Happy Birthday to Mr. Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)

5 Fun Facts about Dr. Seuss and his books:

1. The Geisel Library at UC San Diego is named after him.

2. The Cat in the Hat led Geisel to found Beginner Books, a publishing company specializing in easy-to-read books for children. In 1960 Random House acquired the company and made Geisel president of the Beginner Books division.

3. Theodor Seuss Geisel also wrote some children's books under the pseudonym of "Theo. leSieg"? (LeSieg is Geisel spelled backwards.)

4. If I Ran the Circus is one of Weird Al Yankovic's favorite childhood books. How do I know? He told me - here.

5. 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 - go here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DR. SEUSS!!! IT'S ALSO "READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY"...

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

— Dr. Seuss

Photo of Ted Geisel in his La Jolla, CA studio
courtesy of www.seussville.com

THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL, KNOW TO MOST AS "DR. SEUSS", WAS BORN IN 1904, IN SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.  AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH IN 1991, HE HAD WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED 44 CHILDREN'S BOOKS.  HE WOULD HAVE BEEN 107 THIS YEAR.

Does your school or local library have any plans? (Click here for some cute printouts). Here in Orange County, CA, the beautiful Orange Public Library and History Center is hosting a special storytime today and a "Meet the Cat in the Hat" event (sponsored by Barnes and Noble) at 3:30 on Saturday, March 12, 2011. Click HERE to view their calendar.

CLICK TO READ MY PAST POSTS ABOUT DR. SEUSS