new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: dr. seuss, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 25 of 157
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: dr. seuss in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
By: Paula Leyden,
on 5/11/2013
Blog:
The Butterfly Heart
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Uncategorized,
Barbara Kingsolver,
Chinua Achebe,
Dr. Seuss,
Elmore Leonard,
Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
John Steinbeck,
Noo Saro Wiwa,
Ray Bradbury,
Add a tag
The title of a book is so important – and not many people have titles as consistently good as Gabriel Garcia Marquez (in my humble opinion) – and I suppose that is linked to the fact that not many people write as well as he does (again … in my humble opinion..)
Think of these:
Love in the time of Cholera
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World
No-one writes to the Colonel
Memories of my Melancholy Whores.
The General in his Labyrinth
Other titles I like, from other authors
Up in Honey’s Room – Elmore Leonard
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
Of Mice and Men – Steinbeck
And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street – Dr Seuss
Death is a lonely business – Ray Bradbury
Dandelion Wine – Ray Bradbury
Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
Looking for Transwonderland – Noo Saro Wiwa
OK I’ll stop now … but it is a hard thing getting a title right, and it does matter!
BookMentors, a nonprofit book donation organization, is hosting a National Poetry Month celebration.
To participate, you can write a poem that endorses a book of poetry. You can submit your poem to the organization’s social media platforms (including Google+, Facebook, or Tumblr). Check it out:
we are celebrating #NationalPoetryMonth with daily poems mimicking the style of our favorite poetry books! Post your own poem about your favorite book of poetry or like one of the poems that has already been posted. BookMentors will donate the book featured in the post that gets the most “likes.” Get creative!
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar. To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.
Celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Franklin Park Reading Series at their bash! Party it up on Monday, March 11th at the Franklin Park Bar & Beer Garden starting at 8 p.m. (Brooklyn, NY)
The next installment of the Pen Parentis Literary Salon will take place at Andaz Wall Street. Join in on Tuesday, March 12th starting 7 p.m. (New York, NY)
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
And the turtles, of course...all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.
Today is the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel A/K/A Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss was born in Springfield, MA on March 2, 1904. He attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he first began using the pen name Seuss while working on the college's humor magazine
Jack-O_Lantern. Not long after graduation, Seuss became Dr. Seuss.
Meanwhile, Dr. Seuss published his first children's book
And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street in 1937. This was followed by
The 500 Hat of Bartholomew Cubbins in 1938,
The King's Stilts and adult book
The Seven Lady Godivas in 1939 and
Horton Hatches the Egg in 1940.
After Dartmouth, Dr. Seuss went to Oxford graduate school, got bored and traveled around Europe instead. Returning to the US, he worked in advertising and did some cartooning but once World War II started, Dr. Seuss began working for a left wing weekly magazine called
PM. Seuss was a strong opponent of American isolationism, and used his
PM cartoons to express his feelings:
After the US entered the war, he continued to use his biting humor in his political cartoons, like the one below that introduced his idea of the vulnerability of stacking turtles to call out the defense producers that were delivering defense material 'at a turtles pace' thereby slowing down defense production and the threatening an Allied victory with instability and failure:
All of which brings me to
Yertle the Turtle. With a history of no-holds-barred political cartooning, it wasn't surprising to find out that Dr.Seuss, that master of political satire, was at it again just few years after the war ended.
Yertle is the story of the king of the pond who one day looks around and despite the contentment of his turtle subjects, decides he needs to increase the area he rules over. So he demands that build his a higher throne:
"If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be!
What a king! I'd be ruler of all I could see!"
The turtles pile themselves up, one on top of the other, creating a higher throne, so Yertle could "see 'most a mile!"
But then the bottom turtle, named Mack, complains about the standing so long with turtles on his back. Angered, Yertle demands a higher throne and once again, turtles,"Whole families of turtles, with uncles and cousins" come to add themselves to the stack of turtles already there.
And once again Mack speaks up:
"I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,
But down at the bottom, we, too, should have rights.
