The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The Lorax is about how a person (the Once-ler) destroyed the Truffula Trees by over harvesting them. It all stemmed from greed. The Once-ler ignored the Lorax’s warnings about chopping down the trees for the Once-ler wasn’t only destroying the Truffula Trees; he was destroying the Brown Bar-ba-loots food supply. The pollution from the Once-ler’s factory was hurting the Swomee-Swans because of the smog in the air and the humming-fish because of the goo in the pond. This went on until all the Truffula Trees were gone. When the trees were gone, the factory closed. Dr. Seuss’ and the Lorax’s message was that people will continue to destroy our environments UNLESS someone cares an awful lot, enough to make a difference and stop the destruction.

The Lorax has become a lesson in conservation. This is because the story is about using a resource until there is nothing left. This book is typical Dr. Seuss with its made up words, rhyming, and sing-song lyrical flow. However, whether or not Dr. Seuss intended for The Lorax to become a plea to conserve our resources, which is exactly what happened. This book is one of the most popular when teaching our students about conservation and protecting our environments. This book is a didactic book because it teaches a lesson in conservation. It teaches that some resources will not replenish themselves once they are destroyed, so people have to take care of them. Some children’s books that teach conservation include Go Green with Me by Rececca Mattano and Kristen Collier, Two Islands by Ivan Gantschev, Mother Earth by Nancy Luenn, Old Turtle by Douglas Wood, and Wump World by Bill Peet.

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat is about two children at home alone on a rainy day and they did not like it. Then a giant cat showed up who knew some good games, but everything the cat did turned into a mess. The cat brought in Thing 1 and Thing 2 to play more games, but the too made a mess of the house. It wasn’t until the fish saw the mom walking toward the house that things got straightened-up, which the cat also took care of.

The Cat in the Hat is a wonderful beginner book. It was the product of a challenge in which to use as many sight words as possible and to make the illustrations seem like a child’s imagination. In this story Dr. Seuss used 223 words from a list of 400 that his publisher provided for him. These words were sight words young readers were learning in school. Dr. Seuss stepped up to the challenge by creating a story with a whimsical tone while using childlike imaginative illustrations. This book still appeals to children because of its simplicity and parent influence. Since a lot of parents started their reading ability with The Cat in the Hat, they like to share this experience with their children. Also, the recent movie did not hurt either.

Many of Seuss’ beginner books illustrates the same tension as in The Cat in the Hat such as A Fly Went By and Ten Apples Up On Top. However, a contemporary book that has the tension similar to Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat would be No, I Want Daddy! by Nadine Brun-Cosme. In this book a family is out-of-balance because of over-tired parents and the way a child deals with it. Some books that teach right from wrong like The Cat in the Hat book includes If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If you give… series) by Laua Joffe Numeroff, Corduroy by Don Freeman, The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, The Little Red Caboose by Marian Potter, Bambi by Felix Salten, and No, David! by David Shannon.

Journey Home by Yoshiko Uchida

This was a follow-up book to Journey to Topaz. Topaz was a concentration camp set up by the United States government during World War II. It was where the government sent all of the Japanese-Americans because they were thought to be enemies. They were even called alien-enemies.

The story was told by Yuki, a Japanese-American. Yuki and her parents were out of the concentration camp now, but many of her friends were still there. The one thing Yuki wanted most was to go home to California and back to her old life, but the Japanese were barred from the West Coast by law. She wanted her brother to come back from the war, he volunteered for service when they were in the concentration camp. He was somewhere in Italy fighting for the United States. Finally, Yuki and her family were able to go home to Berkeley, California, but not to there old house or their old life. There lives had changed forever. Yuki was witness to many injustices toward her family just because they were Japanese, but not from everyone. Yuki and her family never gave up hope that their lives would be better, but it would never be the same.

Other works by Yoshiko Uchida include The Best Bad Thing, Tears of Autumn, The Wise Old Woman, Sumi’s Prize, The Birthday Visitor, Two Foolish Cats, Magic Purse, Invisible Thread, The Bracelet, The Forever Christmas Tree, and A Jar of Dreams.

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss

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This story is one of Dr. Seuss’ masterpieces. It is about an elephant, Horton who hears a Who. Horton is the only one who can here the Who because elephants have very keen hearing. A Who is a very small person, and they live on a speck. The book uses rhyme, just like all of Dr. Seuss’ books to convey its message. In this case the message is that everyone is important, no matter who you are, how small you are, or how big you are. Horton keeps saying, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
There are many similarities and differences between the movie and the book. In both the book and the movie, Horton is a very likeable character. However in the movie he is funny and a little carefree. The movie gave some background information on where the speck (Whoville) came from and the book did not. The movie focused more on Whoville than the book did, and the movie had more characters than the book. There was more jungle animals involved in the movie. There was even an evil twist in the movie; this was when Mrs. Kangaroo went to Mr. Vladikoff to get his help with getting the speck (now on a clover) away from Horton. This scene was made to be scaring in the movie, where in the book it was the monkeys who took the clover away from Horton and gave it to Mr. Vladikoff. In both the book and the movie, Mr. Vladikoff drops the clover in a field of clovers and Horton searches for it until he finds the right one on the three millionth one. All throughout the book, the little kangaroo would agree with his mother, but in the movie, you can tell the little kangaroo wants to join Horton. At the end of the book everyone is joyful because they can hear the Whos, but at the end of the movie when everyone hears the Whos, Mrs. Kangaroo is very unhappy because she was wrong.
I liked this book because of its simple message and Horton’s very likeable character and perseverance. For the most part, I liked the movie. However, there were many parts of the movie that I thought were boring. Of course, the movie was a feature film; it had to have more excitement, more explanation, and more scenes to make it long enough for a feature film. The thing I like the most about the film was that it kept the same message as the book, “A person is a person, no matter how small.”

