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Scrambled Eggs Super! Dr. Seuss. 1953. Random House. 64 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

I don't like to brag and I don't like to boast,
Said Peter T. Hooper, but speaking of toast
And speaking of kitchens and ketchup and cake
And kettles and stoves and the stuff people bake...
Well, I don't like to brag, but I'm telling you, Liz,
That speaking of cooks, I'm the best that there is!
Why, only last Tuesday, when mother was out
I really cooked something worth talking about!

Premise/Plot: Peter T. Hooper is bragging to a girl, presumably his sister? presumably named Liz? that he is the best cook ever, and that he recently made the best scrambled eggs ever. Of course, his scrambled eggs weren't ordinary. His eggs didn't come from ordinary hens. His eggs didn't come from a store. He sought out extraordinary birds--both big and small--and spared no expense or effort. He even recruited helpers to help him collect the most exotic bird eggs. 

My thoughts: Like If I Ran the Zoo, this is all about the rhyme. This is classic Seuss coming up with silly, bizarre yet oh-so-fun words to say.

Then I went for some Ziffs. They're exactly like Zuffs,
But the Ziffs live on cliffs and the Zuffs live on bluffs.
And, seeing how bluffs are exactly like cliffs,
It's mighty hard telling the Zuffs from the Ziffs.
But I know that the egg that I got from the bluffs,
if it wasn't a Ziff's from the cliffs, was a Zuff's.

The book is definitely silly and over-the-top. And Seuss is definitely beginning to develop his style.  Is it my favorite? Far from it.

Have you read Scrambled Eggs Super? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I'd love to know what you think of it!

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is Horton Hears A Who!

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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If I Ran the Zoo. Dr. Seuss. 1950. Random House. 64 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

"It's a pretty good zoo,"
Said young Gerald McGrew,
"And the fellow who runs it
Seems proud of it, too."
"But if I ran the zoo,"
Said young Gerald McGrew,
"I'd make a few changes.
That's just what I'd do..."

Premise/Plot: Gerald dreams of all the changes he'd make if he ran the zoo. He wouldn't dream of having ordinary animals that you could see at any zoo. No, he wants fantastic animals that have never been seen or heard of. His animals have strange names and come from faraway places. His animals still need to be discovered, hunted, captured. The zoo he dreams up will be something.

My thoughts: This one is silly enough. It is ALL about the rhyme. Making up ridiculous-yet-fun sounding names for animals and countries. For better or worse, sometimes the text and/or the illustrations don't quite hold up so well.

I'll hunt in the mountains of Zomba-ma-Tant
With helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant,
And capture a fine fluffy bird called the Bustard
Who only eats custard with sauce made of mustard.

and

I'll go to the African island of Yerka
And bring back a tizzle-topped Tufted Mazurka,
A kind of canary with quite a tall throat.
His neck is so long, if he swallows an oat
For breakfast the first day of April, they say
It has to go down such a very long way
That it gets to his stomach the fifteenth of May. 

In the last example, it isn't so much what is said as to how it is illustrated. 

Have you read If I Ran the Zoo? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I'd love to hear what you thought of it.

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is Scrambled Eggs Super!

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Dr. Seuss. 1949. Random House. 56 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

They still talk about it in the Kingdom of Didd as The-Year-the-King-Got-Angry-with-the-Sky. And they still talk about the page boy, Bartholomew Cubbins. If it hadn't been for Bartholomew Cubbins, that King and that Sky would have wrecked that little Kingdom.

Premise/Plot: The King is in a grumbling-complaining mood. He's angry at the sky for only sending down rain, snow, fog and sunshine. He sends for his magicians commanding them to make the sky produce something new. The magicians, well, they mumble a few words and promise to deliver something called 'oobleck.' Only Bartholomew is wise enough to predict that this means TROUBLE, big, big trouble. He is diligent in warning people to beware and be careful. But his words, well, aren't taken all that seriously. Or. In some cases, his words come just a little too late. The king has brought down trouble on his kingdom. How can the kingdom be saved?! Are there MAGIC WORDS the king can say to make the oobleck go away?!

