In celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday, Andi brought home Hooray For Diffendoofer Day! She's been reading it too us little by little all week.The story is a celebration of learning, about a happy school with many eccentric teachers, who along with every other school, is faced with having to take new standardized tests, with dire consequences should they not do well.
While Dr. Seuss has always been a household favorite, this book seemed particularly appropriate, as it touches on and intersects many current events with my own recent thoughts and experiences. Besides being the book that Theodor Seuss Geisel was working on when he died, it was completed by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Lane Smith.
Smith was the illustrator of Jon Scieszka's The Math Curse, which is one of our other favorite children's books, and is also about school and learning. Prelustky authored, among many other books, Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face, a book of funny poems which Eason happens to be reading to us while I write this.
My son goes Diffendoofer School & his teacher is Miss Bonkers. Hooray!eric.kamander.com/2013/03/hooray… @schoolbook
— Eric Kamander (@kamander) April 27, 2013
While I have always been interested in and opinionated about child education, my exposure to educational topics and debates has increased significantly since I recently started following educators, who like Miss Bonkers, also promotes teaching kids to think.
With the recent adoption of Common Core State Standards and the assessment tests that go along with them, reactions by many parents and teachers seems to range from concerned to anxious to up in arms. Hopefully this new curriculum will go as well as it did for the students of Diffendoofer. I'm optimistic.
What are some of your favorite Dr. Seuss books, and why?
