Day 4, Letter D of the A to Z Challenge-Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and NEA's Read across America

A.D.'s Fav 5 for the #AtoZChallenge! ... April 4th- A.D.'s FAV 5 of the #AtoZC...

Day 4, Letter D of the A to Z Challenge-Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and NEA's Read across America

Dr. Seuss…I grew up with him, well… in the reading of his books sense. I loved Green Eggs and Ham. I loved it Sam I am…

Now there is The Lorax… did not read that one, at least I can't recall. Gonna have to thought, but probably after I have watched the movie (yep, haven't seen this one yet, I know … stupid! It looks pretty good!) So with another Dr. Seuss inspired movie, the fourth in fact. Remember The Grinch. That funny Jim Carey… and don't forget there was also Horton Hears a Who…loved it! Then my favorite… The Cat in the Hat (Love you Michael Meyers! The Shrek & Wayne's World guy, not the Psycho!). It's no wonder we're in Dr. Seuss frenzy! Google him and you'll see…

So with a lot of Dr. Seuss going around why not talk about the guy…after all he was inspiring, clever and a great rhymer! But not to take you away from all the other wonderful bloggers of the A to Z Challenge (hence the creation of A.D.' Fav 5)I will talk about him in the form of quick tidbits. Things you may not have known about the guy.

First his name is actually Theodor Seuss Geisel (you probably knew this), but did you know how he came up with Dr. Seuss? No? In 1925, Dartmouth student Geisel was caught drinking gin with some buddy and it was during the Prohibition. So as a punishment he had to leave his position as Editor-in –Chief at a student magazine. So he published under different names…one of which was Dr. Seuss!

Later when he published children's books, he did so under the names Theo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone (ironic huh! You know the language teaching tool), these names were used on books in which he did no illustrations for.

A second thing… Dr. Seuss's books were more than morality tales for the kiddos; they were also outlets for Dr. Seuss to comment on social issues. The Lorax was about environmental conservation, The Sneetches tackled racism, Horton hears a Who was anti-isolationist, The Butter Battle Book commented on the arms race (six months later was pulled from shelves) and Yertle the Turtle was inspired by Hitler's rise to power.

(Both tidbits above came from the Huffington Post- http://huff.to/H4HGLt )

A third was did you know Dr. Seuss was not a fan of kids. He once said this "You have them and I'll amuse them." His widow Audrey even went so far as to say Seuss was afraid of children. He seemed intimidated really on how to interact with them. Sitting on the floor and hanging out for the Dr. was a bit of a challenge. That's ok Dr. Seuss we still love you…

Fourth bit of unknown info (if you did know, just humor me and mouth a big O for me, will ya! :0) is that the wonderful book Green Eggs and Ham came to be because of a bet! Really…? Really. In 1960, Bennett Cerf, Seuss' editor, bet the Dr. he couldn't write a book using only 50 words. The resulting story was 'Green Eggs and Ham' which uses exactly 50 words.

(3 & 4 info came from The FW- http://bit.ly/AgNnBO , check them out they have more…)

My fifth and last tidbit (went to five in light of my A.D.'s Fav 5 for the challenge) is did you know that Teddy Roosevelt left Dr. Seuss with a permanent case of stage fright? He did! Apparently when he was fourteen and in the Boy Scouts (my boy is one!) he was among ten boys to be honored with a personal award for his efforts from President Roosevelt to be handed out by Teddy himself. Well when poor o'l Theodor walked up, they were short a medal. So Mr. Teddy Roosevelt says in a gruff, "What's this little boy doing here?" Well poor Theodore was whisked off the stage by a flustered Scoutmaster and Theodore was humiliated! Poor guy…after that public appearances were a challenge for the author.

(5th tidbit, courtesy of History.com- http://bit.ly/zBNVG2 )

So now you know a little more and knowing is half the power! (Go G.I. Joe!) Sorry had to… The Lorax is still in theatres… click here to watch the preview http://www.theloraxmovie.com/index.php#/splash

Now on to a little about NEA.org and their Read across America…

"NEA's Read Across America captured the media spotlight with a Seussational national kickoff in New York with NEA President Dennis Van Roekel and Lorax stars Danny DeVito and Zac Efron, and attention-getting Read Across America events around the country, including the Read Across America reading tour driven by Mazda."

Dr. Seuss through his book The Lorax and now the movie teaches kids and their parents too, about the environment. NEA President Roekel said this… "The Lorax' is not only entertaining to read, but it also highlights the importance of protecting our air, land and water. Our students deserve to learn in a safe, healthy environment."

Click on the link http://www.nea.org/grants/886.htm to read more about this wonderful sensation and watch some neat videos as the stars read for the trees by reading to you The Lorax.