As of 2016, I own a Dr Seuss book.
It's the first one I've ever owned.
Yes. The first.
I was an
adult before I ever even heard of Dr Seuss. (In my defence, I grew up on an island,
and although I definitely wasn’t short of books – I had the Mr Men and Little Miss books, the Ladybird books and hundreds of Enid Blytons
among others – but Dr Seuss wasn’t one of them).
Green Eggs and Ham was the first of his books that I met. I loved the wonderfully quirky characters with their long eyelashes and the nonsensical-and-yet-somehow-entirely-plausible landscapes that are so quintessentially Dr Seuss. The phrase “I do not like them, Sam I am” also quickly slipped into my daily vocab and is still going strong.
Green Eggs and Ham was the first of his books that I met. I loved the wonderfully quirky characters with their long eyelashes and the nonsensical-and-yet-somehow-entirely-plausible landscapes that are so quintessentially Dr Seuss. The phrase “I do not like them, Sam I am” also quickly slipped into my daily vocab and is still going strong.
Then (thanks
to the treasury that is the Brain Pickings blog), I discovered in quick
succession, Dr Seuss’ wonderfully surreal paintings of unmistakably Seuss-ian
worlds and characters, his WWII political cartoons, and finally, his
lesser-known adult book, The Seven Lady Godivas.
How can you
not adore drawings like these?!
(One of Dr Seuss' surreal landscapes)
So I was
absolutely, utterly charmed when, on Dr Seuss’ birthday (he would have been 112
years old!), HarperCollins Australia sent out their regular email newsletter
with nothing in it but “Happy Birthday Dr Seuss” with a couple of recognisable
grinning characters.
It was a
gorgeous and fitting email to mark the good Doctor’s day, and I just had to take
a pic and tweet it. As you do.
Imagine my
delighted surprise HarperCollins Australia not only liked and retweeted it, but
also said they would send me a little thank you pack – from themselves and Dr
Seuss! A mere few days later, I was the proud owner of my very, very first Dr
Seuss book: What pet shall I get?
The tale and finished artwork were discovered after his death amongst his papers freshly-published. And does it contain
quintessential Dr Seuss rhymes and Dr Seussian-styled illustrations? You bet! All
wonderfully-drawn, character-filled animals with super-long eyelashes,
including the fishies!
There's a helpful note from the publisher about the context of the book's pet shop, about buying or adopting, about the responsibilities of having a pet, of looking after them and caring for them. This expands into a beautifully-written biography about Dr Seuss (and his dog!)
This book was a wonderful gesture by the HarperCollins Australia folks which I will
appreciate always!
This lovely handwritten note sums
up the delightfulness of the gesture:
Thank you lovely folks at HarperCollins Australia! :-)
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