Earlier this month, it was my turn to read a book to Simon’s class. As it turned out, my turn fell during Read Across America Week, and on the day after Dr. Seuss’s birthday. The Children’s Book Club choice this month was any Dr. Seuss book, so for both occasions I chose to read my favorite Dr. Seuss book – Please Try To Remember The First of Octember.
This is one of Dr. Seuss’s older books and it is not widely known, but it is super cute and fun. In The First of Octember, Dr. Seuss imagines a day when all your wishes come true. Octember the First is the day on which you can have whatever you want. March is too dusty and April is too gusty, if May is too early and June is too soon, so you have to be patient and wait until the first of Octember! On that day, you might get such things as a ship that sails to Alaska, Nebraska, and Sweden, a skateboard TV, a pickle tree, a Hock-Zocker court, or just some relaxing time with your dog. It’s up to you!
Printable Month Sorting Activity
Aside from reading the book with his class, Simon and I did a few activities surrounding the book. First, it is important for the children you are reading with to realize that Octember is not a real month! At first Simon was confused, so we went over the months of the year together and realized that there is no Octember. When I read to his class, I also brought this up before I began to read. I created a month sorting activity for Simon as well.
Simon was surprisingly good at this reading activity and the only thing that threw him off was reading the word October when it actually said Octember! To do this activity, just print this list of months, cut them apart, and mix them up.
Writing Exercise
The next thing we did is sort of predictable, but really the best way to open a discussion with children after reading the book – ask your child what he or she would like to have on the First of Octember. I asked this question to Simon’s class after I read the book and they all took turns telling me what they would want. The answers ranged from the simple (an Xbox, for example), to the funny (a million dogs), to the fantastic (a Pegasus unicorn)! To work on writing with Simon, we recreated this page of the book:
I had just gotten rid of a roll of register tape which would have been perfect for this, but instead we used the back of two receipts taped together.
On the First of Octember, Simon wants 100000 dogs, a new dad, 100000 dollars, a basketball hoop, a mike, a car, a little ride, and my own fire station.
Doodle Delight Recipe
Our final activity was based on this page of the book in which the boy stays up all night drinking 99 six-packs of Doodle Delight:
We didn’t stay up all night, but we did drink Doodle Delight! Technically you can make Doodle Delight by using any green juice or soda, or even by putting water in a green bottle. I used water with a few drops of green food coloring for ours.
We really enjoyed the activities we did surrounding Please Try To Remember The First of Octember! I hope you will run out and get this book for your kids to enjoy too!