“The Lorax” and “Underwear!”

For the “re-read a favorite book from your childhood” mini-challenge for the Flashback Challenge (and since I’m doing the literati level which means at least six books), I read “The Lorax” and “Underwear.”  They are two of my favorite books from when I was younger and I still love them!

The Lorax

Written by Dr. Seuss (and also illustrated by him, I assume), this book is, at it’s root, environmentalist propaganda targeted at children.  That’s not to say that it isn’t an amazing book, because it is, but it’s very direct in it’s message.  It’s filled with beautiful images and the types of silly words and names that Dr. Seuss is known for.  The Oncler came to a sort of paradise and realized that the Truffula Trees were perfect for making Thneeds.  The Lorax “speaks for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. The Oncler, however, doesn’t listen and gradually destroys the paradise.  The message is clear to anyone who reads the book, industrialism is dangerous and will destroy the world.  Okay, so that’s slightly exaggerated, but not much.

However, like all of Dr. Seuss’ books, it’s worth a read if you haven’t yet read it.  I love it.  I actually bought my copy at Kohl’s one day.  They were selling them for $5.00 (which is ridiculously cheap for a Dr. Seuss book) as part of their “Kohl’s Cares for Kids” campaign.  They were also selling stuffed Dr. Seuss characters and I have a stuffed Lorax as well.

Underwear!

Written by Mary Elise Monsell and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, this book is beyond awesome!  It’s silly, funny, and if you read it out loud with different voices for the characters (or have someone read it to you like that) you’ll be rolling for hours!  My mom used to read this book to me all the time and when I finally bought my own copy off of Amazon, I convinced her to read it to me (and the children she watches) while I recorded her voice.  She absolutely refused to allow me to video her reading it, so when I uploaded the video to YouTube I used some of the pictures from the book.

My mom is now available, 24-7, to read this book to you here: