Updated at 5:58 p.m. March 2, 2016:
The 112th birthday of whimsical children’s book author Ted “Dr. Seuss” Geisel will be celebrated in San Diego and around the U.S. with Read Across America Day and an event at the library named after him at UC San Diego.
Geisel was born March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and first used the pen name Dr. Seuss on a cartoon in the Saturday Evening Post in 1927.
His first book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” was published 10 years later — after 27 rejections. After World War II, he moved to La Jolla and penned classics like “Green Eggs and Ham” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” that became staples for young readers.
He died in 1991.
The National Education Association launched Read Across America on his birthday seven years later. The program promotes the importance of reading to school children.
NEA Vice President Becky Pringle plans to read to students this morning at Balboa and Carson elementary schools in San Diego.
Cupcakes, a giant inflatable Cat in the Hat and music from The Teeny Tiny Pit Orchestra highlighted the birthday celebration at UCSD.
“There was always a kernel of truth and substance in his books,” UCSD libraries director Brian Schottlaender told Fox5 San Diego.
“‘The Lorax’ was all about the environment, ‘The Cat in the Hat’ was all about getting along with each other,” Schottlaender said. “He managed to mix message with medium in a way that was really memorable.”
The USO in San Diego hosted local members of the military, who recorded videos of them reading Dr. Seuss stories. The videos will be burned onto DVDs and sent to their homes so their children can listen to them.
—City News Service