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

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This book is a fantasy story intended for ages 3 – 7 and evokes ones imagination. The illustrations are superb and help to visualize the story perfectly. It is a very easy read and a very likable book. The story flows as a young child’s imagination would; going from one thing straight to another. It is very easy to believe that Max was ready for an adventure, even if he had to make it up himself. The wild things are intended to be scary, but they really are not. They are basically a distortion of what a child would imagine, which is how a lot of people dream.

However, the movie is quit different. Max is a very lonely, defiant, and angry child. His anger comes out several times throughout the movie. In the movie Max runs away, but in the book he is sent to his room. In both, this is when he goes to the wild things island. In both the book and the movie Max becomes king. However in the book Max plays and has fun with the monsters, while in the movie Max tries to control the monsters. The monsters are not all the scary in the movie. They do show a lot of emotions. In the movie Max and the monsters build a fort. This is not part of the book. There is also a lot of sadness in the movie that is not in the book. This movie is rated PG which is not the ages the book is intended. This movie would not keep a young child’s attention and it was a little long and drawn out. However, the young adults seem to like it, basically because of all the action.

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

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This book would be a great read for boys because it was about boys doing what boys do best, getting into mischief. The movie was also about boys being boys and getting into mischief. Both the book and the movie wrapped the story around the main character, Billy eating worms because of a bet, and both are about friendships. However, this was where the similarities end.

The movie started out as Billy being the new kid at school and being bullied by Joe. In the book school was not an issue and Billy and Joe were already friends. In the movie, the bet was ten worms in one day between Billy and Joe with the loser putting worms in his pants and walking down the hall at school. In the book, the bet was fifteen worms in fifteen days between Billy and Alan with Alan paying Billy $50 if he eats all of the worms. In the movie, the boys fixed the worms in a variety of ways, but in the book, all the worms were fried or boiled. In the movie, the boys got into mischief when they were trying to get the worms cooked, but in the book, the mischief was between the boys. In the book the boys complained about cheating, they argued, and fought. In the book, the only time cheating was mentioned was at the end when Joe threw the last worm in the river to keep Billy from getting it in time. In the book, there were no girls mentioned except for the boys’ mothers, however in the movie, a girl was the first person to become friends with Billy and helps him out all throughout the movie. In the book, Billy was the only person to eat a worm, but in the movie, Adam almost eats one and the principle of their school eats one in an omelet.

The movie used humor to communicate its message and it ended with Billy and Joe becoming friends. This was one of those movies you walked away from with a warm fuzzy feeling. The book ended with Billy getting his mini-bike and Joe working off the $50 bet at his father’s store. In both the movie the boys became friends and in the book the boys reestablish their friendship. I liked the movie better because he focused on more than just eating worms.

Sam and the Tigers by Julius Lester

Sam and the Tigers is about a place where the animals and the people work together, and all the people were named Sam. The little boy Sam, his mom Sam, and his Dad Sam went to the marketplace to buy some new clothes for the first day of school. Sam bought a red jacket from Mr. Elephant, purple pants from Mrs. Monkey, a yellow shirt from Miss Cat, silver shoes from Mr. Giraffe, and a green umbrella from Brer Rabbit. On Sam’s way to school he met a tiger who was going to eat him until Sam offered the tiger his red jacket. The tiger thought he was so fine, he left Sam alone. Then another tiger came, and another and another until Sam had given all of his new clothes away, even the umbrella. There were five tigers in all and each was the finest. The five tigers got to fighting over which one was the finest, so they took Sam’s clothes off and grabbed each others tails. The five tigers chased each other around a tree, while Sam put the clothes back on. The tigers chased each other in a circle so fast, they melted into butter. That night Sam, his family, and their neighbors had pancakes with tiger butter. This story reminded me of bullying because the tigers threatened Sam and took his clothes. However, in the long run bullies never truly win and neither did the tigers. This book was also illustrated by Jerry Pickney who brings a story to life through his pictures.

Other works by Julius Lester include The Scrambled States of America and More Stories to Celebrate Our Country, Long Journey home/Stories from Black History, To Be a Slave, John Henry, and Day of Tears.