Truth about Seuss

NEA Today, Feb 2001 by Chase, Bob

President's Viewpoint

There's more to Read Across America than the Cat and the Hat.

It's been said that if something good happens once, it's a fluke. If it happens twice, it's a coincidence. If it happens three times, it's a bona fide trend.

Which is good news for Read Across America. Yes, it's ba-a-a-ck, replete with the Cat in the Hat, Sam-I-Am, and the rest of Dr. Seuss's fantastic creations. Friday, March 2 marks the fourth year that NEA will be celebrating the late Theodor Geisel's birthday with a campaign to read to children. With actor Morgan Freeman signed on as the event's national chair-and hundreds of celebrations being planned--what began as the dream of one teacher in New Jersey is now becoming an American tradition. Red-and-white top hats are being distributed, green eggs and ham are being readied for the griddle, and celebrities are signing up to read Hop on Pop to kindergarten children.

But amid this great hoopla, I must express some concern. This past winter, Hollywood released a quasi-blockbuster, The Grinch. And as I write this, a Dr. Seuss-inspired musical, Seussical, is being primed for Broadway. Dr. Geisel's creations are arguably more popular than ever, nearing Disney-esque stature.

Teacher that I am, I worry that in such a climate, Read Across America will be seen as a celebration of a trademark rather than as a promotion of literacy. I fear that more attention will be paid to the redand-white top hats than to the gray matter beneath them.

As sponsors of March 2 events, let us remind the world that Dr. Seuss's books are about more than a gleefully subversive feline. They are about the joy of reading-and of teaching reading.

The truth about Seuss is that he was an ingenious and passionate pedagogue. His books were designed to teach children phonics and morals-to help them to read and to excite them about reading at the same time.

Yes, serving green eggs and ham is an inventive way to capture children's attention. But whether Read Across America truly succeeds depends upon whether adults continue to read to children after March 2-and whether children themselves develop an abiding love for books beyond Geisel's.

Thus, we need to emphasize what teachers have known for years: the amount of "laptime" children receive outside the classroom greatly impacts their learning inside the classroom.

We need to promote literacy in fun and engaging ways year-round. For inspiration, we might look to Mike Jones, an elementary school principal in Franktown, Colorado. Several evenings each week, Jones visits the homes of his students. Dressed in a Dr. Seuss bathrobe and puppy slippers. he reads children bedtime stories before returning home to read to his own kids. Doing this, he says, makes children value reading outside of school; it also models good "literacy behavior" for parents.

While it's impossible logistically for many of us to do this, we must (excuse the teacherly pun) promote the greater principle behind it-- that adults can and must be the principal readers in a child's life.

So let me close with a message for this March 2:

Reading to children helps open their eyes to a skill and a joy that will last all their lives. So read every day! Get your kids juiced, for a lifetime of learning, beyond Dr. Seuss!

Comments? Email Bob Chase at BobChase@nea.org.