Happy Read Across America Day! I for one will be staying in my pajamas and reading all day long (I have to– I’ve already taken the pledge). And how fitting to celebrate Read Across America Day on the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel– the one and only Dr. Seuss!

If you follow me on Twitter you’ll know I collect and share quotes–including from Dr. Seuss. His wisdom when it came to writing for children was in a form of genius absurdity that has rarely been matched. Like Edward Lear and Lewis Carrol he makes you laugh so hard, you forget you’re reading. At least that was my experience as a child. Dr. Seuss made reading into something fun and within anyone’s grasp.

Here are some great Dr. Seuss quotes on writing and life…

1. You have to do tricks with pacing, alternate long sentences with short, to keep it vital and alive.
2. Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
3. The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
4. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So. . . get on your way.
5. A person’s a person, no matter how small.
6. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
7. Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.
8. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
9. Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
10. I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.

Don’t you love that last Seussism?

I believe it. I owe a great debt to nonsense. Speaking of which, if you love Dr. Seuss silliness as much as I do, then I think you will love Skip to the Loo, My Darling! A Potty Book. (A potty book? Well that makes it silly immediately.) Sure enough, it is filled with a whole cast of suitably silly (as well as terribly friendly) characters–a lonely dodo and a wibbly woo, Lord and Lady Huff Puff and an elephant in a tutu!