To find success, Dr. Seuss kept trying – 28 times!
Today, honor his birthday by sharing a book with someone
Today, Theodor Geisel – better known to just about everyone as Dr. Seuss – was born on this date in 1904 in Springfield, Mass.
Dr. Seuss made reading fun, filling pages with light-hearted rhymes that are easy to read yet engaging to minds of all ages.
“The Cat in the Hat,” “Green Eggs and Ham,” “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” and “Horton Hears A Who” are just a few of his amazing classics.
And tucked into his works were wonderful messages.
For example, with Horton we learned, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
And with the “The Lorax:” “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
“There are so many things you can learn about, but You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut,” Seuss noted in “I Can Read with My Eyes Shut.”
But one of the best lessons we can take from him stems from his start in the book publishing world.
The first Dr. Seuss manuscript was rejected 27 times, according to the History Channel. Dejected, Geisel was walking home with the intention of burning that book – until he bumped into a college friend.
His friend, Mike McClintock, had started a job that morning as an editor with Vanguard Press children’s section.
Geisel showed him the book, and hours later, McClintock and Geisel signed a contract, History reports.
And in 1937, the first Dr. Seuss book hit the streets: “And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street.”
One never knows where inspiration will strike, or where that inspiration will take you. But to get there, one needs an infinite amount of determination and patience.
By the end of his life, Geisel wrote over 60 books which have sold over 200 million copies and have been translated into a variety of languages.
“Don’t give up! I believe in you all!,” Seuss wrote in “Horton Hears A Who.”
Geisel didn’t give up – and today, his classics live on.
In honor of Read Across America today, we encourage Yumans to find a favorite Dr. Seuss book, and share it with someone. Read it to a child, or donate it to a library, school or Little Free Library somewhere in Yuma County.
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!