Stacy Conradt
10 Stories Behind Dr. Seuss Stories on the 20th Anniversary of His Death
by Stacy Conradt - September 23, 2011 - 11:30 PM

This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of the day we lost Theodor Seuss Geisel, who passed away on September 24, 1991. Here are some Dr. Seuss stories Stacy Conradt collected a few years back.

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1. The Lorax. In case you haven’t read The Lorax, it’s widely recognized as Dr. Seuss’ take on environmentalism and how humans are destroying nature. The logging industry was so upset about the book that some groups within the industry sponsored The Truax, a similar book—but from the logging point of view. Another interesting fact: the book used to contain the line, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie,” but 14 years after the book was published, the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss and told him how much the conditions had improved and implored him to take the line out. Dr. Seuss agreed and said that it wouldn’t be in future editions.

horton2. Horton Hears a Who! Somehow, Geisel’s books find themselves in the middle of controversy. The line from the book, “A person’s a person, no matter how small,” has been used as a slogan for pro-life organizations for years. It’s often questioned whether that was Seuss’ intent in the first place, but I would say not: when he was still alive, he threatened to sue a pro-life group unless they removed his words from their letterhead. Karl ZoBell, the attorney for Dr. Seuss’ interests and for his widow, Audrey Geisel, says that she doesn’t like people to “hijack Dr. Seuss characters or material to front their own points of view.”

3. If I Ran the Zoo, published in 1950, is the first recorded instance of the word “nerd.”

4. Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat because he thought the famous Dick and Jane primers were insanely boring. Because kids weren’t interested in the material, they weren’t exactly compelled to use it repeatedly in their efforts to learn to read. So, The Cat in the Hat was born.

5. Green Eggs and Ham. Bennett Cerf, Dr. Seuss’ editor, bet him that he couldn’t write a book using 50 words or less. The Cat in the Hat was pretty simple, after all, and it used 225 words. Not one to back down from a challenge, Mr. Geisel started writing and came up with Green Eggs and Ham – which uses exactly 50 words. The 50 words, by the way, are: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

marvin6. Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! It’s often alleged that this book was written specifically about Richard Nixon, but the book came out only two months after the whole Watergate scandal. It’s pretty unlikely that the book could have been conceived of, written, edited and mass produced in such a short time; also, Seuss never admitted that the story was originally about Nixon. That’s not to say he didn’t understand how well the two flowed together. In 1974, he sent a copy of Marvin K. Mooney to his friend Art Buchwald at the Washington Post. In it, he crossed out “Marvin K. Mooney” and replaced it with “Richard M. Nixon”, which Buchwald reprinted in its entirety. Oh, and one other tidbit: this book contains the first-ever reference to “crunk,” although its meaning is a bit different than today’s crunk.

7. Yertle the Turtle = Hitler? Yep. If you haven’t read the story, here’s a little overview: Yertle is the king of the pond, but he wants more. He demands that other turtles stack themselves up so he can sit on top of them to survey the land. Mack, the turtle at the bottom, is exhausted. He asks Yertle for a rest; Yertle ignores him and demands more turtles for a better view. Eventually, Yertle notices the moon and is furious that anything dare be higher than himself, and is about ready to call for more turtles when Mack burps. This sudden movement topples the whole stack, sends Yertle flying into the mud, and frees the rest of the turtles from their stacking duty. Dr. Seuss actually said Yertle was a representation of Hitler. Despite the political nature of the book, none of that was disputed at Random House – what was disputed was Mack’s burp. No one had ever let a burp loose in a children’s book before, so it was a little dicey. In the end, obviously, Mack burped.

butter8. The Butter Battle Book is one I had never heard of, perhaps with good reason: it was pulled from the shelves of libraries for a while because of the reference to the Cold War and the arms race. Yooks and Zooks are societies who do everything differently. The Yooks eat their bread with the butter-side up and the Zooks eat their bread with the butter-side down. Obviously, one of them must be wrong, so they start building weapons to outdo each other: the “Tough-Tufted Prickly Snick-Berry Switch,” the “Triple-Sling Jigger,” the “Jigger-Rock Snatchem,” the “Kick-A-Poo Kid”, the “Eight-Nozzled Elephant-Toted Boom Blitz,” the “Utterly Sputter” and the “Bitsy Big-Boy Boomeroo.” The book concludes with each side ready to drop their ultimate bombs on each other, but the reader doesn’t know how it actually turns out.

