National Read Across America Day

Photo by Jared Craig on Unsplash

Today is also called ‘Dr. Seuss Day’. These books are mandatory reading for pre-readers and early readers, it seems.

My favorite titles are ‘Go, Dog, Go’ and ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’–

I don’t know why these books are my faves–

I love dogs and loved climbing trees when I was younger, so maybe that explains my first choice.

I’m big on motivation and taking chances, so I love the message in ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’. “And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)”

Wait, I think this stream of consciousness has answered my question.

When Guinness the Therapy Dog and I go to play with the at-risk kids at the domestic violence transition shelter, we always read at least one book. Last week, we read a book about a dog with no tail who had a pretend tail attached by a button.

My first question was: how was the button attached to his butt??? My second question was: why did the tailor (get it!) make the tail so long???

The poor dog already had self-image problems and now he has a tail that vies the length of ribbon used by Olympic rhythmic gymnasts.

In the end, the dog and his friends decide it’s better to be yourself than to rely on a fake tail. That’s a good message for the kids and the wordplay by author Kate Feiffer is fantastic.

Good reading! Sonja