Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The wisdom of Seuss

Lately Annika and I have been discovering Dr. Seuss books at the library.  I'm no stranger to Seuss, but up until now it's been more "Cat in the Hat", "Green Eggs and Ham" or "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish."  We're now getting into some of the other books.  A while ago we took out "The Lorax" and I loved it.  And I loved how Annika talked about "speaking for the trees" for days after we read it.  This past trip to the library we took out "Oh the Places You'll Go!" and it's quickly become another favorite of mine.  I think I liked it more than Annika!  Here's one of my favorite parts (because it's quite relevant to me right now):

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

But there's always hope, according to Seuss.  From the end of the book...

On and on you will hike.
And I know you'll hike far
and face up your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.

Smart man, that Seuss.  And good at rhyming too. ;)

5 comments:

Melissa said...

I love this book, Tim bought it for me when we were dating it is a great one. This and Yertle the turtle are my favorites:)

Shachi said...

Awesome. Reading to my daughter (she is ~14 months old) is one of my favorite things to do. I love Dr. Seuss as well :). I chanced upon your blog while clicking the "next blog" button on my blog :).

Pamela said...

I love that book too. I saw an idea on pinterest where a mom bought a book when her kids started school and then at the end of the year, she asked their teachers to write a message on one of the pages. She presented the completed book with all of the messages from their past teachers to her children as a graduation present. I thought that was a cool idea.

Andrea said...

Huh. Whaddya know.

I love it when kid's books actually have more for the parents to learn than the kids.

Well put, Dr. Seuss. Well put.

Lisa said...

Yertle the Turtle, The Sneetches, and Oh the Places You'll Go are all good reads, too. There is a really interesting documentary on Seuss that you can find at the library. It is shot in such a way that parents and kids can watch it together; you might find it interesting.

Link: http://wpl-pac.winnipeg.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1A17351O50565.767472&profile=wpl&uri=link=3100007~!986260~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=subtab13&menu=search&ri=4&source=~!horizon&term=In+search+of+Dr.+Seuss&index=ALLTITL