[NLA] A Christmas Message (longer)

[Thomas Sticht]

Research Note                               December 19, 2001
Tom Sticht

Learning to Read With Dr. Seuss & Private Pete In World War II

Almost anyone who learned to read in the last 50 years knows the Cat In
The Hat or the Grinch or many other creations of one of America’s most
beloved authors and illustrators of children’s books – Theodor Seuss
Geisel, internationally known as Dr. Seuss. But fewer know that prior to
and after the United States entered World War II, Dr. Seuss was famous
for his editorial cartoons, many of which aimed at raising support for
the war effort.  

On December 19, 1941, right after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December
7th, Dr. Seuss published an editorial cartoon showing an eagle as Uncle
Sam using a spray can of bug spray labeled "U.S. Defense Bonds & Stamps"
to squirt at three large insects, portrayed as Hitler, "Japan," and
Mussolini. The caption read, "Quick Henry, the FLIT!" This was based on
Dr. Seuss’s earlier ad campaign for the famous ESSO bug spray. Now he
was using that icon to raise funds for the war. 

A year later, on December 22nd, 1942, near Christmas Day, Dr. Seuss
portrayed three raindeer saying, "Maybe it’s none of our business
but
how much are YOU giving this Christmas in U. S. War Bonds and Stamps?"

  A while later Theodor Geisel joined the Army, where he served along
with a fictional soldier known as Private Pete, who, like Dr. Seuss’s
later creations,  was used in materials for teaching literacy, in this
case to illiterate, low literate, and non-English speaking Army
personnel.

Private Pete was used in two different Army literacy programs, one for
men entering the Army and the other for men preparing to get discharged
and going back home.  In both programs, Christmas had a special place in
men’s hearts and minds. The December 1943 copy of Our War, a newspaper
used to teach reading in the entry literacy program, carried a two page
cartoon series about Christmas in Camp. This was about the way soldiers
celebrated Christmas away from home. The cartoon illustrates men
attending services at the camp chapel on Christmas eve, then getting up
and exchanging presents on Christmas morning, having a bountiful dinner
and then delivering gifts to men in the hospital. After that, Private
Pete and his buddy Daffy are walking back to the barracks and Pete says,
"I hope the folks at home had as good a day as we did."

Daffy replies, "Let’s write and tell them about it." Then they write
letters home.

The strip closes with Pete saying, "Let’s hurry up and win the war. Then
everybody can have a good Christmas. 

Daffy replies, "That is what we’re fighting for."

For men preparing to get discharged and going back home as civilians,
the Army provided a second chance at literacy development in a program
that used a manual called Meet Private Pete: A Soldier’s Reader. In this
reader, Pete, Daffy and some of Pete’s other buddies  go home. They
travel home by way of a ship that sails into New York City’s harbor and
past the Statue of Liberty. One of Pete’s friends says, "It is hard to
tell how I feel. Everybody has this feeling when he first sees the
Statue of Liberty. She has welcomed so many human beings to this
country. She has furnished hope for many men. To some she stands for
justice. To others she represents freedom and kindly feeling for all
human beings."

After seeing New York City,   Pete, Daffy and another friend take a
train home to Smithtown. At the station, Pete’s girl friend, Mary Lou,
was there to meet him. Later, Pete and Mary Lou sit on the front steps
of her house and talk about getting married. But Mary Lou said that they
should wait until they could build their own home. They were both
working and saving their money. They hoped to make the first payment on
the house by Christmas. Then they would get married. And that is what
they did. In fact, they got married on Christmas day. 

That is where the Army literacy program story ends. But it’s not
difficult to imagine that later on Pete and Mary Lou had children, and
that they spent time reading them bedtime stories like the 1957 book The
Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, who had himself returned to civilian life
and the career that made him one of the greatest children’s writers of
all times. With Pete and Mary Lou’s children prepared by them at home,
it is likely that they entered school and learned to read with that
other great fictional literacy family,  Dick and Jane, Puff and Spot and
their parents. 

Today,  our Nation is once again fighting to preserve our freedom and
democracy, and once again thousands of teachers are helping thousands of
young adults improve their literacy in military and civilian programs so
that they can defend our way of life. In so doing, theses adult
educators are also helping thousands of parents learn to read to their
children and prepare them for success in the public schools and beyond.
This Christmas lets give thanks to all these teachers and adult
learners. Their efforts help to make our Nation great. We know that
literacy is the first line of defense, and we know as adult educators
that if we wish to leave no child behind in America, we must prepare
their parents to take them by the hand and lead them forward. 

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Read!
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