All about Seuss

Last Saturday, our book club Flips Flipping Pages held our July book discussion on one of my childhood favorites, Dr. Seuss.  I’d been looking forward to this discussion because we haven’t tackled any children’s books yet in a year of book discussions, and I was part moderator of this one, where I took on the discussion of the art of Dr. Seuss.

As a child, I was fortunate enough to attend a school with a principal that had special interest in children’s books, and so our library was well-stocked with the best of them. I remember discovering the Dr. Seuss section when I was in first grade, and I spent many happy hours in the library — well, happy for me, not for the maid who waited for me for hours at the gate, because I didn’t want to go home yet so I evaded her for as long as I can. Hehe.

For this particular discussion, I read three Dr. Seuss books (books #114-116 of 2009): How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss; Seuss, the whole Seuss, and nothing but the Seuss: A Visual Biography of Theodore Seuss Geisel by Charles D. Cohen; and Hooray for Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, and Lane Smith.

The Books

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of Dr. Seuss’ most famous works, but before I found this P15 (around $0.30) hardcover in the bargain bin at Book Sale, I had not read this particular book I found the Grinch very scary when I was young, with his flashing bloodshot eyes and sinister sneer. And then he steals Christmas, every kid’s favorite holiday! Hahaha, the idea didn’t sit well with me, and so I found my favorites in other Seuss books, like To Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street, Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, If I Ran the Circus and I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today.

I do wish I’d read The Grinch back then, though, because I would’ve found out sooner that the Grinch isn’t so bad after all, and the book has a great ending.

I liked the story because it underscores a very important message in the lines:

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store?
What if Christmas… perhaps…  means a little bit more?

I also liked how the book is illustrated in black, white, and red, and I like how Seuss chooses which elements to color in red, sometimes as minimal as the Grinch’s eyes, other times as explosive as the spread on the coming of Christmas. I think this shows a lot of creativity in a time when printing technology wasn’t very sophisticated and I applaud the effort because he effectively works with the medium.

The next book on the list is Seuss, the whole Seuss, and nothing but the Seuss: A Visual Biography of Theodore Seuss Geisel by Charles D. Cohen, which is extra-memorable to me because I got in in the middle of a raging storm. The streets were heavily flooded and I had to walk twenty or so blocks home. I wasn’t relishing the thought so I decided to stop by the bookstore at a nearby mall, and lo and behold! A lone copy of this hardbound volume was mine to keep for a low price of P200 ($4!). All of a sudden I didn’t care that I was walking home, or that I was towing along very heavy book on top of that. Squee!

I like this book because it’s a real collector’s item, written by an obsessive Dr. Seuss fan, who spent years ”hunting down, procuring, and restoring” Dr. Seuss’ works so he can share it to future generations.

The book is very comprehensive, covering Dr. Seuss’ life — his childhood, his career outside of children’s books (particularly in editorial and in advertising), and his service in the war (not much about Seuss’ personal life though); samples of Dr. Seuss’ juvenile writing; and a whole lot of obscure Seuss artworks, from comics made for his school paper, to packaging he designed for advertising clients, magazine covers he decorated, and ads he produced. The book is hardbound, printed in full color on heavy-grade, glossy coated paper — a real keeper, albeit I found it a little too text heavy, considering there were so many images on hand.

I also found out that Ted Geisel was quite a looker in the prime of his youth, he he he:

The next book, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, and Lane Smith, while not completely Dr. Seuss is a personal favorite of mine because it appeals to the illustrator in me.

I discovered this book in illustration class, because it was introduced to the class by my college professor. Before the class I already saw the book on top of a pile on her desk and thought it strange that there was a Dr. Seuss book that looked fairly new and I hadn’t seen before. I borrowed her copy of the book after class, and I think I read in awe for a solid hour.

Last year, I got my own copy of this book, thanks to BookMooch and a nice international moocher that carefully packaged the book so it could get to me safely and in great condition!

The afterword section by Alfred Knopf (of Random House) explains that before Dr. Seuss passed away in 1991, he had plans about writing a book about a teacher but the manuscript never materialized. He turned to Dr. Seuss’ secretary Janet, who was able to point him in the direction of a very rough draft of the book.

Unfortunately, the story wasn’t complete — Seuss had only left behind a few verses and very rough drawings.

With the help of renowned children’s poet Jack Prelutsky and one of my favorite illustrators, Lane Smith, the book Hooray for Diffendoofer Day came to be, based on what Dr. Seuss left behind.

I love how Seuss, Prelutsky and Smith converge in this book, making it thrice as special because it showcases three unique talents.  I like how Prelutsky and Smith pay homage to Dr. Seuss by incorporating his work (some lines verbatim incorporated in Prelutsky’s poetry, and original Seuss art in Smith’s collages) into their own without sacrificing their own craft, which they are also famous for in their own right.  I also love how we get a peek into Dr. Seuss’ rough draft stage, something I really appreciate as a struggling illustrator.

The Discussion

Our discussion turned out pretty well, despite the logistical difficulties we had in planning it, not to mention the flu season that heralded the month and the very muggy weather on the day of the discussion!

Ajie and Mike emceed the discussion; Ajie prepared creative Seuss-themed gifts, games and giveaways; Honey hosted the discussion over at her dad’s place and discussed the verse of Dr. Seuss (astounding us with her excellent mastery of whole chunks of Dr. Seuss lines); while I got a Cat in the Hat coloring contest going and discussed the art of Dr. Seuss books. We also had a fab Pin the Hat on the Cat contest courtesy of Ajie, as well as the regular FFP book swap and the regular FFP nonstop eating (yum, Honey’s cookies and potato chowder!).

Regarding the art, here’s a capsule review:

– thick, pen and ink outlines in black and white, and spot color, usually 1-2 colors except in later books, like The Lorax or Oh the Places You Will Go!

– figures: rounded and droopy with bulging eyes, cheeky grins, and expressive hands

– complex architecture: impossible extensions, stairways to nowhere, platforms, imaginary machines

– indications of motion, through the use of lines

More of the discussion on the FFP Shelfari page.

Ooh and I was finally able to meet one of my fave book bloggers, Peter of Kyusi Reader (top discussion photo, on the far right)  personally! Thank you Peter for the book giveaway and the Seussical cd! :)

I also made a bookmark for the event, I’ve uploaded it here in case you want to print out your own (high resolution here):

It was another great discussion for the Flippers! Next month is on fitness, a lot of us are dreading that one, but that should be fun too :)

My copies: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, hardcover;
Seuss, the whole Seuss, and nothing but the Seuss: A Visual Biography of Theodore Seuss Geisel, hardcover; Hooray for Diffendoofer Day, hardcover

My ratings: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 4/5 stars
Seuss, the whole Seuss, and nothing but the Seuss: A Visual Biography of Theodore Seuss Geisel, 4/5 stars Hooray for Diffendoofer Day, 5/5 stars