Contains banned stories ( )

10/25/21

I can’t believe that the first book that Theodor Geisel ever tried to get published was rejected so many times before someone saw the genius in his work. I guess it takes a Seussical mind to really appreciate the whimsy and avant-garde of his books as an adult. That being said, it seems to be a no-brainer that children would love Suess’ books, since they are from the get-go charming, hilarious, and ridiculous - which really captures the imagination and true essence of children everywhere. And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street is a Suess book that I often over-look, since it doesn’t have the same amusing made-up characters that I find so endearing in stories like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Lorax, but I definitely appreciated this first volume of the Seuss-library. All children tell stories, and exaggerated stories at that, so I found it hilarious to read along to see just how ridiculous this little boy would make his story by the time he returned home. Unfortunately his father (the instigator of the careful observations by the little boy) doesn’t get the enlarged version of the story, so the reader is left with the secret of the boy’s imagination. We know what the little boy thinks he saw on Mulberry street, so we in a sense become his confidants and closest friends - even if we don’t get a chance to tell our extrapolated version of the story in turn.

I was not veyr impressed by The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. Suess seems to have lost his eloquence and humour that comes from his careful use of lyricism and brevity that were so apparent in And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. He's trying to be too much like storytellers of old - who overuse words and don't utilize illustration enough - and this clearly doesn't work. It's pretty obvious why I had never read this book (or even noticed it in a store), since there's no way that lovers of Seuss's distinctive style could like this story.

Horton Hatches the Egg is a pretty cute story, even if it is a bit overtly moralistic. The message that it's a good thing to be responsible is very clear, but thankfully Seuss wraps the theme up in the hilarious scenario of an elephant awkwardly perched in a tree in an attempt to hatch an egg. I was pretty surprised (and overjoyed) to see the lazy Maysie bird get her come-uppance when the egg finally hatched and it turned out to be a little winged elephant! Too cute, if completely unrealistic!

Not a big fan of Yertle the Turtle and other Stories. The animals are great characters and the rhymes are typically well-done, but their moralist-themes make them not much more exciting than Aesop's Fables. It's not surprising that Seuss published this set of stories, though, since his publishers likely looked at his talent for drawing animals and figured that a set of values-tales would be an easy sell for the children's market. Kids get entertainment through the rhymes and illustrations, and parents get to feel good about teaching their children positive values.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is in much the same vein (in essence it is a story about the true value of Christmas and a condemnation of consumer society), but Seuss takes it one step further by giving this story such a memorable protagonist. The story of the Grinch and his hatred towards Christmas has become as synonymous with the holiday as Charles Dickens' Scrooge, who learns a similar lesson - albeit without the whimsical setting and amusing thymes that Seuss is known for. I often forget the simpler aspects of this story in lieu of the Jim Carey film version which expands a lot on Seuss's original story, but the original never loses it's charm.

The Lorax is a moral tale as well, and even though it's environmental message is a bit heavyhanded, I absolutely love this story. Suess' rhymes are absolutely perfect and his bevy of fantastical creatures (from singing fish to the fiesty Lorax) are absolutely wonderful. I can't imagine that anyone reading this story would be unaffected by the devastation that corporate greed and lack of environmental care that occurs in the story, since it's so blatantly obvious that this is exactly what is happenning in the world right now. I sincerely hope that kids who read the Lorax in this generation and the next take it to heart, since Suess is absolutely right when he says that "unless someone like [us] cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ( )

Six Books: And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street; The 500 Hats; Horton Hatches the Egg; Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories; How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Lorax

We pulled this off the shelf originally just to read the Grinch, but we ended up reading all of it. From the prose Bartholomew Cubbins to the almost non-sensical Lorax, this collection is a lot of fun, but each story contains a wonderful message: take care of what you have, be honest, pride is dangerous. Dr. Seuss entertains and teaches, and Rebekah and I had fun being a part of both. ( )