Seuss lives through stories told at the Fort Smith Public Library

 

story (and poetry) and photos by Ruby Dean
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How many, many lives you touched,
In the libraries, every book they would clutch.

Reading at home, reading at school,
Dr. Seuss had become the coolest of cool.

No matter what the race,
Everyone had a different face.

Whether it was Green Eggs and Ham or The Foot Book,
Kids of all ages had to take a second look.

We loved your rhyming words,
We hung on every line and what you had to say was loved and heard.

On how many, many lives you touched,
We just wanted to say thank you very, very much.

This is even true today as 132 parents and children turned out to honor Theodor Seuss Giesel, better known as Dr. Seuss, on his birthday, which really isn’t until today (Mar. 2). The Fort Smith Public Library made storytime about Dr. Seuss a much beloved children’s author who died on September 24, 1991.

At the time of Dr. Seuss’ death in 1991, the 46 children’s books he had written had sold more than 200 million copies, and his last “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” (1990), was still on the bestseller lists. Not only did he write the books, but he also did the illustrations and they have been translated into twenty languages as well as Braille.

Dr. Seuss never had children, but once stated “you have ’em; I’ll entertain ’em” and that he did and still does as his books are now being made into movies for the next generation to appreciate.

The Fort Smith Library began the evening with a question and answer session regarding the life of Dr. Seuss. Names of the ones who filled out the quiz before tonight were drawn from a sack and six lucky winners took home stuffed characters of Dr. Seuss’ books and one book was also given away. After that, the original version of The Lorax was watched.