It’s Dr. Seuss’s birthday! How are you celebrating? The Washington Post has six things you probably didn’t know about the good doctor — who never got his doctorate! We were surprised to learn the author of the environmentally-conscious “The Lorax” (in theaters, not coincidentally, today) — worked in advertising, designing campaigns for Standard Oil. And while you’re thinking about The Lorax, why don’t you visit our website for 16 environment-friendly ideas and activities inspired by Dr. Seuss? Number nine: “Consume less. Don’t take two when one will do.” Goody bags: When we were kids, there was nothing better than ripping open a brown paper bag full of candy and cheap plastic toys — but as the “prizes” get more extravagant, and the knick knacks start piling up, when is enough enough? KJ Dell’Antonia with Motherlode at the Times took a closer look this week. We stumbled across Legos in a few places this week: Mommy Shorts warns us not to walk the streets barefoot and to be on the look out for Lego art installations “repairing” holes and cracks in walls and sidewalks in the worldwide art installation Dispatchwork. But there’s a big difference between those Legos and this amazing Lego robot that can solve a Rubix cube in under six seconds. The Lego geniuses who put this together are clearly past the recommended age ranges on toy store shelves. At Salon.com, a college professor and parent talks about parents who find it difficult to give their newly-graduated kids a little space and independence. And over at iVillage, one parent suggests that if your toddler is throwing a tantrum, you might want to take a quick look at your attitude.
Jan Berenstain passed away at 88 this week, leaving a legacy of more than 300 books. Jan co-wrote The Berenstain Bears series with her husband, Stan, and the books have become a staple at schools and at home, with some teaching lighter lessons about summer camp and dental hygiene, and others dealing with heavier topics, like racism. A sad news story quickly became controversial, when Slate.com XX Factor’s Hanna Rosin wrote, “good riddance,” criticizing the Mama Bear character: “Mama Bear’s only pleasures in life seem to come from being the Tracy Flick of domesticity, making up charts for good behavior and politeness, encouraging her children to use pretentious British affectations such as ‘terribly sorry’ and ‘lovely, my dear.'” A predictable backlashensued, and an apology was soon appended to the beginning of the original article. Explained Rosin: “I admit, I was not really thinking of her as a person with actual feelings and a family, just an abstraction who happened to write these books. Apologies.” Whether one reporter does or does not care for the series, there’s no denying the Berenstain Bears have found themselves a home on bookshelves all over the world, and will be teaching children everyday lessons for a long time.
“In an interview with Scholastic, the children’s magazine, Ms. Berenstain said she and her husband were always being asked why they had decided on bears rather than some other animal. Their standard answer was that “they stand on two legs, their mothers are very good mothers, and so on,” she said.
“One student asked why we didn’t use a fish,” she said, recounting a visit to a classroom. “And our answer was that they aren’t enough like people.”
Why not monkeys, then, asked another student.
“Because they are too much like people,” she replied. “ (The New York Times)
