Dr. Seuss // Writing Style // Story Meanings

Image Credit: Mentalfloss.com

According to Nextshark.com and the The Weird Strategy Dr. Seuss Used to Create His Greatest Work, Dr. Seuss worked within a word restraint for many of his popular works: "In 1960, two men made a bet.There was only $50 on the line, but millions of people would feel the impact of this little wager. The first man, Bennett Cerf, was the founder of the publishing firm, Random House. The second man was named Theo Geisel, but you probably know him as Dr. Seuss. Cerf proposed the bet and challenged that Dr. Seuss would not be able to write an entertaining children’s book using only 50 different words. Dr. Seuss took the bet and won. The result was a little book called Green Eggs and Ham." The article continues and says Dr. Seuss flourished with setting these parameters for himself. Another example is The Cat in the Hat, in which he used only a first-grade vocabulary list. 

Dr. Seuss intertwined political messages and ideas with many of his popular works, many of which were influenced by events happening during his time such as WW2, Japanese internment camps, and the reactions to communism.

The Books and Their Meanings

• Dr. Seuss' take on environmentalism
• From Mental Floss:  "Another interesting fact: the book used to contain the line, "I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie," but 14 years after the book was published, the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss and told him how much the conditions had improved and implored him to take the line out. Dr. Seuss agreed and said that it wouldn't be in future editions."
• The story talks about how a child learns how the world became so gray and polluted. 
• The book attempts to raise awareness of the possible realities should industry go unchecked. (CBS NY)

• It is alleged that this was Dr. Seuss' reaction to the Watergate scandal by President Nixon, an example of a political theme that Dr. Seuss touched on. 
• Though the book was published two months after the scandal, Dr. Seuss did send a copy to his friend at the Washington Post in which he crossed out Marvin K. Mooney and replaced it with Richard M. Nixon ( Mental Floss).

• Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss is a representation of Hitler and his rise to power. 
• A summary about the book from Amazon lists this book as,"Dr. Seuss presents three modern fables in the rhyming favorite Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. The collection features tales about greed (“Yertle the Turtle”), vanity (“Gertrude McFuzz”), and pride (“The Big Brag”). In no other book does a small burp have such political importance! Yet again, Dr. Seuss proves that he and classic picture books go hand in hand."

• According to Teaching Tolerance, this story is an example of racism and discrimination. 
• The story talks about Sneetches that have stars discriminating against those who do not have stars. 

• The Butter Battle Book is Dr. Seuss' response to the arms race.
• In the book, two cultures fight against one another to a point where mutually assured destruction may occur. 
• There are references to the two atom bombs dropped by the USA. 

• Horton Hears a Who is Dr. Seuss' response to anti-isolationism. 

"May have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

By: Dr. Seuss

Link to full text here. 

This may be the unpopular choice for least favorite Dr. Seuss book, but I have heard this book repeated every year, for every Christmas special. The idea of a creepy, shoes-too-tight, heart-too-small Who-hater just never was my idea of a good read. The book itself is fun to read, and yes, I can agree it is repeated for a reason. But, for my four year old littlest self, who would have nightmares featuring a fifty three year old furry man climbing down chimneys, this book always left me with a mild case of the the heebie-jeebies. 

"I like green eggs and ham! I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!"

Green Eggs and Ham

By: Dr. Seuss

Link to the story script.

I don't remember many children's books from my childhood, but I do remember Green Eggs and Ham. I like the absurdity of the book: "Would you like them in a house? Would you like them with a mouse?" The absurdity continues with the repetition as the responder who isn't Sam repeats every possible green eggs and ham eating scenario. 

Eventually, nirvana is reached and the fact comes out - "I like green eggs and ham! I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!"

I was never a picky eater, so I always pretended to be Sam, pushing my food agenda on others.  

Factoids and Facts and That'll Be That.

• Dr. Seuss' real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel.
• He was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
• He died of throat cancer on September 24, 1991, in San Diego, California. 
• He married twice but never had any children. 
• The first book that was both written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss was And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. It was rejected 27 times before publication in 1937.
• Cat in the Hat was written because of a Life magazine literacy report on children. Dr. Seuss was asked to write book that would appeal to children learning to read.
• Cat in the Hat  had also been chosen by researchers to be read by parents to babies whir they were in the womb.
• As Dr. Seuss, Mr. Giesel wrote and illustrated 44 children's books. 
• Dr. Seuss and his wife Helen purchased an old observation tower in California, where he would write for 8 hours a day. 

"Theodor "Ted" Seuss Geisel." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 31 July 2014.