The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax

The Cat in the Hat and The Lorax, two stories written by Dr. Seuss

I must admit I had never been a Dr. Seuss fan until I began to teach young readers and could appreciate his contribution to children's literature. I came from a generation that were still reading Dick and Jane and had been subjected to the stilted, controlled text within each story. (Sometimes I wonder how I came to love reading!) The Cat in the Hat is a wonderful, refreshing take on controlled text. Theodore Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) made quite a different story with only 225 basic vocabulary words.

In the story the children struggle with the desire to have fun as well as the desire to please their mother. The fish is their conscience characterized, repeatedly reminding them that the cat should not be in the house. The question posed as the end of the story is thought provoking and worthy of discussion as it asks, "Should we tell her about it? Now, what should we do? Well. . .What would you do, If your mother asked you?" It would be interesting to have children answer that question. As one can see, there is a moral struggle in should one tell the truth, or since there is no evidence, is it better to not mention what happened at all? I'm pretty sure I know what most children will choose (if they are honest.)

The Lorax is another of Dr. Seuss' stories. There are many concepts introduced within the text such as pollution, conservation, greed and mismanagement of natural resources. The reader is left at the end with the hope that the one Truffula seed may be used to once again renew the forest of Truffula trees and herald the return of the Lorax and his friends. The Lorax was not well received in 1971. Environmental awareness was in its infancy with The Clean Air Act having just been passed in 1960s. Was this a topic for our young impressionable children? Dr. Seuss wrote a book that was published before its time. This is a book that would be better received today, didactic as it is. Our population is more aware of environmental issues, recycling occurs more often and movies that discuss environmental issues are given awards. Yes, Dr. Seuss was ahead of his time but perhaps he tried to gently show the world, through its children, that change must occur.

There is a Theodore Seuss Geisel Award now presented every year to both the author and illustrator of the "most distinguished American book for beginning readers" What a tribute to the man who showed us that with limited vocabulary, rhyme and nonsense words books can be produced that are entertaining and provide encouragement for beginning readers.