By: Sandra Grande

The more that you read, The more things you will know. The more that you learn, The more places youll go. -I Can Read with My Eyes Shut "Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted." Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born March 2, 1904 in Springfield, MA. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1925, and went onto Oxford University with the plan of acquiring a doctorate in literature. Dr. Seuss was granted doctorates in literature and fine arts by seven universities.

After he finished school, Ted found a job in advertising. In his spare time he started to write childrens books. He is also loved to illustrate.

Seuss's characters are somewhat rounded and droopy. For instance, the faces of the Grinch and of the Cat in the Hat. Seuss's earlier artwork often employed the shaded texture of pencil drawings or watercolors. In his childrens books he generally used just black, white, and one or two colors.

In 1936 on the way to a vacation in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. He sent it to 43 different publishers but no one would publish it. In 1937 a friend published the book for him. This was the first time he used his pen name, Dr. Seuss (Seuss was his mother's maiden name).

In 1954, a magazine wrote that some children were having trouble learning to read because the books they had were boring. Dr. Seuss did not want books to be boring for kids, but he did want kids to read. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and encouraged him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important. Dr. Suess had to cut the list to 250 words, and write a book.

Nine months later, using 220 words, the book was called The Cat in the Hat. In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham.

Dr. Seuss went on to write and illustrate an entire series of books just for beginning readers. He wrote 54 books, most of them for children. He wrote using the names Dr. Seuss and Theo LeSieg (which is Geisel spelled backwards).

Ted died on September 24, His books for children have been published in 20 different languages. Dr. Suess is the most popular childrens author in the world.

Introduce students to tongue twisters. Students can create their own tongue twisters using the first letter in their name. Focus on phonics, parts of speech, oral language, alliteration, and more.

Math Sorting Shapes

Make green eggs and ham. Science Talk about other animals that lay eggs.

Matching beginning letter sounds to pictures.

Count the number of feet in the classroom. Count by 2s.

Bring in a collection of hats and graph them.

Discuss the importance of trees and people. Science

The story talks about the choices we make throughout life. Dont be afraid to try new things!