INSPIRED BY CRAZY HATS!

Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, loved to wear crazy hats to parties. When he was having a hard time coming up with rhymes, he would sometimes put on one of his many “thinking caps” for inspiration.  This tidbit of author trivia reminded me of the pink poodle in the beginner reader book, GO DOG, GO! -- which happens to have been written by a protege of Geisel: author and illustrator P.D. Eastman.  It's about all these zany dogs: green dogs, yellow dogs, big dogs, little dogs. Dogs who drive cars, dogs who ski. Where are they all going?  To a treetop dog party, of course!

Whether you use them as beginner readers or as read alouds, your and your children will love these enduring classics by Eastman as well:

ARE YOU MY MOTHER? A baby bird is hatched while his mother is away.  Fallen from his nest, he sets out to look for her and asks everyone he meets, including a god, a cow, and a plane: "Are you my mother?"

THE BEST NEST Mr. and Mrs. Bird's search for a "better" nest leads them to some peculiar spots.

SAM AND THE FIREFLY When Sam, the owl, teaches Gus, the firefly, to write words in the sky, cars crash, movies are free, and hot dogs are cold.