My thoughts: I'd never read Bartholomew and the Oobleck before. I really liked it. I think I liked it even better than The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. The King is just as silly and ridiculous. And the situation is even more out of control. I like that the 'magic words' that save the kingdom are "I'm sorry" and "It's all my fault."

Have you read Bartholomew and the Oobleck? Did you like it? Did you love it? Did you hate it? How do you think it compares to The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins? I'd love to hear what you thought of it!

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is If I Ran the Zoo.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose. Dr. Seuss. 1948. Random House. 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

Up at Lake Winna-Bango...the far northern shore...
Lives a huge herd of moose, about sixty or more,
And they all go around in a big happy bunch
Looking for nice tender moose-moss to munch.

Premise/plot: Is Thidwick your typical moose? Yes and no. On the one hand, he loves to munch moose-moss. On the other hand, he's the only moose that would put up with THAT MANY guests living in/on his antlers. Thidwick is a "big-hearted" moose who hasn't learned to say no or speak up for himself. He's ever-so-polite. But his "guests" well, they're pesky pests who lack consideration. The guests just keep on multiplying page by page.

My thoughts: I'd never read Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. I suppose I should have predicted that hunters would see him and chase him--wanting his head and antlers to mount. But I didn't. So it came to me as a shock, as did the ending. (Think Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat.) I can't say I loved this one. But it was okay for me.

My favorite quote:

Well what would YOU do
If it happened to YOU?

Have you read Thidwick The Big Hearted Moose? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I'd love to hear what you thought of it!

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is Barthlomew and the Ooblecks.



© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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McElligot's Pool. Dr. Seuss. 1947/1974. Random House. 64 pages. [Source: Library]

 First sentence:

"Young man," laughed the farmer, "You're sort of a fool! You'll never catch fish in McElligot's Pool!"

Premise/Plot. Marco, the young boy in the story, is fishing at McElligot's Pool. Though the farmer warns him that the pool is just where people throw junk, the young boy claims he's not foolish or wasting his time fishing there. He tells how the pool could be--might be--connected to the sea itself. And how right this minute even all sorts of fish might be making their way to the pool for him to catch. He describes hundreds of fish, giving his imagination room to shine. But is the farmer convinced? Are readers?

My thoughts: It is nice to see Marco again. (I'm assuming that this Marco is the Marco of And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, which was published ten years previously.) Marco's imagination is going strong.

Even though I don't like fishing. I liked this book about fishing. I liked it more than I thought I would.

I might catch a thin fish,
I might catch a stout fish.
I might catch a short
or a long, long, drawn-out fish.
Any kind! Any shape! Any color or size!
I might catch some fish that would open your eyes!

and

Oh, the sea is so full of a number of fish
If a fellow is patient, he might get his wish!

This one won a Caldecott Honor. Half the illustrations are in black and white. Half the illustrations are in color.

Have you read McElligot's Pool? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I would love to hear what you thought of it!

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The King's Stilts. Dr. Seuss. 1939/1967. Random House. 56 pages. [Source: Library]

 First sentence:

Naturally, the King never wore his stilts during business hours. When King Birtram worked, he really WORKED, and his stilts stood forgotten in the tall stilt closet in the castle's front hallway.

Setting: The Kingdom of Binn

Premise/Plot. When King Birtram works, he REALLY works, and, when he plays, he REALLY plays. He knows that there is much work to be done in his kingdom. But he also knows that it is important to have fun now and then. This king has fun by walking on stilts. The story is more complex than that, of course. There is the fact that the kingdom is in danger from the sea. The kingdom is protected by the roots of the Dike tree that border the sea. The trees are in danger from the Nizzards--birds that find the tree oh-so-delicious--but the trees are protected from the Nizzards by 1,000 patrol cats. 500 to guard during the day. 500 to guard during the night. The Patrol Cats are essential to the kingdom. And it turns out, the stilts are essential to the king. The book is about what happens when a grinch-like character, Lord Droon, steals the stilts.

