But, The Butter Battle Book is different. From the opening stanzas we feel a sense that something troubling is afoot. There's a wall. Two boastful leaders meet there, exchanging threats over trivial matters. There is danger and mutually assured destruction. There is fear.
That is the essence of Dr. Seuss' allegory about the arms race and the cold war. Although it bears the Seuss stamp of rhythmical storytelling, whimsical illustrations, and fanciful characters the provocative story both enlightens and frightens. The Zooks and the Yooks battle about the proper side on which to butter bread. Across the wall the generals face off in a battle of who has the most powerful Triple-Sling-Jigger or other whatnot guaranteed to drop the opposing community to its knees. Trouble is, neither side knows knows exactly what they are playing with, nor do they understand the potential destruction - yet the escalation continues. Both sides are poised to drop the bomb when the book ends and.....well, here's a link to a TV special video of the book. Dr. Seuss, producer.
The Butter Battle Book did not land well. In fact, it had been censored by many schools and, for a time, had been withdrawn from numerous library shelves. Perhaps you will find parallels to today?
This is just one atypical offering by the kid friendly poet. Check out The Seven Lady Godivas. You
will be amused. Oh, here's a bit of trivia. His pen name, in honor of a German relative, is actually pronounced to rhyme with "voice" but he gave up correcting and eventually accepted the pronunciation we use today. Still, over and over again, people ask me where the Dr. Zeus books are.
Thanks for stopping by. (Blogger is playing tricks today, so the format might be a little wonky. sorry.)
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