Born on March 2, 1904, our beloved Dr. Seuss had a deep concern for getting more books to more people. Read this excerpt from www.seussville.com talking about his groundbreaking strides in reaching more people:
". . .entitled Why Johnny Can’t Read; the premise for both article and book was that children’s books were boring. Hersey was outraged with the current primers, calling them “antiseptic” and the children in them “unnaturally clean.” He called for illustrations “that widen rather than narrow the associative richness the children give to the words".
So in an unusual act of sharing an author, Houghton Mifflin and Random House asked Ted (Dr. Seuss) to write a children’s primer using 220 new-reader vocabulary words; the end result was The Cat in the Hat. Houghton Mifflin reserved textbook rights and Random House reserved retail trade rights. While schools were hesitant to adopt it as an official primer, children and parents swarmed for copies."
Dr. Seuss books have changed and touched the lives of millions of readers. Dr. Seuss would be deeply disappointed in Amazon's decision to give in to the Author's Guild, regarding the Kindle 2. The Guild argues that the text-to-speech function of the Kindle 2 violates the audio rights of the publisher. Amazon points out that no audio is recorded, the computer is simply reading aloud, just like we do when we read to our children.
This feature of the Kindle 2 allows the reader to get through the book more quickly. If people are reading quicker, then they are purchasing quicker. It's a win for both the reader and the industry.
Amazon has decided to let publishers choose if the text-to-audio function will be engaged. Turning off the feature detracts from the goal of getting more books into more people's hands. It will be a costly decision to authors and publishers. Not to mention a blow to the work our forefathers, like Dr. Seuss have worked so hard to establish and maintain.
So Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss. And thank you for wanting to widen "the associative richness" of books. May the publishers, see it your way.
Just read Michael Hyatt's blog - he said that Thomas Nelson is choosing to allow audio to continue on their books that are sold on Kindle. Great decision. Great publisher.
Posted by: marina | Monday, March 02, 2009 at 02:45 PM
Hi, Audra! I won your giveaway of the For Women/Men Only boxed set, but I am having a hard time emailing you at the AOL address on your sidebar. Can you email me at premierdal@aol.com? Thanks! Suzy
Posted by: Suzy | Monday, March 02, 2009 at 10:24 PM
THANKS for stopping by my blog. The video is alarming considering how far we [in the US]think we've come...only to find out we're standing still compared to everyone else!
Posted by: Christa Allan | Wednesday, March 04, 2009 at 04:41 PM
Love Dr. Seuss. Still do.
Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com
Posted by: Mike | Thursday, March 05, 2009 at 02:25 AM
Fun post! Thank you for sharing! Hope the week is going fabulous! Come over and smile! :)
Posted by: Mark Salinas | Thursday, March 05, 2009 at 07:45 AM
I will read Dr. Suess in a box,
I will read him with a fox,
I will read him here or there,
I will read him anywhere!
Posted by: Annie | Thursday, March 05, 2009 at 10:21 AM
I've got a Dr. Suess post this week too. It's entitled "a moss-covered, three-handled, family gredunza" and it was posted on Friday, March 5th.
I love Dr. Suess.
Posted by: Julie Stiles Mills | Saturday, March 07, 2009 at 07:56 PM
Happy Birthday, indeed, Dr. Seuss. Thanks for the great post. Very fascinating look behind the scenes, so to speak.
Posted by: Heather | Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 07:45 AM
Thanks for your prayers!
Posted by: Mimi Pearson | Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 06:02 AM