Happy Read Across America Day!
(or let's eat cake and wear hats day...)
I used to LOVE Seuss... love, love, love...
My kids love him. We read a Seuss book last night as a matter of fact.
Love thing 1 and thing 2 - I sometimes think thing 1 and 2 are in permanent residence at my house... and would love to find that crate to lock them back into. :)
Love the Grinch, the Lorax... There are so many good messages in the stories. Mr. Geisel's imagination was amazing.
I would actually put Geisel and J. K. Rowling in the same awesome drawer in my brain - it amazes me that someone can dream up all these creatures and places...that we can still relate to them and their characters...all the while molding these imaginative things into a meaningful story... That to me, is ... beyond anything I would be able to do...
(Have I lost you all on my imagination tangent?)
NO?
Okay --- let's get the HATE part
It's not that I hate Seuss, or Theodore Geisel, or his characters....
It's the Seuss company.
YEP.
IMHO - they have taken something that is such a wonderful piece of literacy history and gone so overboard in the name of 'protecting their copyright'....
It has actually made me abhor all things Seuss.
The company is suing teachers that make any products (free or paid) using anything Seuss related.
WHAT?
yep.
Sadness.... So, can I make a Seuss game and share it with you - NOPE.
How about a cute comprehension activity or compare and contrast using some of the books? NOPE.
Anything?
(you guessed it)
NOPE.
I never realized how ugly the company was/is/has been to teachers until I really got active into blogging and creating materials. You can barely even find clip art that looks Seuss-ish...
IN ALL -
Overall - this makes me sad. I feel like Seuss has been forever ruined for me. It's not about planting trees, or green eggs and ham, the places we will go... but money... and their trademark. I was happy I didn't have to teach Seuss today. Happy I didn't have to read/watch Seuss movies. All I could think about was greed
SO
since I can't put a cute Seuss-ish picture on my blog - I'll leave you with another picture....
G2 after his Seuss ABC book...
Bye, bye green eggs.... Hellloooo green dollar bills y'all.
Amen! So sad :(
ReplyDeletetruly...
DeleteGreed...you are absolutely right! It's super sad and just plain wrong. My school had Dr. Seuss week this week, and it bugged me that I couldn't make or buy any cute activities. I had no idea about any of this until I started blogging recently. :-(
ReplyDeleteJeannie
The 2nd Grade Surprise
I know - I love creating stuff for my kids to match what I'm doing - I won't touch anything Seuss with a 10 foot pole now.
DeleteCompletely agree with you! It's so sad.
ReplyDelete❤DragonfliesinFirst ❤
thank you! :)
DeleteSo well said, I have felt the same way this past week and you wrote exactly what I'd been thinking. It's such a shame, it really is.
ReplyDeleteThank you - I was nervous about posting...
DeleteThis is EXACTLY what I have been feeling all week... I don't understand big companies like this; teachers BUY their books when they find a resource to use with it! What's wrong with them? Sigh....... Thanks for writing this...
ReplyDeleteI understand exactly how you feel. This was the first year that I didn't do one "Seuss" activity with my kids. I love the books, but I just can't bring myself to use them in the classroom anymore. I still have all of my Seuss books out for the kids to read whenever they want, but I do not teach from them anymore. Sad.....
ReplyDeleteI agree. I read some books this week but that was basically it. I just can't support him like I would have in years past. It's really sad, because these books ARE so good for kids. The characters and themes are awesome. I hate that the company has been so discouraging to teachers.
ReplyDeleteAngelia
Extra Special Teaching