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Think back to the very first book you ever read, even before grade school.

For some, it’s “One Fish, Two Fish,” the “The Cat in the Hat,” or one of the many other clever rhyming stories by Theodor Seuss Geisel, more commonly known by his pen name Dr. Seuss.

His birthday, March 2, coincides with the nation’s largest celebration of reading, Read Across America Day, launched in 1998 by the National Education Association.

This year ’round program focuses on motivating children and teens to read, and what better time to celebrate reading than on the birthday of the man who indirectly taught many of us how.

However, Dr. Seuss did more than just come up with simple rhymes with easy to spell words.

With “The Grinch,” he showed us the real joy of Christmas isn’t the toys and feasts, but sharing joy with others.

Beyond our learning to read days, how many of us celebrated some of life’s biggest milestones with “Oh, the Places You’ll Go?”

No influential person in history has ever gone without a single spot on his or her record and Dr. Seuss is no exception.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises celebrated Dr. Seuss’s 117th birthday by ceasing the sale of certain titles in an effort to continue the mission of “supporting all communities and families” with “messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship,” the company wrote.

We are grateful for Dr. Seuss’s contributions to many of our childhoods and certainly hope to see his work inspire countless others in the years to come.