Evaluation Essay On Dr. Suess Essay, Research Paper

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is one of the most well known children s authors of all time, and for good reason at that. With classic books such as Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish , Blue Fish, and Dr. Seuss s ABC s, children and adults alike are drawn to his imaginative stories and catchy style of writing. He makes reading fun by using rhyming words as well as including many colorful pictures, easily keeping a young child s attention.

Although some may say Seuss s use of nonsense words is uneducational, I believe it promotes the use of imagination and creativity. Nobody that I know of can actually define a Zizzer-zazzer-zuzz or a Ruffle-Necked Sala-ma-goox , as used Seuss used in his books Dr. Seuss s ABC s, and Scrambled Eggs Super, but that leaves it to the young readers mind to imagine how these unheard of characters look and act. “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.” -Dr. Seuss. Be able to enjoy a story is equally important

to what is learned from it, and millions of people enjoy the stories of Seuss each day.

Seuss helps the reading process along by making reading fun for children. He uses rhyming words, like in his book Fox in Sox. The line When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottle s on a poodle and the poodle s eating noodles… makes reading slightly easier for young readers by repeating words as well as using words that are similar to each other giving children an advantage when learning to read. Ever since before I could read, my favorite book was Green Eggs and Ham, and I m sure that what drew me to it was that just from having it read to me (approximately 21,000 times) I was able to memorize every word. I actually believed I could read because I knew what each page said, even though I had no idea what each combination of

letters, forming a word, represented. So even to small children, Seuss s writing builds self-esteem and encourages kids to read. The books he wrote for younger children are educational because they help them learn the letters in the alphabet as well as the sounds each letter makes, as in Dr. Seuss s ABC s. Big A, little a, what begins with A? Aunt Annie s alligator, a, a, a. In One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Seuss also helps to teach young children colors and numbers.

Theodore Seuss Geisel s books were published from 1937 to 1995, although he died in September of 1991, and many of them are still in print today. The fact that several of his fifty-four books have been translated into twenty different languages only goes to show that his writing is well accepted not only in the United States, but also throughout various other countries around the world. The topics and themes of his writing are universal, and are enjoyed by people of all origins.

As nonsensical as Seuss s stories may seem, some of them venture into very deep and serious subjects. The Lorax, for example, deals with the subject of environmentalism, where a beautiful, almost magical place outdoors is transformed into a barren wilderness by someone who cuts all the trees and pollutes the pools and drives away the birds and kills the fish. This story teaches children to take care of the environment, yet the moral of the story isn t so strong that it overwhelms the reader. The Sneetches touches on an even more sensitive issue, racism. Suess takes two groups of characters, star-belly sneetches and plain-belly sneetches. Of course the star-belly sneetches are convinced that they re better than the others, until one day a machine is

invented that puts stars on the plain-belly sneetches so that they couldn t be told apart, proving that both groups are equal.

Teachers often include Seuss s work in their lesson plans, not only in grade school, but also up through the college level. In the early years of school teachers use The Lorax to help in studying the issues of habitat and recycling. They also use books such as Hop on Pop, to learn about initial and final sounds in rhyming words

Why are children so drawn towards the works of this literary genius? Making learning fun is one of the qualities Seuss is best known for. His characters have names such as Daisy-Head Mayzie, Sam-I-Am, and Foona-Lagoona Baboona. Using his imagination when choosing character names as well as his nonsense words help children stay interested in the writing, and being that most children have a very short attention span, it is important for children s authors to find ways to keep the stories interesting.

We can all agree that reading to children is an important part of preparing them for school and helping them learn more quickly. Dr. Seuss s books are the ideal choice for young children because with his rhyming words and imaginative stories, he is able to keep their attention longer than most other books. The Foot Book is a good choice for very young children because it tells about different kinds of feet as well as the actions feet can take. It is rhythmic with words that children want to repeat. aiding in the growth

of their vocabulary. In his book Green Eggs and Ham, written about a character who refused to try green eggs and ham because he thought he would not like them, he ends up tasting them and finding out that they are so good, so good you see . This, although doubtful, may even be a little help in getting kids to taste new foods as well.

Seuss s greatest accomplishment through writing his numerous books is that he has helped a huge number of children learn to read, and learn to love reading as well. Instead of making it a chore, he makes it enjoyable and exciting. Seuss himself said, Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained, and delighted and he was able to create works that did just that.

Dr. Seuss s unique, one of a kind writing style can not be mistaken for any other author. Each of his books show his playful personality, which is one of the characteristics that draws people to his writing. His books can be read over and over again, and each time the same effect is drawn from it – excitement, pleasure, and pure enjoyment. The books written by Seuss are used as tools in order to help children learn to read as painlessly as possible, and it works! Kids don t even realize they re learning, they just think they re having fun. Dr. Seuss is a wonderful children s author, and his work continues to be enjoyed by children of all ages throughout the world.