Every now and again the RF staff, with the help of some friends, gives you, our loyal RF viewers, short (but sweet) lists on all kinds of interesting things. Today we look at the tales, both short and both long, from the imagination of a doctor named Seuss they belong. Tales of Sneetches, fishes, and things you can think, filled with everything and more, (‘cept the kitchen sink). So take it easy, sit down and relax, oh, and did I mention there’s also a Lorax?
Here ya’ go folks! Today Sarah and I sit down and each give you five wonderful Seuss tales (it was hard to narrow the list down, so forgive us if your personal favorite didn’t make the list). For variation’s sake we haven’t duplicated any book and we’ve kept off books which have been made into feature films such as The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Horton Hears a Who!. Enjoy!
“Wet foot, dry foot. Low foot, high foot.”
The constant rhyming makes for an easy read, it also helps kids with left and right, but mainly it is for repetition to actually get the kids nose in a book instead of in front of a TV. This is one of the most popular.
Hop on Pop
“We like to hop on top of pop.”
This one gives you a taste of word association and location of the object. It is a pretty good book to learn the relation between those, and for them to learn up, down, left, right, under, etc.
Oh Say Can You Say
“When a walrus lisps whispers through tough rough wet whiskers your poor daddy’s ear will get blispers and bliskers.”
This one is just a funny-play-on-words sort of rhyme book, it uses alliteration to keep the kids flowing through the book. Unfortunately for some kids the book ends up doing more harm, the rhyming constantly can be a bit tiresome or difficult.
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
“Oh the things you can think If you’re willing to try…Think invisible ink! Or a gink with a stink! Or a stair to the sky…”
This one is a book that helps kids use their imagination, Dr. Seuss had a knack for rhyming, but at the same time including colors and everyday things. This one was bright and the words were fun.
The Shape of Me and Other Stuff
“The shape of you the shape of me the shape of everything I see… a bug a balloon a bed a bike. No shapes are ever quite alike.”
This one is good for kids to learn the different shapes out in the world. Our world is filled with shapes and this book allows you to see plenty of the shapes that they wouldn’t normally encounter.
“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant… An elephant’s faithful One hundred percent!”
It’s a different Horton tale getting the full-fledged movie treatment, but here’s the first book featuring the stalwart elephant who is every bit as good as his word. Agreeing to sit on Mayzle’s egg for a minute only to be left alone for 51 weeks, Horton fends off all kinds of attacks including weather, hunters, and the snide words of other jungle creatures. But Horton never gives up and his perseverance is rewarded by the hatching of an elephant-bird.
Green Eggs and Ham
“I do not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am.”
The book is simple but quite funny as Sam-I-Am attempts through various methods and means to get his grumpy friend to try green eggs and ham. The book includes only 50 words, and only one (anywhere) with more than one syllable, making it an easy read for youngsters.
The Lorax
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please.”
Everyone has their favorite Dr. Seuss tale, and this is mine. Here is the tale of the Once-ler and his Thneed (a fine something that all people need) which destroys the beautiful environment of Truffula Trees, and the life of the Swomme-Swans, Humming-Fish, and Brown Bar-ba-loots. One of the truly sad Seuss books, which teaches a valuable lesson about our effect on our world, but tinged with hope that maybe it’s not quite too late to change.
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
“Some are thin. And some are fat. The fat one has a yellow hat.”
Here is one of the simpler books of the series. In it a boy and a girl are shown all the amazing creatures in the world and how they can come in different shapes and sizes. Of these beginning books here’s the one I still have fun with years later.
The Sneetches and Other Stories
“Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars. Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small you might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all.”
This collection includes four tales, each of them with a lesson to be learned. “The Sneetches” and “The Zax” center on absurd behavior of consumerism and elitism, and a stubborn pair unwilling to compromise. Let’s just say the world might be a better place if more kids read this book when they were young. The third tale “Too Many Daves” is about Mrs. McCave who named all 23 of her sons Dave. The final tale “What Was I Scared Of” centers around the story’s main character getting over his fear of a ghost and the unknown.