The Doctor Is In

Be forewarned, this will not be the most original blog post, nor will it be the last of its type.

So, as I was getting my little guy ready for a nap today, I read to him as I usually do.  Today's book was Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss.  Now, I've read plenty of Dr. Seuss through my life and the meanings and morals so cleverly hidden in his fun books have always had a major effect on me.  I've been so happy to pass along the magic of Dr. Seuss' words, pictures, and worlds with my son(even if at 19 months he's not quite able to understand the wonder of Dr. Seuss).   Today, though, when reading Yertle the Turtle, the last line really hit me: "And the turtles, of course...all the turtles are free, As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be."

Maybe it's the fact that Mr. Ted Geisel(Dr. Seuss) was able to write such powerful sentiments in only a couple lines of rhymed metric verse.  Any writer would be hard pressed in writing, or even finding, more effectively written and powerful messages.

Though Dr. Seuss' stories carry wonderful messages from the Lorax's conservationalism message, to The Grinch's commercialization of Christmas, to The Sneetches equality message, I solely want to focus on a couple two-line quotes that I feel embody his ability to pack such deep, thoughtful messages in so few words.

"And the turtles, of course...all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be." -Yertle the Turtle

"I can't put it down.  And I won't!  After all
A person's a person. No matter how small." - Horton Hears a Who

"'Maybe Christmas,' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store.
'maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!'" - How the Grinch Stole Christmas

"The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beeches." - The Sneetches

"You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose." - Oh, The Places You'll Go

And maybe most of all:
"Who sees who sew whose new socks, sir?
You see Sue sew Sue's new socks, sir."  - Fox in Socks

Okay, that last one was just for fun.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is this:  Dr. Seuss was a master of words.  Sure, he wrote books aimed towards children, but can you name another writer as proficient in embodying the massive amount of meaning and thought provocation as Dr. Seuss was able to in two rhyming lines?  Scratch that.  Two lines of any kind?   Two paragraphs of any kind?

I am proud to pass on Dr. Seuss' stories to my own child.  Though I write stories geared for adults, I hope that maybe one day I will have the a millionth of Dr. Seuss' brilliance with words.

Have a great week, everyone!

Brian Beam