9. Oh The Places You’ll Go is Dr. Seuss’ final book, published in 1990. It sells about 300,000 copies every year because so many people give it to college and high school grads.

10. No Dr. Seuss post would be complete without a mention of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! I couldn’t find much on the book, however, so here are a few facts about the Dr. Seuss-sanctioned cartoon. Frankenstein’s Monster himself, Boris Karloff, provided the voice of the Grinch and the narration for the movie. Seuss a little wary of casting him because he thought his voice would be too scary for kids. Can you imagine the cartoon with any other voice?! If you’re wondering why they sound a bit different, it’s because the sound people went back to the Grinch’s parts and removed all of the high tones in Karloff’s voice. That’s why the Grinch sounds so gravelly.

Tony the Tiger, AKA Thurl Ravenscroft, is the voice behind “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” He received no credit on screen, so Dr. Seuss wrote to newspaper columnists to tell them exactly who had sung the song.

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Comments (40)

  1. My mom actually has a copy of the Butter Battle Book. She had never read it to me, though. One day, I noticed it on our bookshelf and picked it up. I had not remembered ever reading it, possibly with good reason. I was young and didn’t really get it, but the Cold War part makes sense now. I remember I was very frustrated by the ending.

    posted by Allison on 3-2-2009 at 9:53 am

  2. The Butter Battle Book has happily always been available in New Zealand primary schools :) (and I shared Allison’s childhood frustration)

    posted by William on 3-2-2009 at 11:59 am

  3. My school (UC San Diego) celebrates Dr. Seuss’s birthday every year. His second wife comes out and cuts the big birthday cakes in his honor; the reason being is that his name is on our main library (Geisel) which is shaped like a big spaceship if you ever Google it.

    posted by Vivian on 3-2-2009 at 12:10 pm

  4. The Butter Battle book was my favorite book of all time. I really learned a lot about tolerance and looking at things from someone else’s viewpoint from this book. I still have it and read it to my niece and nephew when they were growing up. I had no idea that it’s a rare find!

    posted by Anna on 3-2-2009 at 2:28 pm

  5. The Lorax and the Butter Battle book are my favorite Seuss books of all time. I’m gonna have to go digging through my parents garage and see if they still have all my old Dr. Seuss books.

    posted by Andy on 3-2-2009 at 2:44 pm

  6. There is a “final” final Dr. Seuss book, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day. He was working on it when he died and they published it with collage style artwork to capture his intentions. It’s an excellent celebration of student-centered, passion-centered learning.

    posted by FrodoPal on 3-2-2009 at 4:16 pm

  7. LOVED Horton hears a who – my all time favorite. Thanks for sharing in your post!

    posted by Nickey Hollenbach on 3-2-2009 at 6:10 pm

  8. I’d credit seuss as being one of the greatest influences on the course of my life. His books (and my parent’s unfailing nightly bedtime stories) fueled my love of reading which has to say the least, influenced my life more than anything else.

    posted by shane on 3-2-2009 at 10:10 pm

  9. I am truly amazed. I can’t believe how totally naive I was as a preschooler about the hidden stories inside these books. Maybe I was alseep at the wheel, but I just thought a big pink fuzzy bird and a flugle horn were just that… Yertl the Turtle as Hitler – who’da thunk it – not in a box / not with a fox – oh the thinks I will have… I probably need to go back and revisit more of my childhood.

    posted by KCGronk on 3-3-2009 at 10:00 am

  10. The Butter Battle Book was also made into a cartoon. I remember seeing it as a kid. So I did some looking at ran across this.

    Air date Nov. 13 1989 on TNT.

