"More To Dr. Seuss Than Cat In The Hat"

With the big hype on television and in movie theatres about the newly released film “Cat in the Hat” staring Mike Myers, I thought now would be an ideal time to focus on the Dr. Seuss collection of books at the Columbus Public Library. It is no secret that the books written by Dr. Seuss (the pen name for Theodor Seuss Geisel) deal with a wide range of social issues like the environment and racism. These books are wonderful tools for teaching children about the many social problems they may face in life. The stories leave the reader with a sense of hope that the world can be changed for the better. I would like to review some of these well-written children’s books:

“The Lorax.” is written primarily about a little character named “the Lorax” and his efforts to save the Truffula trees. Another character, Once-ler, is a greedy individual whose love of money has caused him to cut down practically all of the Truffula trees. His destruction of the Truffula trees has also affected the Brown Bar-ba-loots, the Humming-Fish, and the Swomee-Swans, who at the command of the Lorax, are sent away because of the destruction of their habitats.

The beautiful Truffula trees were renowned for their tuffs that were much softer than silk. The Once-ler turned the tuffs into Thneeds, “a fine-something-that-all-people-need! It’s a shirt. It’s a sock. It’s a glove. It’s a hat. But it has other uses far beyond that. You can use it for carpets. For pillows! For sheet! Or Curtains! Or Covers for bicycle seats!” All the while the Once-ler is destroying the forest of Truffula trees, the Lorax who speaks for the trees, is trying to explain to him that what he is doing is wrong and very destructive. The Once-ler, however, is so driven by greed that he does not stop until the very last Truffula tree is cut down.

At that moment when it looks like all hope is lost, the Once-ler realizes his mistake. The book does not end in despair, but hope. For at the very end of the book, the Once-ler, whose primary goal was to destroy the trees for his own personal gain, tosses down a single Truffula seed to a boy who is listening to the story of the Lorax. The Once-ler instructs the child to tend to the seed and watch it grow in beauty for generations to come.

Another wonderful Dr. Seuss book teaches a lesson of acceptance and tolerance. In “The Sneeches”, there are two types of Sneeches. Some have stars on their bellies and some do not. The Sneeches with the stars believe themselves to be the best Sneeches of all. When the star-belly Sneeches play games or have picnics, the non-star-belly Sneeches are not allowed to join in the fun. One day, they meet Sylvester McMonkey McBean who has a wonderful machine that can put stars on the bellies of the non-star-belly Sneeches. Well, the non-star-belly Sneeches could not pass up the chance to get stars on their bellies because after all, you were nothing without a star.

So the non-star-belly Sneeches all flocked around to have Sylvester McMonkey McBean brand them with a star. But when the star-belly Sneeches realize what is going on, they are not happy. That’s when Syvester McMonkey McBean enters the scene again. He tells them he can fix the problem, because his machine can also remove the stars for a price. The star-belly Sneeches jump at the chance to have the stars removed from their tummies.

Well the cycle of stars on and then stars off continues until every last cent is in the hands of Sylvester McMonkey Mcbean. After Sylvester leaves, the Sneeches realize that Sneeches are Sneeches whether they have stars or not and no Sneeche is any more special than the other.

If you will, check out the new holiday movie “The Cat in The Hat” but then visit Columbus Public Library and see what other social issues are tackled by the great Dr. Seuss. I promise you won’t be disappointed.