This is what I like to do when I clean my house or take road trips (neither I have done lately – very apparent to those who have been over to my house recently), play Dr. Seuss cds. I have two, and they contain such classics as Horton Hatches an Egg (my favorite), The Lorax, Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and Yertle the Turtle (missing The Sneetches, another one of my favorites – “Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars”). The stories are read by an amazing group of actors: Walter Matthau, John Cleese, Dustin Hoffman, Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, among others.

Ah…. I have always been a sucker for a nice voice. When I say always, I mean it has always been there – I just never really realized it until recently. Poetry and presentation. A bad poem can be disguised by a masterful voice. A good poem can be destroyed by an atrocious voice. There is nothing more sublime than a good piece of work being read by a worthy voice. I can’t really define the type of voice I like – accent doesn’t matter, deepness doesn’t automatically strike – just something that can make me lull away. I love being read to (but must admit I kind of suck at reading out loud). It’s something I rarely get. Lovely words, words, words – what could be better?

Whenever I have problems with the children’s story I am writing (which is done entirely in rhyme) I take out Horton Hatches and Egg and read out loud for a few minutes. The rhythm… the pacing… the genius. I’ve spent hours breaking Seuss’s poetry down word by word – and despite the deconstruction, there is still something so magical about it. It’s easy – and isn’t that what true genius is – making something look easy?

And Dr. Seuss was the master. I wonder what he sounded like…