Dr. Seuss, did you ever learn from his stories?

[Guest]

Star Belly Sneaches taught us that discrimination is wrong. Perhaps certain people need to have this story read to them over and over until they get it.

Green Eggs and Ham taught us that you don't know until you try.

And, on and on it goes. What did you learn from childhood stories? I have to say that Dr. Seuss was and is about the only easy to read author who has taught me and my children the 'fun' way.

Just some random thoughts that I wanted to share. What is your Dr. Seuss experience?

 

[lucky-E-leven]

My first favorite was Green Eggs and Ham. Then the Cat in the Hat. Then One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

The one that really moved me, though, was Oh The Places You'll Go.

Oddly enough, I was having a woe is me moment last night about lacking motivation and the struggle to forge ahead. Our daughter's been really into the Seuss tales lately, and I happened upon Oh The Places You'll Go. Once again, everything looked possible. Every turn was a decision made ... a step forward ... a bit of PROGRESS. It was just what I needed.

It would be nice if everyone took the time to share the good lessons with their children.

 

[Alessia Brio]

What is your Dr. Seuss experience?

It's life-long and pervasive. SO many wonderful lessons. I can't narrow it down to just one.

 

[arienette]

I love The Lorax. Love it.

 

[CharleyH]

I loved Green Eggs and Ham, but the only reality I got from it was first that it was impossible to make them without food colouring and second that if you did "really" come across them, then the chances are that you'd end up in the hospital. (What can I say? My mother was a bitch - lol).

I think this was the only Suess book I read as a kid. I normally saw them on TV.

Other things I learned from stories as a child were that if you ate a fly, eventually you would gorge on anything and everything and die, so never begin eating flies in the first place - JUST SAY NO TO FLIES!

One story that never ceases to amaze me because it changes meaning every time I read it is Alice In Wonderland.

 

[cloudy]

I love The Lorax. Love it.

My favorite, too.

(although, I have to admit to some difficulty pronouncing thneed)

 

[sophia jane]

I love The Lorax. Love it.

My 7th grade science teacher read that one to my class, and I'll never forget it.
Oh the Places You'll Go is a great one when you're in a rut.
I think my favorite is Horton hatches an Egg. I identify with Horton- the odd ball who's willing to help out even at the risk of being laughed at. And then there's that stupid mom bird- grrr.

 

[angelicminx]

Oone that comes to mind is "Horton Hears A Who!". The main thing I remember is all of the Whos' raising their voices together in order to be heard.

Then there's the classic, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas!". I still love reading that one to children, especially in our overblown, "Gimme, gimme, gimme" society. I believe it shows that Christmas isn't about the gifts, it's about joy, family, and love.

 

[sophia jane]

Has anyone ever seen the Seussical musical? Love that. My sister in law's dance group did it every year in Texas.

 

[My Erotic Trail]

Dr. Suess is one of the most inspirational children's book authors of this century (no doubt).. a grand imagineer!

Inspired The Pussy in the Christmas Hat my story submission for the 2005 Literotica winter story contest <grin

 

[McKenna]

My husband has no idea who Dr. Seuss is. Part of me can't fathom that, and yet, when you think about it, he grew up in Holland with a different language and a different culture. It's hard --if not impossible-- to make translations rhyme the way an original story/poem does. So, he has no point of reference.

That just means I get to introduce him to all the good stuff.

I can remember the Star Belly Sneeches story more than any other. I think it taught me how to be more accepting of myself. There will always be something that someone else has that I think I need or want to be "attractive," but changing the outside rarely brings happiness; it's acceptance of the inside that does.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Let's see, Dr. Seuss..
Taught me to think in anapestic tetrameter ( I had to look it up just now, it's the 'waltztime' one-two-three, one-two-three, rhythm thta makes his poems so satisfying.)
His artwork informed a huge element of my aesthetic sensibility- the rich colors and the combinations were what I noticed as a child, but looking at his pages now, I realise that his compositions are masterful. I'd never noticed that before!

