I was looking through my bookshelves today and found myself lingering on all my old Dr. Seuss books. When asked, someone my age will be able within an instant to recall a fond memory or storyline from any number of his books. The books taught us through color, character, and rhyme to be good people, take care of the environment, believe in ourselves, and to give things a chance. I think I learned more from Seuss than I did from the majority of my teachers through out my years in grade school. Without realizing it, I was being taught some of the most valuable lessons of my life that I still revert back to in all kinds of ways today. Oh, the Places You'll Go is a spiritual guide for me and continues to be the single best source of literary inspiration in my life, The Cat in the Hat taught me to have fun and be mischievous but always remember that you can never escape responsibility, and The Lorax taught me that the earth is something we need to protect.
It is extremely rare to have an adult author who can so ingeniously tap into the psyche of a child and draw out the best in their personalities and sensibilities. Another man with this particular genius who comes to mind is Shel Silverstein and his timeless poems. I will forever be indebted to a man I never met nor knew very much about. I can only hope that sometime in every child's life they come across something so magical and everlasting as a classic Dr. Seuss book. Thank you Dr. for leaving an eternal mark on my life that only true genius and books can leave.
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