Today we celebrate Theodor Seuss Geisel’s (better known as Dr. Seuss) birthday!

Dr. Seuss was born on March 2 in 1904 and became a children’s author and animator after graduating from Oxford. He’s best remembered for the stories “The Cat in the Hat”, “Horton Hears a Who!” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. He’s published over 60 works throughout his career, which have generated television, movie and musical adaptations enjoyed by many.

“On Dr. Seuss’s birthday we take time to nurture a love of reading and learning in our children, ourselves and our communities,” says Susan Brandt, president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises. “Having ‘The Dr. Seuss Experience’ is an excellent way for people in the Greater Toronto community to experience in a new way the beloved books that made learning fun for them and a reminder to everyone how important literacy is in the development of a child.”

Kilburn Live, the producers behind “The Dr. Seuss Experience,” an imaginative and interactive experience based on the wondrous world of Dr. Seuss, have kicked off birthday celebrations today in the GTA with Seuss-inspired cakes.

A first-of-its-kind experience, “The Dr. Seuss Experience” takes each guest on an awe-inspiring journey through nine different Dr. Seuss books, allowing each visitor a chance to magically step into the pages of each of the books. “The Dr. Seuss Experience” features interactive elements from Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, The Lorax and Horton Hears a Who!, as well as specialty rooms dedicated to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and If I Ran the Circus. All the rooms are designed around key scenes and characters from each of these beloved books to stimulate the hearts, souls and imaginations of fans, both young and young at heart, from across the GTA and beyond.

“The Dr. Seuss Experience” has garnered record-setting attendance since its world premiere at Mississauga’s Square One in late October 2019. Surprise enhancements and a new character were added in January for the final months of the experience, which closes on March 22.

Dr. Seuss Birthday Facts

• March 2, 2020, would have been Theodor Geisel’s 116th birthday.

• Every year on March 2, Dr. Seuss’s birthday, millions of educators, booksellers, parents and children across the nation participate in a celebration of reading and literacy.

• One of Dr. Seuss’s most referenced quotations is taken from his story Happy Birthday to You!: “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”
 
More Fun Facts about Dr. Seuss

• Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated 45 books, which have been translated into over 45 languages.

• The classic Green Eggs and Ham uses only 50 words and is the bestselling Dr. Seuss book.

• Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is a popular graduation gift for its message that reminds every reader of the potential they carry inside of themselves to go far.

• In the United States, Theodor Geisel was a cartoonist and worked in advertising while writing his first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was rejected multiple times before finally being published in 1937.
• Theodor Geisel often came up with story ideas by doodling. He also kept a closet full of wacky hats. Whenever he was stumped while writing, he would put on a suitable hat to help the words flow.

• In a Life magazine article in 1954, author John Hersey suggested that Dr. Seuss write a better primer than the boring school primers of the day. Dr. Seuss’s publisher challenged him to write a story “first graders can’t put down.” And that’s just what he did, using a vocabulary of only 236 words. The Cat in the Hat was published in 1957, a book that continues to charm children more than 60 years later.

• Dr. Seuss was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1984, three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards and three Caldecott Honors.

Famous Quotations from Dr. Seuss’s Books

Brilliant, playful and always respectful of children, Dr. Seuss charmed his way into the consciousness of generations of youngsters and parents. In the process, he helped millions of kids learn to read. Awaken your inner kid with these fun quotes from some of Dr. Seuss’s most beloved works:

• “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

• “I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of good fun that is funny!” – The Cat in the Hat

• “Don’t give up! I believe in you all! A person’s a person, no matter how small!” – Horton Hears a Who!

• “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – The Lorax

• “The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches and no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches. That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether they had one, or not, upon thars.” – The Sneetches and Other Stories