under his Dr. Seuss pseudonym, but he also used the names Theo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone. Because he was so influential in encouraging child literacy, the National Education Association's annual Read Across America event is based around Geisel's March 2 birthday. Many schools honor the day or the week by holding reading contests or inviting students to dress up as book characters. This year, why not use the occasion to go beyond the Cat and read an unfamiliar title or two? The whimsy and rhymes are all there, and you might find a new family favorite while you're at it. These are some of my top choices, and plenty more are available at your library or through Amazon, if you can't get enough Seuss.
