If you have kids, teach kids or know kids (or are on FB) you probably know that today is Mr Geisel's birthday! That's right Dr Seuss was born on this day over 100 years ago. Though he is no longer on this earth, his work lives on and we honor him still in elementary schools all over on this day! I LOVE that! I love that we celebrate the day he came to this Earth, and I love that we celebrate it by honoring his work. I love that my kids have Cat in the Hat hats to wear, Green Eggs and Ham to eat, and wore crazy "Fox in Socks" socks to school today! What a great, imaginative celebration!!! We celebrate it each year at this house.

But I learned something new this year! My friend Hilary posted the following status on FB today:

My favorite Dr. Seuss story contains no sneetches or grinches or cats wearing hats. It's the story of Theodor Geisel, an unpublished manuscript, 27 publishers, and 27 rejections. In frustration, he decided to give up on writing for children and set off to burn the manuscript. Before he could reach his apartment, he chanced upon an old school friend. He told his story, and his friend told his own. He had just become the juvenile editor for Vanguard Press, and asked to see the manuscript.

What followed was the publishing of And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street and the birth of Dr Seuss.

"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"

WHAT? Why have i never heard this great story? I was able to verify this is true on a few websites. On this site writer Melissa Kaplan wrote:

Striding down the street after being rejected for the twenty-eighth time, crumpled Story manuscript jammed under his arm, he was on his way home to burn it when he bumped into an old Dartmouth classmate, Mike McClintock. Mike had, just three hours earlier, been appointed Children's Book Editor by Vanguard Press and was in a bind. Having sold himself to Vanguard as having many connections, he in fact had no manuscript to submit. They ran into each other, the manuscript changed hands, and several months later, U.S. children met a new doctor. (Ted was able to return the favor years later when, as one of Beginner Books' offerings in 1958, McClintock's A Fly Went By was published.)

Let me tell you what I love about this story. I love that he was so committed that he went to 27-28 publishers and got rejected over and over. Through all that-he persevered! He kept going and did not give up! Then, THEN, right at that moment, the moment of giving up, the right person was thrust back into his life at the right time! And Because of this "chance meeting" (which I do not think was by chance) we have been blessed with the amazing work of Mr Geisel as Dr Seuss! WONDERFUL!!

Don't give up! Keep going, and know that at your moment of weakness when you think you are ready to give up-and your breaking point, someone is watching out for you! LOVE!

Just had to share because I feel like it was a great "Deals" for us to have the works of Dr Seuss. Now, go put on some crazy socks, read a Dr Seuss book and have some Green Eggs and Ham for dinner!