We turtles can't stand it. Our shells will all crack!
Besides, we need food. We are starving! groaned Mack."
But Mack speaks to no avail. That night, when the moon rises, Yertle, seeing that it is higher than he is, starts to demands more and more turtles when suddenly Mack, having had enough of Yertle, burps and the whole stack of turtle shakes, throwing Yertle into the mud below - where he remained, ruling all he could see through the mud.
"That plain little turtle below in the stack,
That plain little turtle whose name was just Mack,
Decided he'd taken enough. And he had
And that plain little lad got a little bit mad
And that plain little Mack did a plain little thing
He burped!And his burp shook the throne of the king!
Now, I am sure you can see the resemblance to Hitler and his quest for more and more
Lebensraum in Yertle. And it isn't hard to figure out that the turtles are the German people under Hitler's dictatorship. But there is a moral of this story and it is simply that anyone can make a difference and their action can bring about change.
If you wish to explore the social and political meanings behind
Yertle the Turtle in greater depth, you can find a excellent lesson plan at the
Teach Peace Foundation.
Two interesting notes:
1-
Yertle the Turtle was first published in 1958 by Random House (which is actually the copy I own, a hand-me-down from an older cousin I wouldn't to give up to a younger cousin). At the time, a word like burp was considered to be in poor taste and there was some concern at publishing it, never mind the political message in it. But kids being kids, the book was an instant successful and no one was the worse for the use of burp. And speaking of the political message...
2- In 2012, a teacher at a school in British Columbia was asked to remove a quote from
Yertle the Turtle that she had displayed in her classroom because there was a line in it that was considered too political. It seems that there was a vote in 2011 to keep political materials out of classrooms in British Columbia, because children must be shielded from them. The quote in question:
"I know up on top you are seeing great sights,
But down at the bottom we, too, should have rights."
You can read the whole story
here.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DR. SEUSS!
By: Brian Minter,
on 2/11/2013
Blog:
First Book
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Authors & Illustrators,
Books & Reading,
Education,
First Book Partners,
Literacy,
#bookstokids,
Dr. Seuss,
early childhood,
First Book,
National Education Association,
NEA,
Newark,
Read Across America,
reading,
teachers,
The Cat in the Hat,
Add a tag
Chandler Arnold, First Book’s executive vice-president, with a student from Belmont Runyon Elementary school in Newark, NJ, at a ‘Read Across America’ event last year.
Read Across America Day is fast approaching; on March 1, children across the country will celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday by reading ‘The Cat in the Hat’ and other childhood favorites.
But, as much as we love Dr. Seuss, the READING part is the important bit. At First Book, we will always line up for cake and ice cream, but books and reading come first. Because kids who read at home become stronger, more capable readers, and that’s the critical ingredient in become successful — in school and in life.
‘Read Across America’ is an annual event sponsored by our friends at the National Education Association (NEA). First Book is proud to do our part for such a critical issue.
Here’s what you can do:
And most importantly of all, take the time to read to a child in your life. You’ll both be glad you did.
Illumination Entertainment, the company responsible for Despicable Me and The Lorax, announced this week that it will produce a CGI remake of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The book has been adapted into film multiple times, most famously by Chuck Jones in a 1966 TV special (pictured above).
The new feature, which has no release date or writer yet, will be directed by Pete Candeland, who is best known for directing the Gorillaz music videos.
Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri produced his first Dr. Seuss project, Blue Sky’s Horton Hears a Who!, while he was the head of Fox Feature Animation. In addition to the Grinch project, Melendandri is developing a CG adaptation of Seuss’s Cat in the Hat and a live-action Dr. Seuss biopic.
Read more details about the Grinch film at Variety.
In the early 1960s, the great agent Sterling Lord began to work with Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain, helping the couple sell a new children’s book to Beginner Books.
The Random House imprint was founded by Theodor Geisel (who wrote under the legendary pen name, Dr. Seuss). In his new Lord of Publishing memoir, the literary agent recalled how Dr. Seuss dissected the entire first draft in front of the aspiring writers.
