Dr. Seuss Lives On
I recently got the opportunity to participate in a guest reader event at Beverly Shores Elementary School in Leesburg. The event is in celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday in March, where the famous whimsical author would have been the ripe old age of 106.
Local people from all professions, from police officers to city officials to local community members, took the time to come by several classes in the school to read a Dr. Seuss book or storybook picked out personally by the class.
I was able to truly celebrate and enjoy Dr. Seuss’ birthday by reading Ms. Hand’s kindergarten class a Dr. Seuss book I had never read before myself; “I Can Read with My Eyes Shut.”
In true Seuss fashion, the book had the lovable Cat in the Hat describing in rhymes the many subjects and ways you can read as long as you kept your eyes open while reading.
The students of Ms. Hand’s class seemed very interesting in listening to me read the book, stopping me to ask questions about the pictures or to point out what certain characters were doing.
After reading, I was able to tell the class a little bit more about my own career at LAKE Magazine and asked what some wanted to do as a career. I heard everything from a doctor to a firemen to a radio broadcaster, which changed with each child as they heard someone’s answer and then wanted to change their response.
I can remember myself at their age, always enjoying the reading time (really books in general) and the guest speakers that came to visit. I think I wanted to be at that age either an animal trainer or a veterinarian (which is funny considering what I do now as a profession).
At that age, the sky was the limit for what you could be and it usually revolved around what books or shows you were watching at the moment. Ms. Hand’s class showed that as what most of the children said they liked to read usually resembled what they wanted to be when they grew up.
Looking at what Dr. Seuss did for his profession as an author, it shows that books can have an influence in your lives and that you should never give up on those childlike dreams as you grow up. They are dreams that led to potential life goals later on in life, such as with my position where reading helped sharpen my editing and writing skills (plus I love to escape to another world in a book).
So ask children what they want to be when they grow up and don’t be surprised that with the right encouragement (from you and others), those children find a way to turn those interests into a future career.
Dr. Seuss did, going from doodling as a child to a newspaper cartoonist to a children’s book author loved by generations of children.
To learn more about Dr. Seuss, visit his museum’s Web site, www.catinthehat.org .
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