Dr Seuss's ABC

Dr Seuss's ABCs by Dr Seuss

Rating: 5 stars, in alphabetical order

I can just imagine the conversation...

Me:  "Good morning, officer."

Officer:  "Good morning, ma'am.  Do you know why I pulled you over?"

Me:  "Umm...not exactly."

Officer:  "You were driving erratically.  Are you under the influence?  Have you been drinking?"

Me:  "Um, no.  Just coffee.  I was, um...well, um...I was kind of reading to my children."

Officer:  "While driving?  Along this windy road?  Why?"

Me:  "Why was I reading to them?  Because I want them to be critical thinkers, contributing members of society, happy and knowledgeable..."

I think all mothers must hide their head in shame at some point when asked about what they do while driving--or what they also do while driving.  I once had a sore shoulder for a few weeks because I was holding Lorelei's pacifier in her mouth for 10 or 15 minutes straight.  While driving.  So embarrassing...I mean, I know that I have incredibly precious cargo, and I am even careful about how much I talk on the phone while driving, and I truly only text while at stop lights.

But the other day for some stupid reason, I thought it'd be a good idea to hold this book up so that Lorelei and Ben could see the pictures, and have Lorelei "read" it to Ben.  She knows all the words, so I only had to look at the pages once or twice to get her jump-started on a particular letter.  And there wasn't too much traffic on the super twisty-turny road we were driving on...

I know, I know.  I'll never do it again, I promise!

But this book is a must read.  We're not huge Dr. Suess followers and this book actually sat on our shelf for years because I thought it was pretty strange and annoying.  It has no story, something I almost always say is necessary for this 1ish to 4ish age group.  But what it does have is some funny, gripping rhyme with silly pictures that somehow make sense in a little mind like Lorelei's.  She and Ben both love this book, especially Z (which you recite the entire alphabet before getting to, like one crazy drum roll countdown, more exciting than a space shuttle launch); even Ben points to himself when you turn the page after asking "What begins with Z?  I do!  I am a zizzer-zazzer zuzz, as you can plainly see!"

Of course!  A zizzer-zazzer zuzz!  It is something so silly that we grown ups have difficulty appreciating the silliness of because we think we're too cool to be silly. 

Also, this is a real teach-the-alphabet book.  Lorelei is able to sound out the first letter of almost all words we throw at her these days, something that makes my husband confident in her future place in Mensa.  But I know that it is her incredibly interest in reading and all things letter-related that has helped her get to this point.  I'm not pushing it.  What's the fun in reading if there's no fun in it?

This book rocks!  We love it.  It's crazy and very suess-ish, but a must-have.