Oh, the Places You’ll Go!  – In addition to words of wisdom for that kid heading out to school for the very first time, or for that not-a-kid heading out to make a mark in the world outside, this book is Dr.Seuss’s final hurrah, his farewell gift to the world..While books have been published posthumously, this book was the last one published while Dr.Seuss was alive, and he was enthused by his book’s success and people’s reaction to the book. While there are nay-sayers for this book too, and maybe, yes, it might have that ‘enough already’ quality to it, I am on the other side of the camp where I (quietly) applaud the author and his works, including this one.

My O post for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and for ABCWednesday as well is Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr.Seuss. I am catching up with visiting and commenting and will try to keep up with the Blogging from A to Z Challenge – April 2018  and the Ultimate Blog Challenge – April 2018. (Please read my note to my readers here )

Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr.Seuss – a book that many of you probably already know (and maybe some of you have it memorized too!). This book has been a favorite book to gift – for all ages, and I love picking it up and reading it at odd times, just because….. and also because it lifts me up so….

For ABCWednesday , here is a cool fact I discovered about the writing of this book:

Theodor Seuss Giesel, a.k.a Dr.Seuss had many unpublished sketches. For this book (which was his final book), he gathered his favorite ones amoing those sketches and pinned them up on his studio wall. He then looked for common themes among them and found one glaringly obvious one – hope. He then worked on putting them together and ended up with this gem of a book.

And an excerpt from an actual commencement speech that Dr.Seuss gave at the Lake Forest College in Illinois (thanks to the Chicago Tribune – you can read the full speech – really short still – here)

And…
as you partake of the world’s bill of fare,
that’s darned good advice to follow.
Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.
And be careful what you swallow.

For the Blogging from A to Z Challenge – April 2018   for my theme of ‘Within Books’, here are a couple of excerpts from the book:

I love that Dr.Seuss states life as is in the book – it is not all hunky-dory always:

Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so
but, sadly, it’s true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

And one more to share, one of the favorite quotes from the book …

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

Within this book, every page is quotable, so I will stop with these above. Also, within this book is inspiration on every page, not just with these quotable quotes I mention above, but an inspiration to write as well (as is true with other Dr.Seuss books too); and here is what I wrote when I first read this book a few years ago. Note: Authors like Dr.Seuss, Shel Silverstein, and Roald Dahl were late discoveries for me – I first read them as a young adult (definitely no longer a child), but totally fell in love and they remain among my favorite authors even today.

Seussian Ode to Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Oh, the wonders it contained inside,
My mind learned at every page,
My face grew a smile a mile wide,
I knew this book was for every age!

The peek I first planned
Turned into something more
The gift for my friend
Just stayed in my books galore.

-LadyInRead(Vidya)

Q to the Reader: What is your favorite quote from this book (ie, if you have read it)? If you have not, you can go ahead and pick a copy for yourself:) Also, if you have not, what is your favorite go-out-and-move-mountains quote from any book you have read?

One Gift Tip for this book: Not mine own, but from the treasure trove of ideas that is the internet: Have your child’s teachers write a message to your child (for their graduation years from now) each year – a little secrecy is needed, yes, but you can do it….and then, a few years later, you have a gift for your child!