Seuss-athon: Party # 5 of 5!

We made it! Woohoo! Yesterday was the 5th and final Dr. Seuss party of our week-long Seuss-athon, held at the Los Angeles Central Library.

There was lots of Seuss silliness to be had, as we listened to readings of "The Sneetches" from The Sneetches and Other Stories, Fox in Socks, Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Horton Hatches the Egg, and Green Eggs and Ham.

Plus, we enjoyed a rare reading from the oeuvre of the mysterious Theo. LeSieg- Ten Apples Up on Top!

See these books? 99.9% of them were checked out by a book-hungry mob of ravenous children by the end of the program. What a beautiful sight!

Children's Librarian Miss Linda treats us to a felt board performance of One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. With all those felt fish up there, I probably didn't have to tell you that.

Children's Librarian Miss Joanna joins Miss Linda in a boisterous reading of Green Eggs and Ham. Don't you just love how librarians show the pictures so nicely when they read?

What's a birthday party without a birthday cake? Since the library doesn't own 105 felt candles (and they would have obscured the cake anyway), we were asked to imagine the other 100 candles-- not too difficult a task considering our imaginations had just been given a super Seuss work-out.

For the grand finale, our lovely librarians staged a puppet performance of Horton Hatches the Egg. Here's a photo of Horton with that no-good, lazy Mayzie.

Well, that's all for now folks, until "the Good Doctor" turns 106! In the meantime, hang out with him in Seussville.

Seuss-athon: The Cat in the Hat Rocks the Library!

Party #4 of our Seuss-athon! Woo-hoo! The La Pintoresca Branch of the Pasadena Public Library threw a fantabulous Dr. Seuss party under the direction of the wonderful Children's Librarian Mr. William, a.k.a. The Cat in the Hat.

Check out this amazing display he set up behind the information desk.

After a super spirited reading of his eponymous story, The Cat in the Hat engages us in a game of Seuss Jeopardy. "What is...Theodor Geisel!"

Next, we settle in for some vintage television Seuss. We can't get enough of that Sam-I-Am! Here he is in the 1973 "Green Eggs and Ham" adaptation from Dr. Seuss on the Loose.

Two die-hard Seuss fans create the most iconic hat to ever grace a head, feline or otherwise, perfect for having "good fun that is funny."

One more Seuss party to go. Onward ho!

Seuss-athon: Happy Birthday, Dr. Sweet Horse!

Day #3 of the Seuss-athon brought us to the Chatsworth Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. The Children's Librarian treated us to some of Dr. Seuss's more obscure works, including "What Was I Scared of?" from The Sneetches and Other Stories and "King Looie Katz" from I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories.

The latter tale is particularly well-suited for young activists-in-training. In his book, Dr. Seuss: American Icon, scholar Philip Nel states, "Zooie's 'I QUIT!' demonstrates how activists can promote democratic ideals by speaking out and standing up for their rights."
Kudos also to the Children's Librarian for making age-appropriate Seuss biographies available at the program! Yay!

What of the Dr. Sweet Horse reference? An obscure linguistic footnote in the marginalia of Seuss's life could include the fact that "süß" means "sweet" in German, and "sus" means "horse" in Hebrew.

Both words sound like "Seuss"-- hence, Dr. Süß Sus, or, Dr. Sweet Horse. (That's quite a tasty language treat for our die-hard Seuss fan to contemplate.

What's a Seuss party without an art activity? Here's next year's Halloween costume, perhaps?

This die-hard Seuss fan moves through the labyrinth of the "Good Doctor's" work, making nonsense of sense like any good disciple, because you're only absurd once!

Seuss-athon: ¡Celebre el Cumpleaños del Gato con Sombrero!

Party #2 of this week's Seuss-athon was held at the Cypress Park Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. Serving a largely bilingual population, the Cypress Park Branch children's collection contains many Dr. Seuss books translated into Spanish.

¡Celebre el Cumpleaños del Gato con Sombrero! Tipping a hat to the Good Doctor's famous feline creation, the Cypress Park Branch also honored the 40th anniversary of The Cat in the Hat. ¡Viva el Gato!

The library's Seuss-celebration featured a Horton Hears a Who! craft project,

modeled here by a die-hard Seuss fan.

As if the elephant ears couldn't be topped, we were treated to the original 1970 Chuck Jones animated T.V. special, Horton Hears a Who!

Thanks to the planning and organizing of Children's Librarian Miss Alicia, we had popcorn* and fruit juice to carry us through the adventures of Horton and his "speck of dust."

Among our take-home goodies, Miss Alicia hooked us up with some Shel Silverstein tatoos. How cool is that? Yeah, I know it's not Dr. Seuss, but they're both full of nonsense. And nonsense is the best sense of all!

*Of course, no Beezelnut Oil was used in the making of the popcorn.

Seuss-athon: Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Probably because I don't have television service, Sudo Nimm and I come up with alternative activities to entertain the family. Sometimes, we brainstorm while gorging on strawberries, which can lead to mind-altering perspectives on life, the universe, and wardrobe selection.

(If you think I'm making this up, John Lennon knew what I was talking about-- "Strawberry Fields Forever," anyone?)

So, this week we came up with the idea of a Seuss-athon-- attending as many Dr. Seuss parties as humanly (and motherly) possible in honor of the Good Doctor's natal coming 105 years ago.

Tonight, on the official date of the birth of serious nonsense in this country, we attended a Dr. Seuss "Chocolate Party" at the Hastings Ranch Branch of the Pasadena Public Library.

The above photo depicts a spirited reading of Green Eggs and Ham, complete with the eponymous epicurian delight, of course!

I'll let you guess which one is trying to decline Sam-I-Am's beseechings.

The party shifted into high gear with a game of Seuss Bingo. Between the M&M "chips" and the jumbo Hershey's chocolate bar prizes, this party was really starting to live up to its name.

I'm not so sure how well the game worked for those little ones who decided to eat it instead, but, anyway...

The chocolate climax of the party came in the form of fondue.

Here is the chocolate fondue fountain only moments before an unfortunate mishap. Yes, librarians endure much in the line of fire, including the effects of a fondue malfunction. Oh well! "That's what dry cleaners are for," he said.

It would be too graphic to recount all the details. Besides, that's what imaginations are for.