Celebrating Dr.Seuss

Last year, I had asked my fellow contributors at Saffron Tree to share their favorite Dr.Seuss book, which they did gladly.

March being the birth month of Dr.Seuss, I could not let it go by without mentioning a few of things he has inspired in our house.

1. Early last Summer, a recently-turned-five Ana wrote and illustrated this "poem".
   
   Phonetic spelling and mixed-up grammar notwithstanding, I am sure it is readable, but, here is what she recited/read to me anyway:
   I would not see an octopi, I would not see an octopi
   I would not eat an octopus pie
   I would not greet an octopus
   
   
   
   Looks like the familiar meter that Dr.Seuss employed in most of his works clearly influenced Ana's poem. Not surprisingly, a few more of her poems since then have the same meter/rhythm/ring to them.
   
   
   
2. "Naanaa, you could be Sally and I could be Nick. Do you want to go in fin-gumma-jigga?"
   
   "OK, Og. No, I mean Nick. Let's find Mama. No, I mean Cat In The Hat. MAMA! MAMA! Can you be Cat In The Hat and go with us on the Thingamajigger."
   
   "Yes I can, Honey-pot! I mean, Sally!" I say, as I take the assigned "Driver's Seat" at the front of the chair arrangement. Three of the dining chairs, two kids chairs all arranged in neat rows to simulate a vehicle, with one sole front chair. And off we go flying, then submerging underwater, then on land, discovering various creatures and features along the way... stopping and getting off only when we became too curious about the (pretend) poison dart frog or crocodile or water strider or dragonfly...
   
   
   
3. "Lift up your shirt, Og. Let me see if you have a star belly-button. Ohp. You don't. You are not a star-bellied Sneetch. Too bad. Look at my belly!" (where she sports a star sticker).
   
   "Oh, you are a star-bellied Sneetch, Naanaa. Can I be one too?"
   
   And so they go, back and forth with the star sticker on their bellies, until they decide they both want to be plain belly(-buttoned) Sneetches.
   
   
   
4. "Can you do Camel On The Ceiling for me, Papa?" is Og's invitation to be picked up, held upside down overhead so he can walk like the camel on the ceiling in Dr.Seuss' ABCs, which seem to be his all time favorite Dr.Seuss book so far.
   
   
   
5. "Mama, cloud, loud rhyme! How about laptop and japtop? They rhyme too! Shoe, goo; dish-washer, mish-mosher; button, futton; witch, titch; dinosaur, kinosaur... Step Stool, um? Mama, what rhymes with step stool? how about mep mool? Can mep mool be rhyme with step stool?"
   
   There's a Wocket in my Pocket has clearly influenced this verbal exercise Oggie indulges in these days. Of course the inevitable "fart, cart", "poop, loop" feature more often than some obscure ones like "microwave, bikerowave", but, he sure is rhyming pretty well thanks to Dr.Seuss who made nonsense words acceptable just for the fun of it.