My thoughts: This is my very first time reading The King's Stilts. I loved it. I absolutely loved, loved, loved it!!! I love the King. I love Eric, the page boy. And I love the Patrol Cats!!! Yes, the book is text-heavy. So It's definitely a story book, it even has a fairy tale feel to it. But it's oh-so-delightful and rich in detail. It's a good, satisfying story.

Have you read The King's Stilts? What did you think of it? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I'd love to hear what you think of this one!

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is Horton Hatches An Egg.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. 1938/1965. Random House. 56 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

 In the beginning, Bartholomew Cubbins didn't have five hundred hats. He had only one hat. It was an old one that had belonged to his father and his father's father before him. It was probably the oldest and the plainest hat in the whole Kingdom of Didd, where Bartholomew Cubbins lived.

Premise/plot. Bartholomew Cubbins gets into big, big trouble when he "refuses" to remove his hat in the presence of the king. The king gets more and more flustered as he sees the "insolence" of Bartholomew. To Bartholomew's credit, he is trying very hard to remove his hat. But every time he removes a hat, another appears on his head. What is going on?! What will the king do?!

My thoughts: I have only read this one twice. It definitely has more text than And To Think That I Saw it On Mulberry Street. And it also is written in prose. It does not rhyme. The story is just as over-the-top as And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, but it definitely has a different feel to it. According to Wikipedia, it was received well by reviewers. What did I think? Well, it was silly. I think the key to enjoying it is in focusing on the king and his reaction to the "problem." Seeing the king and those close to him try to solve the problem. For example, at one point he calls in seven black-gowned magicians:

Low and slow, they were chanting words that were strange...
"Dig a hole five furlongs deep,
Down to where the night snakes creep,
Mix and mold the mystic mud,
Malber, Balber, Tidder, Tudd."
In came seven black-gowned magicians, and beside each one stalked a lean black cat. They circled around Bartholomew Cubbins muttering deep and mysterious sounds.

It's never fun to be frustrated yourself. But the king's frustration proves comical. There are no real questions answered in this one.  But the ending proves satisfying enough.

Have you read The 500 Hats of Barthomew Cubbins? Did you like it? love it? hate it? What age do you think it works best for?

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is The King's Stilts.


© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. Dr. Seuss. 1937/1964. Random House. 40 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

When I leave home to walk to school, Dad always says to me, "Marco, keep your eyelids up and see what you can see."

Premise/Plot: While Marco is on his way home, he plans what to say to his father when he asks what he's seen. Marco really sees just a horse and wagon. But what he imagines he sees, well, it gets outlandish. What will he end up telling his father? a pack of lies? or the truth?

My thoughts: It's been years since I read this one. And it is a bit dated when you think about it. For example, as Marco gets carried away with his story, he imagines a reindeer pulling a sled. But he stops himself by adding,

Say--anyone could think of that,
Jack or Fred or Joe or Nat--
Say, even Jane could think of that.

Also of note, it includes a "Chinese man who eats with sticks..." and the illustration of course is not ideal. I'm not mentioning these things to say that the book is "bad" and doesn't belong in your child's library. Just noting that times have changed quite a bit since 1937!!!

Overall, I'd say I liked this one. Didn't necessarily "love" it. But I like it. How many picture books from the 1930s are still in print?! Well, I suppose there's The Story of Ferdinand, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Madeline, and The Story of Babar. There may be others as well.

Have you read And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street? Did you like it? love it? hate it? I'd love to know what you think of it!

If you'd like to join me in reading or rereading Dr. Seuss' picture books (chronologically) I'd love to have you join me! The next book I'll be reviewing is The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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