[Dr. Seuss, Theodor Seuss Geisel] The Butter Battle - PDF - zeke23

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The Butter Battle Book
by Dr. Seuss
4.17 of 5 stars 4.17  ·  rating details  ·  7,414 ratings  ·  333 reviews
The Butter Battle Book, Dr. Seuss's classic cautionary tale, introduces readers to the important lesson of respecting differences. The Yooks and Zooks share a love of buttered bread, but animosity brews between the two groups because they prefer to enjoy the tasty treat differently. The timeless and topical rhyming text is an ideal way to teach young children about the issues of tolerance and respect. Whether in the home or in the classroom, The Butter Battle Book is a must-have for readers of all ages.

Reviewed for THC Reviews
The Butter Battle Book is another of Dr. Seuss's titles which reflect his activist side. Through satirical humor, he explores the ridiculousness and futility of war. The Yooks and the Zooks have an age-old disagreement over which way to eat their bread, butter side up or down, and as a result, they eventually start a war over it. They begin with sentries guarding the wall separating their borders which of course, could be taken as a metaphor for anything that separates us from our fellow man. One side fires upon the other with a slingshot and from there, the conflict continues to escalate with each side coming up with increasingly preposterous weapons until both possess a small bomb which could blow the other side to smithereens and in essence wipe out the world.

It's doubtful that younger children will understand the deeper meaning behind the story, but they're sure to be delighted with the classic Seuss rhyming text and whimsical illustrations of Seuss-ified characters and their silly machines. With parental or educator guidance older children can glean an important message about getting along with others who have different views in order to prevent conflict from happening and not feeling like you have to one up each other until you either reach an impossible situation or the worst occurs. I think this simple lesson could be applied to our daily lives, as well as the world at large for preventing warfare. Overall, The Butter Battle Book was another fabulous Dr. Seuss story that has earned a spot on my keeper shelf.




Dr. Seuss
Author profile

born
in Springfield, MA, The United States
March 02, 1904

died
September 24, 1991

gender
male

website
http://www.seussville.com/

genre
Children's Books


About this author
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Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, MA. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catchphrase "Quick, Henry, the Flit!"

In 1936 on the way to a vaction in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.

During WW II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.

In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published The Cat in the Hat, which went on to instant success.

In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham. Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet.

Helen Palmer Geisel died in 1967. Theodor Geisel married Audrey Stone Diamond in 1968. Theodor Seuss Geisel died 24 September 1991.
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