"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not"
- Dr Seuss
The Lorax
1971
It's no secret that we love trees in this house. Much of our spare time is spent in the countryside or at the forest, and I'm proud to be raising a little tree-hugger. Therefore you won't be surprised to hear that The Lorax is one of our favourite books.
As relevant today as it was when written over 40 years ago, we need people to speak for the trees, to halt deforestation and preserve our planet. Trees are our lifeblood. I don't think it would do any harm for all our political leaders and captains of industry to read this tale of greed and destruction.
Dr Seuss is famed for his nonsense rhymes; tongue-twisters and fantastical characters, but behind the Green Eggs and Ham was a man with a strong moral sense and political views. In his children's books he's explored such issues as environmentalism, consumerism, over-commercialisation and racial equality.
Following the publication of a report in 1954 about literacy levels in American school children, in which it was concluded that children were turned off reading because their school books were boring, he was challenged to write a book which would appeal to new readers. He published The Cat in the Hat in response to this challenge, incorporating key words for early years students.
His stories are still frequently in the top ten lists of most popular children's book and in America his birthday is celebrated as the national Read Across America Day to encourage literacy.
To us, Dr Seuss is a hero!
This blog post is an entry into the Tots100/Heinz competition to support Children’s Book Week
I don't know the book but i love that first line a lot! Heading to amazon to see if i can find it :)
ReplyDeleteI love Dr Seuss, and it's a long time since I read this one - Yertle the Turtle was always a favourite in this house
ReplyDeleteOoh, I think we've only got a couple of Dr Seuss books in the house, I definitely need to remedy that and get some more. A friend gave us Oh The Places You'll Go when we left the UK, which I thought was lovely :) x
ReplyDeleteI have a confession, I've never taken to Dr Seuss books. I suspect it's just the cat in the Hat that put me off though - I'll attempt the Lorax and see if my mind can be changed :)
ReplyDeleteI never really 'got' Dr. Seuss until my youngest was given one of his books and recognised it from playschool. It's now one of our most read, most loved books. A delight to read aloud.
ReplyDeleteI've never really read these stories with my two to be honest although I always meant to - I've seen the films though if that counts ;-)
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of this one and am a huge Dr Seuss fan so will have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteOhh clever with the spaghetti letters, we have a few of these books upstairs and I've never really read them as they all just seemd a bit silly. I ought to try again, hadn't I? Mich x
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