My Favorite Dr. Seuss Books

Each year for Read Across America, we hold a Dr. Seuss Read-A-Rama where community members read their favorite Dr. Seuss stories to children in the library.  It is one of my favorite programs each year.  Since, Read Across America is coming up on Thursday (March 2), I thought I would share my favorite Dr. Seuss books to share with kids . . . .

Fox in Socks
I love reading this silly tongue twister book with older kids.  I've read it often enough that I can read it very, very quickly.  Before reading the book, I will ask kids to keep track of any "mistakes" I make while reading the book.  I start off at a normal speed.  After reading several pages, I'll ask if they want me to go faster.  I continue to ask that throughout the book until I reach top speed for the last 2-3 pages.  I can usually read the book making only 7-8 mistakes.  If the children are older, I'll ask for some volunteers to try reading to see if they can do it without mistakes.  If I'm in a school setting, I'll sometimes do a competition with the teachers to see who reads it best.


Yertle the Turtle
I love the short story Yertle the Turtle in the compilation book of the same name.  It is the rare Dr. Seuss story with a message that I like.  I think the lesson is included in the story in a more subtle way than usual.  I think it works great with preschoolers all the way up to high school.  With the older children and teens, you can get into the comparisons with political systems and discuss dictatorships.

My Many Colored Day
This is one book that most people never associate with Dr. Seuss.  It is nothing like most of his books from the rhyming scheme to the illustrations, it is a very different Dr. Seuss.  It is a great book to use with younger children to introduce the different emotions and feelings.  It explains them all by comparing them to colors, animals, and objects.

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day
This is another Dr. Seuss book that a lot of people are not familiar with.  The text was started by Dr. Seuss and then completed by Jack Prelutsky after Seuss's death.  Prelutsky used the story notes Dr. Seuss had left to finish the story.  It was then illustrated by Lane Smith so the illustrations are very different from the classic Seuss stories.  This is a great book to read in schools around test time as both the students and the teachers enjoy the story of a school that does magnificently on a standardized test.