You Were a Strange One, Dr. Seuss

On the eve of the anniversary of Dr. Seuss's birthday I thought I would write a short poem. It goes like this:

You were a strange one Dr. Seuss,
You wrote a bunch of gobbledy-gook.

As many, even most of you readers know, Dr. Seuss wrote such classics as Green Eggs and Ham,Cat in the Hat, Hop on Pop,
and my all time favorite, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
For those of you who know me, my favorite comes as no surprise.

Anyhoo, on with the post because I really want to talk about children's books that can help with language development and
allow children to "play" with language.

Leslie Layman, interested in all things related to early childhood, equity, access, and play has written, " Learning language is one of the most exciting and difficult tasks that young children achieve."
She goes on to say, " Children practice language skills by imitating what they hear. Infants babble, toddlers begin forming words and short sentences, preschoolers go on to whole sentences then paragraphs."

And if you have a young child or have ever taught young children or are a grandparent to a young child, then you know they also go on to tell fascinating stories! Some of which are seemingly very long, maybe a little out in left field, and sometimes contain what is referred to in the vernacular of preschool teachers as "bathroom talk." It appears that nothing is funnier than this kind of talk when you are three and four years old.

Books that are fun to read and listen to and as an added bonus help young children"play" with language include:

Bats at the Beach, by Brian Lies.
"Now it's munch time; what's to eat?
Baskets groan with yummy treats.
Beetles, ants, and milkweed bugs,
crickets, moths, and pickled slugs.
Damselflies, or salted skeeters
No room for picky eaters!"
(Who is not going to squeal with delight?)

Chuck's Truck, by Peggy Perry Anderson
(Farmer Chuck's truck breaks down because it's too full)
" So Sue and Lou and the goat Flo, too, Nip and Tuck and the
burro Buck, Fat Cat Pat and the workhorse Huck with the Duck Luck, the chicken that goes "cluck" and Chuck get a friend to tow the truck."
(Try saying that 3 times fast.)

Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont.
"Eeny, meeny, miney moe!
Who ate all the cookie dough?"
( Nice length for toddlers)

Sheep in a Jeep, by Nancy Shaw.
(At the end of the book, a crash has occurred)
" Jeep in a heap. Sheep weep. Sheep sweep the heap.
Jeep for sale----cheap!"
(What's funnier than animals driving?)

And last, but not least, my new favorite:
The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith.
The book begins:
"I was walking down the road and I saw a donkey.
Hee Haw!
And he only had three legs! He was a wonky donkey."
And it ends with:
"He was a spunky, hanky- panky, cranky, stinky-dinky, lanky, honky-tonky, winky wonky donkey."
(There is a wonderful video of a Scottish grandmother reading this to her baby grandson. Look it up, it is hilarious!)

So, even though Dr. Seuss wrote some gobbledy gook he definitely provided books to help children develop and "play" with language.
So for that I say a big thank you. Oh, and Happy Birthday!

That's it for now.
Check back later!