| Life is serious. Just think about it for a moment. | | | | my attention and short enough for me to feel |
| All kinds of child like wonders and | | | | satisfied at finishing. A Seuss story was a cool |
| accomplishments evaporate when we have to be | | | | glass of lemonade on a hot summer afternoon. |
| responsible, serious adults. So, I've been thinking. | | | | Ah yes! Another imaginative, outstanding tale. |
| What if I looked at life the same way I did when | | | | Take, for instance, The Sneetches. What is a |
| I was a wee lass? OK, what if I tried to see my | | | | Sneetch anyway? I learned about prejudicial |
| everyday life like a 9 year sees hers? Roller | | | | nonsense from a nonsensical tale of fictional |
| skating, jump roping, and the occasional trip to the | | | | creatures whose snobbishness led them to be |
| local swimming pool were the best activities a little | | | | easy prey for a non scrupulous carpet-bagger. |
| girl could engage in. Yep, I've decided that nine is | | | | Vivid illustrations ignited a spark of imagination in |
| Divine! | | | | my eager little mind with which the real world |
| I've decided to live my life like I did when I was in | | | | could not possibly compete. Characters like |
| 4th grade? I remember loving math. I was good | | | | Horton, with tireless integrity hatched the egg or |
| at math. When other children were sweating over | | | | Bartholomew and his 500 hats, or the stubborn |
| times tables, I was cool as a cucumber. Yep, just | | | | Zax kept me turning pages. What fun to hear |
| give me 7 times 8 and I will knock your socks | | | | about a Lorax, who spoke for the trees or a |
| off. My brain was kickin'. Spelling was a breeze | | | | borfin that schlumps in the night? Cats wearing |
| too. Reading was the best. What could be better | | | | hats, Bee watchers, and blue fish kept me |
| than engulfing myself in a good book? | | | | reading, wondering where the yarn could possibly |
| My school teachers always said things like "you | | | | go next. Who can forget the Grinch? His |
| can go anywhere in the world when you read a | | | | magnanimous change of heart provided hope for |
| book". I didn't much care for loooong, overly | | | | generations of children and helped us keep |
| descriptive stories, I preferred the kinds of | | | | perspective about what is most precious in our |
| stories that I could identify with and finish in an | | | | lives. |
| hour or two. Certain authors like Beverly Cleary | | | | My teachers never explained what a whammel |
| had a gift for drawing me into the lives of her | | | | faddle was but Dr. Seuss did. And he was a |
| characters that lived on Klickitat Street. She | | | | Doctor! Or so I thought. He wouldn't tell us about |
| breathed life into Ramona Quimby, Beezuz, Henry, | | | | places and adventures that were a waste of time |
| and Ribsy the dog I lived those stories. I knew | | | | would he?! NO, the good doctor painted the most |
| those characters. When I read Cleary's books I | | | | vibrant, exhilarating canvases for us to absorb. |
| wasn't afraid of getting stuck in a book I didn't like | | | | Seuss was noted for saying "Nonsense wakes up |
| or couldn't follow. | | | | the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of |
| But of course, my absolute favorite author was | | | | humor, which is awfully important in this day and |
| Dr. Seuss. His real name was Theodor Seuss | | | | age". He said those words a lifetime ago and yet, |
| Geisel but he also authored many easy readers | | | | to this day, I cannot read a divinely crafted Seuss |
| under the pen names Theo LeSieg and Theodor | | | | story without smiling and giggling like a little |
| Geisel. Those books were long enough to keep | | | | nine-year-old girl. |