    It is also on The Best of Dr. Seuss DVD.

    posted by Hatter on 3-3-2009 at 2:34 pm

  11. “The Lorax and the Butter Battle book are my favorite Seuss books of all time. I’m gonna have to go digging through my parents garage and see if they still have all my old Dr. Seuss books. ”

    creepy! i was about to post EXACTLY that but then saw your post. my names andy too.
    dun-dun-duhhhhh

    posted by andy? on 3-3-2009 at 2:58 pm

  12. How interesting, never knew so many things about dr. Suess.

    posted by Jenna @ newlyweds on 3-8-2009 at 10:53 pm

  13. Does anyone know which book had the lines…..”would you love me in a tree? Would you love me by the sea?” They are supposedly in one of Dr. Seuss’s books . I’d like to find them again and read the book! Thanks for any reference you might have to these sentences

    posted by Judy Smith on 5-24-2009 at 4:38 pm

  14. I’m very confused as to how someone has NOT read the Butter Battle Book. I’m definitely younger than probably a majority of people who read this site, which might be why, but it’s been used in my classes as long as I can remember. I had no idea it was so unheard of!

    posted by Mae on 8-16-2009 at 10:37 pm

  15. I use these books all of the time when teaching social studies. Another good one to use in a history class is The Sneetches. Its great when you are teaching about Civil Rights and segregation.

    posted by Bryan on 10-27-2009 at 6:29 pm

  16. I remember even when I was in kindergarten (which was in the early 1980s, so I got the cold war reference) I thought that “The Butter Battle Book” was stupid. Who eats toast with the butter side down? It will fall off and make a mess if you put it in big pats upside down like Dr. Seuss illustrated. It’s supposed to teach tolerance, but even little kids know that eating toast upside down is stupid, completely defeating the point of the book. Teaching tolerance when one side is so completely wrong doesn’t make any sense.

    posted by Betty on 12-9-2009 at 2:26 pm

  17. The original ‘The Cat in the Hat’ will always be my favorite and is still the best!

    posted by Steveo on 12-10-2009 at 2:59 pm

  18. How about the Sneetches, the ones with the stars on their bellies who thought they were superior to the star-less Sneetches? Prejudice and bigotry are rampant until things get very confused, and then all fixed *because* of confusion.

    posted by Leslie Shortlidge on 12-31-2009 at 10:12 am

  19. My son’s favorite for a long time was What was I afraid of? (or something like that), lovingly referred to as “scary pants” in my family.

    posted by Sarah on 3-2-2010 at 1:01 pm

  20. I love the Butter Battle Book! I used to read it to the kids at the daycare center that I used to work at and they were always enthralled and really enjoyed it! I never really thought of it as contreversial. The Lorax and the Sneetches are also amazing books that teach kids some amazing things.

    posted by Lore on 3-2-2010 at 1:01 pm

  21. I read/saw somewhere that How the Grinch Stole Christmas is about the commercialization of Christmas. I wish I could find it again.

    posted by Miranda on 3-2-2010 at 5:00 pm

  22. I always thought Gren Eggs and Ham was about appreciating diversity! I Love Dr Suess

    posted by Sandi on 3-2-2010 at 11:22 pm

  23. Just because “Horton hears a Who” was not about abortion doesn’t mean that the message behind it doesn’t apply anymore than “Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!” wasn’t about Nixon but it applied.

    And the “Butter Battle Book” was inane stupidity. Acting as if the very real difference between the Soviets and the West was just trivial. Tell that to the millions dead as a result of the Soviet government’s policies.

    posted by Fred on 9-23-2010 at 11:16 am

  24. man. I was hoping you’d have Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose on this list.

    posted by Amy K. on 8-30-2011 at 5:11 pm

  25. Dr. Seuss books were how I got my daughter to eat when she was a young, picky eater — no eating, no story!

    posted by Beth on 9-24-2011 at 12:29 am

  26. The Sneeches is always my “go to” book when talking about race and segregation. What a fantastic way to teach this lesson.

    posted by Chris M on 9-24-2011 at 9:38 am

  27. The Sneeches was always a favorite of mine as well. I also loved “Nobody in the Pants” :)

    posted by Jynnantonix on 9-24-2011 at 11:58 am

  28. My favorite Dr. Seuss story was the one about the green pants with nobody inside them who chased a guy all over the county. In the end, the pants start crying because they just wanted a friend.

    posted by Charlotte on 9-24-2011 at 12:18 pm

  29. The Watergate scandal lasted about two years, plenty of time for someone to write a book about it and have it published.

    posted by Cover Man on 9-24-2011 at 6:19 pm

  30. I read Butter Battle as a kid and pretty quickly figured out that there was some commentary there. I generally ignored it in favor of the crazy-looking weapons each side developed. Looking back, it’s pretty heavy-handed, just like the Lorax.