We’ve collected Dr. Seuss’ advice below–this draft eventually became the classic kid’s book, The Big Honey Hunt.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
When I was little, I loved Dr. Seuss's
GREEN EGGS AND HAM. So, when Cyn and I went to
Stories Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort last weekend to celebrate our anniversary, I had to order the Green Eggs and Ham appetizer.
Here's how it was described on the menu:
And here's what it looked like when it came to the table:
Yes, I like green eggs and ham.
By: Maryann Yin,
on 8/31/2012
Blog:
Galley Cat (Mediabistro)
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Random House,
50 Shades of Grey,
A Song of Ice and Fire,
Dr. Seuss,
E L James,
Game of Thrones,
George R.R. Martin,
Gillian Flynn,
John Grisham,
The Lorax,
Add a tag
Random House posted a 64 percent increase in operating profit for the first half of 2012. According to Variety, the publisher also boasted a 20 percent increase in revenue–rising to $1.2 billion.
Here’s more from the article: “The titillating [50 Shades of Grey] trilogy sold more than 30 million copies between March and June, with sales evenly divided between the trade paperback and e-book editions. The Social Network producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti are producing the big-screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey the first book in the trilogy, for Universal Pictures and Focus Features.”
Random House also credited the growth in eBook sales and the popularity of some of their biggest bestselling authors including George R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire series), John Grisham (Calico Joe), Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) and Dr. Seuss (The Lorax).
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
By:
TCBR,
on 7/8/2012
Blog:
The Children's Book Review
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Ages 0-3,
Ages 4-8,
Amy Krouse Rosenthal,
Benoît Charlat,
Dr. Seuss,
Family Favorites,
featured,
Jackie French,
Tomi Ungerer,
Add a tag
By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: July 8, 2012
Elizabeth Bard
It’s a special treat to have Elizabeth Bard contribute her family’s top five favorites to The Children’s Book Review. An American journalist and author based in France, her first book, Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes has been a New York Times and international bestseller, a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers” pick, and the recipient of the 2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best First Cookbook (USA). Bard’s writing on food, art, travel and digital culture has appeared in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, Wired, Harper’s Bazaar and The Huffington Post. Thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her thoughtful personal reflections on raising her son abroad with us.
Story time at our house is fun time, bed time, but it is also the site of a good-natured – but genuine – culture war. From the moment I moved to Paris to be with my French husband, I knew our children would be bilingual. As our lives have unfolded here, it’s become clear that most of my son’s childhood will be spent in France, worlds away from Sesame Street, Twinkies and other staples of my American childhood.
Augustin is almost three now. In addition to speaking English with me, and on vacations with his grandparents, books are the most effective tool I have to make sure he becomes – and stays – fluent in English, and is introduced to the different world view that creeps into the stories we choose to tell. There’s a part of all this that is inherently selfish: I want him to love these books because I love them. If he couldn’t – or didn’t want to – read in English, it would be like sewing up half my soul. A piece of his mother, and one of his cultures, would become unknowable to him.
Here are a few of our early and current favorites:
By Amy Krouse Rosenthal
One of Augustin’s very first words was “Poon” – shorthand for his favorite book. Spoon is a wonderful “the grass is always greener” story of a little spoon who thinks his friends, knife, fork and chopsticks have it so much better than him. He never gets to twirl spaghetti. He never gets to cut bread. His mother thoughtfully reminds him that knife can’t swim around in a bowl with the Cheerios, and chopsticks never get to dive into bowl of vanilla ice-cream.
