Friday, August 14, 2009

Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden - Springfield, Mass.


At the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, children wander around familiar characters, and entire families line up to have their picture taken with big old Horton the elephant in the background.


It seems like Horton, and the Grinch’s dog Max, and Lorax, and Sam-I-Am with his Green Eggs and Ham, are just like family anyway.




Commissioned after cartoonist and children’s book author Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, died in the early 1990s, the bronze statues made of his characters was accomplished by artist Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, Geisel’s stepdaughter.



You can find them at the Quadrangle where the Springfield Library and Museums Associated form a protective ring around the green common where the Cat in the Hat, Thing One and Thing Two, Thidwick, and a menagerie of others play.



Dr. Seuss is here himself, musing over his drawing table, grandfatherly while his creations come to life, and real-life children look over his shoulder to see what he might be drawing next.



Theodor Geisel was born here in Springfield, and on the occasion of his homecoming visit in 1986, the idea was first hatched to honor the native son whose funny, and poignant, and socially conscious, and big-hearted imagination taught and entertained generations of children.

For more on the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden, have a look at this site.

2 comments:

  1. OK, if & when I ever make it to New England again, I know where I'm going! This sounds great.

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  2. Hi, John. I hope you can see it sometime. Watching the kids approach these things is hysterical. Even the grown-ups are wide-eyed at the size of Horton the elephant.

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