    My personal favorite is still Fox in Socks, though. Those were some great tongue twisters. Second favorite would probably be One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. My mother an I still reference the kids finding Clark in the dark.

    posted by Pedantic Pat on 9-25-2011 at 1:38 am

  31. I love Dr Seuss, I learned to love books by reading his work. I’m now passing them on, i work in a local primary school and use his book to teach year 7 kids how to read with expression. The books are wonderful for teaching and talkig about important issues and just having a good laugh. We are thinking of using them to entertain the whole school. Gotta love his writting style.

    posted by Tanya Cheyne on 9-25-2011 at 6:11 am

  32. Geisel has long been one of the writers I’ve always admired, and for good reason. Thanks for sharing some of these lesser known stories amongst others. I’d dare to say few people are aware of most of these stories, though I’ve always found them fascinating.
    “The Butter Battle Book” is actually one of my all-time favorite Seuss reads, and a book I believe many politicians would do well to read themselves.
    I also have an old copy of The Lorax (from my own childhood) that still included the “Lake Eerie” reference.

    posted by Stella Inchaurregui Kennedy on 9-25-2011 at 11:17 am

  33. my 8th grade english teacher read us ‘the butter battle book’ as an intro to ‘animal farm’ and allegorical books. despite being a truly awful teacher i still remembered the book years later.
    and the grinch was voiced my zero mostel on the lp version. i still have it though it is well worn now.

    posted by chris on 9-25-2011 at 12:22 pm

  34. I don’t see anyone referring to ‘The sleep book….’ It’s rather longer than most of his other stories, but by golly, my youngest would be 99% asleep by the time I got through reading it to her at night….

    posted by old hippy chick on 9-26-2011 at 6:39 am

  35. “Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories” was my favorite Dr. Seuss book growing up. I had no idea until recently that Yertle represented Hitler.

    But I almost equally liked the other two stories in that book: “Gertrude McFuzz” and “The Big Brag”. I think those gave me perspective on not thinking too highly or too proud about myself.

    posted by Spocker on 9-26-2011 at 8:05 am

  36. I still have my original copy of Green Eggs and Ham from the 80s. I also had Horton Hears a Who,The Alphabet,Yertle the Turtle and the Cat in the Hat. One of my favourites to this day is “To think that I saw it on Mulberry Street” I also really enjoyed reading the Lorax.

    posted by Rina on 9-26-2011 at 11:33 am

  37. Am I the only one with love for “My Many Colored Days?” My favorite line is “On yellow days, weeeeee! I’m a busy, buzzy bee.” It just makes me smile.

    posted by nancy pants on 9-26-2011 at 1:39 pm

  38. Seuss only illustrated it, but I loved THE OMNIBUS BONERS.

    As for the butter, I thought they had smoothed it out. Pats WOULD fall off.

    Maybe he should have used how they broke boiled eggs, big end or little end. ;-)

    posted by fsteele on 9-29-2011 at 1:44 am

  39. Dr. Suess is also the official unofficial mascot of UCSD. Their library is named for him.

    posted by Willow on 9-30-2011 at 9:27 pm

  40. Before Dr. Seuss wrote children’s books, he did political cartoons. If you’re interested, pick up a copy of “Dr. Seuss Goes to War.” It’s amazing to see how some of his beloved children’s characters were really evolutions of characters he’d used to portray the politics of his day.

    @Nancy Pants: I LOVE My Many Colored Days! I didn’t see it until I was an adult, but I SO wish I would have read it when I was little and learned to accept emotions like colors that make life more interesting.

    posted by AVA on 10-5-2011 at 3:47 pm

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