Ages 3-7 | Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children | April 7, 2009
#33 The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (1971)
53 points
A timeless classic. I haven’t seen the movie, and I don’t plan to; it’s one of those cases in which the book is perfect just as it is. – Melissa Fox
because “UNLESS someone like you / cares a whole awful lot, / nothing is going to get better. / It’s not.” - Philip Nel
Previously #83 our little Lorax take an almighty leap and goes up fifty places to #33. Undoubtedly the film helped to give him a bit of a push. That’s the way a list like this works sometimes. Classics with recent tie-ins move up faster because of their new status. So here he is, ladies and gentlemen! The little guy who starred in a made-for-TV movie that I saw when I was eight and have been effectively traumatized by ever since. If I’m a good environmentalist, it’s because The Lorax made me so. Violently.
Basic plot: The Once-ler moves to town, takes advantage of all the natural resources he can get his grubby hands on (and the guy is mostly hands) and ignores the pleas of The Lorax to stop before it’s too late. Too late it becomes and The Lorax takes off for greener pastures. Hope then resides in a small boy and the single seed of a Truffula Tree that The Once-ler has saved in spite of everything.
Said School Library Journal, “The big, colorful pictures and the fun images, word plays and rhymes make this an amusing exposition of the ecology crisis.”
So the recent movie . . . I haven’t seen it myself, though I was a little perturbed that none of the commercials showed anything closely resembling pollution in them. Even more disturbing? A commercial that may well be remembered as the most ironic children’s literature/movie tie-in of all time.
I hate to say it, but give me that old creepy hand drawn version any day of the week.
And I’d show you the pretty Lorax statue but . . . well . . .
#36 The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (1957)
50 points
Adore the story and it brought reading to an access level for beginning readers. - Mary Friedrichs
The poor cat didn’t make it onto the list last time because I wasn’t including easy readers. Now he bursts onto the scene, hat askew, intentions questionable, lovable to his core. Recently he’s been turned into an animated serious on television. He’s appearing in countless easy nonfiction books. He’s even slated for a new movie (see: the end of this post).
The plot as described by Anita Silvey’s 100 Best Books for Children reads, “The cat arrives one day to entertain two young children. As the rhyme spins out of control, so do the antics of the mayhem-making cat, and chaos ensues. But before Mother returns, the cat cleans up everything, leaving the children to ponder whether or not to tell her what happened.”
In terms of its creation, one of the best explanations I’ve found actually came from Cracked.com in an article discussing how Dr. Seuss had a tendency to write books as responses to dares. As they so eloquently put it, “It started with a 1955 article by William Spaulding of Houghton Mifflin, called ‘Why Johnny Can’t Read’. Instead of taking the easy route (‘Because Johnny is stupid.’) Spaulding analyzed the state of reading material for young children and found it insufferably boring. Not only did nobody care about Dick and Jane throwing a ball, least of all small children with short attention spans, but the choice of words was haphazard – throwing in anything with one or two syllables instead of deliberately coming up with the most useful words to help kids learn. Spaulding hooked up with Seuss and challenged him with the novel idea of writing a book with an actual story kids would want to read. If that wasn’t crazy enough, he asked him to use a list of 300 words that they had come up with, targeted toward helping kids practice phonics. Seuss thought this was insane and was attempting to politely back out of it when he glanced at the list one more time and decided he’d make a title out of the first two rhyming words he saw. They were “cat” and “hat”. Nine months of frustrating work later, he had a book that was 1702 words long with only 220 unique words, telling an interesting story, introducing an unforgettable character, and completely written in anapestic dimeter.”
According to Silvey it wasn’t until the bookstore edition was published that the title made any waves at all. Once it was discovered it managed to sell a MILLION copies in three years.
As I may have mentioned before, I’m a sucker for a good statue. This pairing from the Dr. Seuss National Memorial at The Quadrangle in Springfield, Massachusetts fulfills my every need. So cool.
In 1971 they turned it into an animated film. It’s a bit long but this doggone song, THIS DOGGONE SONG, will simply not leave my brain. The ultimate earworm. Watch it at your own risk.
