#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:
Fun fact: Janeane Garofalo has a Sneetch-referent tattoo. (Ffour stars around her belly button.) Why I cannot monetize my high-level awareness of celebrity tattoos I do not know.
For awhile my son would hurriedly skip past the pages at the end for “What Was I Scared Of?” because it was just too scary. But it’s still my favorite.
“I do not fear those pale green pants with nobody inside them!”
I said, and said, and said those words.
I said them,
but I lied them.
Hmm. I’m going to have to go find some kids to read that to. I’ll try not to scare them too badly.
Dr. Seuss doesn’t have a whole amusement park like Pippi, but he does, like Harry, have a section of Universal Studios Theme Park in Florida. Seuss Landing is pretty wonderful, with everything including the trashcans being Seuss-inspired. The Sneetches story is told via audio on the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Ride.