Reading the second half of chapter six about language development made me think about Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss books were some of the books I loved most as a child because they were about funny people and animals doing funny things like eating green eggs and ham (weird!) or trying to steal Christmas. But learning how infants develop language made me realize how smart Dr. Seuss was in writing his books. Infants first learn simple, one-constant words with similar sounds and their first grammar is in very simple sentences with two to three words (Berger, 169-171, 2008). Dr. Seuss books make use of these kinds of words and sentences on every page. They are words small children can try to pronounce and remember, and they are often repeated, such as in Green Eggs and Ham. The books also use rhyming words, which are easy to learn and remember, helping to increase children's vocabulary. Additionally, Dr. Seuss made use of bright colors, exotic places and characters, and funny sounding words. All of these would be new affordances for children learning how to read. Because they were new and interesting, the kids would want to read or be read to, and their language skills would develop further. I always knew I liked Dr. Seuss (and still do), but I never realized how brilliant he was in helping to teach children to read. :)
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