The power of Seuss

So I never really got Dr. Seuss. I mean, I understood the stories - in the way that you can understand stories about rotting food and one creature's quest to get another to eat them.

But what I mean is, I never really quite got why the writer is so well-loved, so revered. But now I do. Before my son was even born, he received a ton of Dr. Seuss books. But, for some reason, maybe because I thought he wasn't old enough yet, I put them aside each and every time story time rolled around. Yesterday, he seemed so hell bent on being read Green Eggs and Ham, that I decided to go for it. Two things happened.


1. He giggled through the ENTIRE book. I mean an all-out belly laugh that was totally infectious and one that usually only occurs during major tickle battles. The more excited he became, the more animated I became until we found ourselves laughing through all 62 pages - quite a feat for an easily distracted 21-month-old. Rather then reading a story just to pass some time, it was more like an experience. As if I were possessed by the ghost of some Shakespearean actor, I began reading the absurd rhymes - Would you eat them in a box? Would you eat them with a fox? - in tongues I had not thought myself capable of, and my son, nestled comfortably in my lap, would keep looking back at me, with those saucer-like green-brown eyes, to watch the expression on my face as I recited the words. He loved it all. He even marveled at the surreal drawings.

2. I too was reminded of an important lesson, thanks to the pestering, but lovable, Sam-I-Am. Don't knock something until you've tried it. Because if you do, you might just be missing out on a really great time.