On March 2, 1904, an iconic author in children’s literature was born.
March 2 is now dubbed as “Read Across America Day,” where nationwide, schools, community centers and libraries take part in bringing people together through the works of literature.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as his alias, Dr. Seuss, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1904 and spent his life creating well-known stories that children, adults and teachers of all ages still read and teach today.
Crae Messer / Managing Executive Editor
However, a lesser-known fact of Dr. Seuss is that he wrote those stories based on very political events and controversial ideas.
While some of his more famous stories such as “The Lorax,” “Horton Hears a Who,” “The Butter Battle Book” and “Yertle the Turtle” may be seen as innocent to the naked eye, there are several messages he put into his books, and many, if not all, are still important in the 21st century.
In “The Lorax,” Seuss presents the idea of deforestation and how it will harm the land and people within this world if nothing is changed.
It is his take on environmentalism and how humans are harming the earth and destroying nature.
“I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues,” Dr. Seuss, “The Lorax.”
This story can be drawn to the current state of the environment, especially in New England.
For example, according to The Boston Globe, Feb. 23 reached 73 degrees in Boston, Massachusetts, the highest temperature ever on record for the city.
Climate change is a hot button topic and is highly debated all over the United States.
In another work by Seuss, “The Butter Battle Book,” a different, but still important issue is discussed.
This story discusses the idea of the Cold War and the ideologies of different aspects and two societies, The Yooks and the Zooks, who do everything differently, but most notably, the way they butter their toast is different.
While this may seem like a trivial piece, it gets into details pertaining to the two sides building weapons because they believe the other society has to be wrong.
The undertone is all about the prejudices and the judgements in the world.
According to the Teach Peace Foundation, “This cautionary Cold War tale has a lot to teach about intolerance and how tit-for-tat violence can quickly get out of hand.”
In recent months, there has been an increase in a lack of tolerance between nations.
Epoch Times wrote, “America must also honor every person who respects our values despite our differences. These differences include race, color, religion, national origin, citizen status, gender, physical or mental disability, age, sexual orientation, ancestry and military status.”
Mary Curtin can be contacted at mcurtin@kscequinox.com