I will spare you the horrendous produce-placement-strewn Mike Myers fiasco. Are you happy or sad to hear
4 Comments on Top 100 Picture Books #36: The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, last added: 6/2/2012
#61 How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss (1957)
30 points
Yes, that’s two Dr. Seuss books on my top ten list. In all honesty, I had trouble not including Horton Hears a Who as well. Between the Lorax’s anti-capitalist, pro-environment stance, Horton’s anti-racism, and this book’s anti-consumerism, Dr. Seuss taught me most of what I stand for as an adult. Plus, his absurdist verse and drawings are absolutely irresistible. - Mark Flowers
Books set during Christmas are akin to songs on top 40 radio – tons of people enjoy them, but critics don’t give them much credit. Don’t get it twisted: Seuss’s 1957 Yule-time tale deserves all the credit it can get, if for no other reason than the creation of The Grinch, one of the most indelible characters in picture book history. – Travis Jonker
You tell, ‘em, Travis! He makes a good point.
When you stop to consider the sheer number of memorable folks that appeared out of the Seussian brain, it’s quite impressive. And we’re not talking about the overblown musical or the lamentable Jim Carrey production (rivaling only Mike Myers’ The Cat in the Hat as worst children’s picture book to film adaptation in history). That would be the only children’s film I’ve ever seen that had a key party in it. This is true. No we’re talking about the book. A book that should be shown to more kids, particularly when you consider how much better known the Chuck Jones Grinch is these days.
#63 The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss (1961)
30 points
This book is a perfect sampler of Dr. Seuss stories. The title story and “The Zax” provide some of his powerful and beautifully simple fables. They’re quirky, they’re strange, they roll off the tongue, and they leave you with one simple message that you won’t soon forget. “Too Many Daves” is a brilliant example of Seussian word play, cataloging his incredible imagination and magical ear for language. Who else would think of names like “Oliver Boliver Butt,” and “Zanzibar Buck Buck McFate”? And then, “What Was I Scared Of?” is sort of a Very First Ghost Story. Who else on earth would have thought of telling a story about pale green pants with nobody inside them? I remember the spooky thrill I got as a child from that story. It scares, but it fascinates. - Sondra Eklund
I like that Sondra highlighted the “Other Stories” in this book. It’s easy to forget that this collection was more than just a Sneetches tale alone. There are other books to be found in here, and mighty interesting they are indeed. And thanks to her write-up I don’t have to try to find another description out there of the book. Bonus!
According to Jonathan Cott’s Pipers at the Gates of Dawn: The Wisdom of Children’s Literature the inspiration for the book came out of Geisel’s opposition to religious intolerance. He is quoted as saying, “children’s literature as I write it and as I see it is satire to a great extent … there’s The Sneetches … which was inspired by my opposition to anti-Semitism.” I suppose the star should have been a giveaway.
Now here’s a news headline for you. Can’t get much more eye-popping than, “Agency of NATO and United Nations to Distribute Dr. Seuss Stories to Foster Racial Tolerance in War-Torn Bosnia”. The story dates back to August of 1998 when Random House and Seuss Enterprises made an announcement. “The Sneetches and Other Stories, a book by the celebrated children’s author Dr. Seuss, will be translated by NATO into Serbo-Croatian and distributed in the fall to 500,000 children in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of an information campaign to help encourage racial tolerance.” A NATO soldier had come up with the idea, having loved the book as a kid. You can be the judge as to how well it worked, of course.
You have the option of wearing a star on your own belly, so to speak, if you like:
And, naturally, there was the film version of the titular story:
![]()
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: April 6, 2012
David A. Carter
David A. Carter is the amazingly talented paper engineer behind 75 pop-up books, including the bestselling Bugs in a Box® series that has sold more than six million copies. He is also the creator of the magnificent pop-ups One Red Dot, Blue 2, Horton Hears a Who Pop-up!, Oh, the Places You’ll Go Pop-up!, and Lots of Bots! David lives with his wife and two daughters in Auburn, California.
TCBR: Describe THE LORAX POP-UP in 5 words or less.
David A. Carter: Real 3D, no glasses required.
What is it like adapting a classic like THE LORAX that is so popular and pertinent to our times, especially with the film release?
