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It’s Dr. Seuss’ birthday today!

The great children’s author was committed to getting kids excited about reading, and he certainly succeeded with books like The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Seuss was a very interesting figure, often charging his simple stories with political imagery and symbolism, but below you’ll find a few facts that stood out to the xtra xtra team on this special man’s birthday.

• There are exactly 50 words used in Green Eggs and Ham. They are: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

• Seuss was a native of Massachusetts. He was born in Springfield in 1904.

• Seuss’ If I Ran the Zoo marks the first recorded use of the word “nerd.” (And yes, in most cases, only nerds know that.)

• His first book, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, was initially turned down by 27 publishers.

• The Cat in the Hat was written after a 1954 study found that kids thought reading was “boring.” Seuss wrote a book showing kids playing and having fun with creative and zany characters, and it forever changed the way children’s books were written.

In honor of Dr. Seuss, March 2 is also Read Across America Day, so celebrate this great writer’s contributions by sitting down with a good book in a comfy chair.  Oh the places you’ll go in the pages of a new book!

So Tell Us: What’s your favorite Seuss story (I’m a fan of Green Eggs and Ham)? Do you plan on reading a book today? If you know someone celebrating a birthday soon, remember to post a milestone in their honor on xtraxtra.com!

Till next time,

The xtra xtra team

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