And the stories... So wonderful companions! My children and I read "The Sleep Book" almost nightly for years. And "One Fish" etc, "McGillcott's Pool", "Eggs Super-De-Duper" "Fox In Sox"(which hammered into me the correct way to spell "tongue") I think we've owned or borrowed all of his books. Plus he inspired a whole new way of writing for children. back in my own childhood, the first book I read myself was "Go Dog,Go" and "Gus And The FireFly" two books from the Cat In The Hat publishing.

My daughter spent a Saturday night sleeping over once, and called me in the morning to say she'd been invited to come along to Sunday School. This surprised me, as I knew the child's parents were atheists. I talked with the father, who said it was a Unitarian Universalist class, and about as secular as it's possible to get, so Cami went along. She came home with a "star upon hars" and the sneetches was the story they had used for the lesson that day. That did it for me, I enrolled both of my kids and we went for four years.

I love every story in that book. The Zax who never learn to compromise, the empty green pants who are just as scared as he was- and the Daves, who taught me... umm... Well, hmm. I did name my daughter after a flower and my son after a predatory animal, so-
hmm.

 

[Weird Harold]

I loved Green Eggs and Ham, but the only reality I got from it was first that it was impossible to make them without food colouring and second that if you did "really" come across them, then the chances are that you'd end up in the hospital.

Actually I've eaten green eggs and ham -- although it was the shells that were green rather than the yolk; the prouct of free range chickens that collected the chorophyl from their diet in the shells to produce a muddy Olive Drab green shell.

My mother found them while visiting an old friend near Yosemite and hauled a dozen four-hundred miles to share them with me because of my love of Green Eggs and Ham as a child.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Dr Who?

 

[Trinique_Fire]

I never liked Dr. Seuss books. Never got into them. The one...the ONLY one I ever read and enjoyed was Oh The Places You'll Go.

 

[cumallday]

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas taught me that its o.k. to steal from my neighbors just so long as my heart grows 1o times it's normal size, which is physically impossible, but that won't stop me from taking your stereo.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

Just some random thoughts that I wanted to share. What is your Dr. Seuss experience?

Whenever I see that cheeky smile of yours I have a bit of Dr Seuss experience myself.

 

[Grushenka]

Taught me to think in anapestic tetrameter ( I had to look it up just now, it's the 'waltztime' one-two-three, one-two-three, rhythm thta makes his poems so satisfying.)

Thanks for the meter info. I simply loved the sound of the words in their rhyme schemes, and of course the fantastic stories somehow made real, and human. "Horton" had me on the edge of my seat the first reading.

What did I learn from Dr. Seuss? A love for the written and spoken word (not so much learned as received, like a gift). The only other author in my very young childhood with lasting effect: Beatrix Potter. What feats.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

I was brought up with my brother's hand-me-down Golden Books. They're still fresh in my childmind.

Tootle -- the train that went off the rails
The Saggy Baggy Elephant
The Seven Sneezes
Ukelele
and above all, The Trains To Timbuctoo

From Timbuctoo to Kalamazoo
To Kalamazoo and back,
A long long way, a long long way,
A long way down the track.
A long long way, a long long way,
A long way down the track.

 

[Grushenka]

I was brought up with my brother's hand-me-down Golden Books. They're still fresh in my childmind.

Yes, I too recall the Golden Books. As a child I actually believed the 'golden' meant they were worth more than other books. As they were cheap, however, even my very poor parents could afford to give me my favorites. I still recall how privileged I felt to actually own books.

 

[angela146]

The best Dr. Seuss I have ever heard was done by Jesse Jackson.

Does anyone have a better video of it than this one:

click here

 

[cloudy]

The best Dr. Seuss I have ever heard was done by Jesse Jackson.

Does anyone have a better video of it than this one:

click here

Green eggs and ham!!!

I thought I would choke laughing the first time I saw him do that.

Priceless.

 

[kendo1]

They taught me how to read books to my kids.

It's wonderful watching the expressions on their faces as you get carried away.

Note: always read ahead before you say the words, especially with Seuss.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

They taught me how to read books to my kids.

It's wonderful watching the expressions on their faces as you get carried away.

Note: always read ahead before you say the words, especially with Seuss.

The best kids books are the ones that you carry on reading after they've gone to sleep.

 

[kendo1]

I must admit, I have.