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4.37 AVERAGE
4.37 AVERAGE
Great to read around Earth day! I love Dr. Seuss and his rhymes!
This is another children’s book that I used in one of my college leadership courses.
I am now bringing my review to Goodreads.
The Lorax symbolizes concern for the environment. Some adults have embraced it and some have seen it as controversial and considered it anti-capitalist propaganda. If I could roll my eyes towards those individuals, I would.
For Theodor Seuss Geisel, the environment was a serious moral issue for him, but he wanted to make it fun for kids.
So, this book is set up with wonderful zany illustrations using rhyme and made-up words and unique characters to lighten the story and appeal to children ages 6-older.
Premise: The Lorax speaks on behalf of the trees, and appears to complain about the pollution from the factory. The smoke was so bad that the swans could no longer sing. So, the Lorax sent them away to escape the smog. The Lorax also angrily pointed out that all of the byproducts from the factory were polluting the pond so he also took the fish away. Of course, the Lorax’s complaints only made corporate angrier, and they vowed to make the factory larger.
And when that happened, the last truffula tree that fueled the factory fell over and died, thus ending the factory for good. The Lorax left.
And then…
What was left was an empty factory and pollution.
Moral of the story, and why would this be an interesting leadership lesson for a college course? (Or any educational setting? – or parent/child experience?)
I won’t go into the exact lesson that we “played” with the book, but think about it for a moment.
What makes this book so effective is the combination of cause and effect: how unfettered greed can destroy the environment, followed by an emphasis on positive change through individual responsibility.
Now…
Consider the impact of one voice.
Could anything have been handled differently?
And now the discussion begins.
I found this book horrifying and tragic when I first read it. And every time after, which was several. And the Lorax stating that he spoke for the trees because they could not stuck with me always.
To satisfy one of the 2024 Reading Challenges, in January 2024 you are to read a book published in your birth year! I plan to read another book published in 1971, but how could I not read The Lorax!
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Awesome book. Can be read to young and old alike. Great environmental message.
One of the classics that I hadn't read as a child and so I've made up for it just now. It was certainly high time for it!