As with all of the Dr. Seuss books that I have adapted, I felt it was important to keep true to the feel and concept of the the original book. We did not edit the text and we used as much of the original illustration as possible. The fact that the film was in the works influenced the publishing of the pop-up version, but as you can see, the film did not influence the treatment I used for the pop-up.
You’ve done a Seuss pop-up before—HORTON HEARS A WHO—but what new challenges did you come across with THE LORAX POP-UP?
The biggest difference between the LORAX POP-UP and the HORTON is that because of an increase in the cost manufacturing, we had to reduce the complexity of the paper engineering in THE LORAX.
How do you determine which part of the illustrations will “pop” from the page and which will remain flat?
The beauty of Dr. Seuss’ work is that, even though the drawings are two dimensional, they have a stupendous amount of dimension and movement, which makes my job easy. The problem was not what to make pop-up or move, but what I had to leave two-dimensional.
I read that Dr. Seuss’ books were some of your favorite books during your childhood years. What is it about Dr. Seuss and his stories that you enjoy so much?
All March I’ve been creating art every week, in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, and since I’ve been celebrating his birthday all month, I thought I’d make the final illustration birthday themed. I’ve also been incorporating the prompt for Illustration Friday into my art, and this week is no different. The prompt is, Return. I thought it would be fun to have the green eggs and ham returned to Sam, and exchanged for a birthday cake. This is a quick sketch so that I could get the image up while it’s still March (won’t have time to work on it tomorrow):
Needless to say, Sam is stunned at the turn of events. Here’s a close-up so you can see Sam:
I also did this image for my friend Jen, who has a birthday today, and would probably rather have cake than green eggs and ham! It was fun to start the month with Dr. Seuss’s birthday and end the month with my friend’s birthday. Happy Birthday Jen! 
p.s. If you want to see the other Dr. Seuss art from this month, here are some links:
The Cat in the Hat, and His Brother
Oh, The Places You’ll Fish!
Horton Hears A Who, and a What, Where, Why, When, and How!
Sue Sews Six Thousand Socks
I'm not always a huge fan of book-to-movie adaptations, but though I haven't even seen The Lorax yet, it looks adorable. And, at this point, anything about the environment aimed at kids is probably an important movie to see.
If your kids (or yourself) are loving on The Lorax right now, David A. Carter has created a beautiful pop-up book, using the Dr. Seuss story and illustrations, in honor of the release of the movie. 8 gorgeous pop-ups and a Dr. Seuss book. Sold.
I thought it was really nicely done and would make a great gift to a child that loved the movie (or hasn't even seen it yet) or an adult that collects pop-ups. Everyone needs a little Dr. Seuss in their collection!
The Lorax, Pop-upDr. Seuss/David A. Carter18 pagesPop-up picture bookRandom House Children's Books9780375860355January 2012Review copy
I’m drawing a Dr. Seuss inspired image each week in March. I’m trying to tie them in to the Illustration Friday prompt if possible too. Last week was The Cat in the Hat (and his brother). This week is a picture that combines two Dr. Seuss books, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and it includes a Yield sign for the IF prompt. I’ve always liked the cover image of Oh, The Places You’ll Go, with the stripes of color, and also the inside picture of the boy at the crossroads. I combined those two for the main image. I added a Yield sign so that the boy would stop to let the fish (from One Fish, Two Fish …) drive by. Here’s the whole image, with a close up/crop below so you can see the characters. I’ve re-named it: Oh, The Places You’ll Fish!
Close up of fish in car, boy, and Yield Sign:
I love to combine ideas and prompts to create pictures. It’s a fun illustration exercise. For me, it’s similar to the writing exercise where you get a list of words and you have to find a way to fit them into a paragraph, or a scene. I think I like it because it forces my mind to make connections between things that I never would have thought of otherwise. Those connections sometimes spin off into more ideas, which create even more ideas, if you’re lucky.
Have you ever combined ideas/prompts for an illustration exercise or a writing exercise?
All this month I’ve been paying tribute to Dr. Seuss by creating a Seuss themed image combined with the Illustration Friday prompt. For the previous weeks, I tried to incorporate Seuss’s style into my art.
This week, however, I’ve moved away from his art to show my style.
The prompt for Illustration Friday this week is Swamp. I combined that with Sue from Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss. (Sue is SWAMPED with sock orders and has to sew six thousand socks!) Fox in Socks is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, and I’ve always liked Sue, so it was fun to re-imagine this part of the book. In case you’re not familiar with the original, here’s what Mr. Fox says when Sue enters the book:
New socks.
Two socks.
Whose socks?
Sue’s socks.
Who sews whose socks?
Sue sews Sue’s socks.
My Sue has similar hair and clothes to the one in Fox in Socks, but she likes polka-dots and sewing lots of socks. They’re not all for her though, because really, who needs 3000 pairs of socks? Not Sue. You’d be swamped if you had to sew six thousand socks too! (Note: not all 6000 socks are pictured here, because that would have made me more than swamped. It would have made me crazy to draw that many in such a short time.)
Who is Sue sewing socks for? I’m glad you asked.
Sue sews Sue’s socks, because with that many, at least some of them have to be for her!
Sue sews Moo’s socks, because Moo helps keep the thread from tangling.
Sew sews Lou’s socks. (Lou is the dove on Moo’s back, the one saying, “coo coo.”)
Sue sews Who’s socks, right away, because Who has owl things to do.
Sue sews Foo’s socks (a.k.a. Bunny Foo-Foo).
Sue sews Boo’s socks … not really, ghosts don’t wear socks (or at least Boo doesn’t).
The original sketch had a few more characters, but it got too crowded. Here’s a close up of the bunny:
Bunny Foo-Foo was fun to draw and I love how his socks turned out. Another character that was fun to draw was Moo:
You can tell by the expression on her face that she thinks Sue is crazy for trying to sew six thousand socks, or maybe she is getting sick of having thread wrapped around her horns. Moo has striped socks because I thought they’d be a nice contrast to her spots and I liked how the blue and white stripes looked on her. It’s hard to see, but Lou also has striped socks. They’re blue and yellow.
If someone asked you to sew six thousand socks, would you do it?
I wouldn’t. I leave the sock sewing to Sue!
4 Comments on Sue Sews Six Thousand Socks: Swamp for IF and Dr. Seuss, last added: 3/28/2012
A bronze statue of The Lorax has been stolen from the grounds of the late Dr. Seuss‘ San Diego estate. The statue reportedly weighs 300 pounds and stands three feet tall.
Glad to see this make the list! Alas, the folks at Cracked have their facts a bit cracked. William Spaulding was head of Houghton Mifflin’s Educational Division. The book (not article) Why Johnny Can’t Read was by Rudolf Flesch. The significant article was by John Hersey. The final book has 236 words (not 220). The origin story (by Seuss) is just that — a story. Very likely his sketch of a cat in a stovepipe hat begat the story: in his very first account of writing the book, that’s what he says. Also, images came more readily to him than words did. It is true, however, that his favorite story of the book’s origins is the rhyming-words story. For those who may be interested, The Annotated Cat has more details.
Dang. Knew I should have bought Annotated Cat and used it. Mea culpa, Phil. You are the Cat man of record.
Ah, just thinking about this book starts the sound bites in my brain.
“It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how.”
“That is what the cat said, then he fell on his head….”
“Well, what would you do if your mother asked YOU?”
Actually, the Cracked crack-up is sort of interesting. The author has clearly read the story, but has simply jumbled the specifics. He/she is thinking of John Hersey’s article “Why Do Children Bog Down on First ‘R’?” (Life, 1954), but instead substitutes the Houghton Mifflin editor for article’s author and Flesch’s book for Hersey’s article. It’s as if she/he is working from memory. But, as Mark Twain said, over 50% of what you read on the internet is false.