More Goosean Thoughts on these Seussian Books:

• Bartholomew and the Oobleck
• Horton Hears a Who!
• The King's Stilts
• The Lorax
• The Sneetches and Other Stories

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    Bartholomew and the Oobleck

It was The-Year-the-King-Got-Angry-with-the-Sky.  The King was tired of the four same old things that fell from his sky - rain, sunshine, fog and snow.  He wanted something new!

So, against the advice of Bartholomew Cubbins, his loyal page boy, the King orders his royal magicians to make oobleck! [which makes me think of the french word "oublie" which means worry, and the american word "bleck" which means "yuck!"].

This is a story about magic --- lots of magic, and secrets too!

• "the King's secret whistle" on its "secret hook,"
• "the King's back secret stairway"
• the royal magicians and "their musty hole beneath the dungeon"
• "the empty midnight tunnel"
• "the royal bedchamber tower"
• chants of magic words like:

  Shuffle, duffle, muzzle, muff.
  Fista, wista, mista-cuff.

The 7 magicians go to their "secret cave" on "Mystic Mountain Neeka-tave":

Make magic smoke, green, thick and hot!
(It sure smells dreadful, does it not?)

We see the magicians at their work, but now only 5 of them have human form.  One of the magicians is now a cat, chanting and circling the cauldron along with the other magicians.  Another magician is now an owl, perched on the hat of one of the others.  All seven are twiddling their thumbs.

Finally, the new day breaks, and the oobleck starts to comes down.  It is green, and sticky, gummy, gooey, like glue.  More and more, harder and harder, the oobleck comes down until everyone in the kingdom is stuck, including the King, with the notable exception of Bartholomew.

The King fumbles with magic words to stop the oobleck, but Bartholomew tells him he should be saying the simple words "I'm sorry".  And when the stubborn, proud and defiant King finally breaks down and sincerely says those simple words, we learn the big moral of the story:

Simple words, like "I'm sorry", can be magic.

Trivia Questions:

1. What do Mystic Men eat?
2. With what do the Royal Magicians feed the fire?
3. What foods are used to describe the oobleck?
4. What magic words did the King say?

  Horton Hears a Who!

This magnificent masterpiece features the great towering figure of Seussian literature: Horton the Elephant.

"Horton" -- the very name conveys love and comfort.  What a friend Horton is: loving, caring, and loyal to the ends of the Earth.

This story shows the importance of: Focus.  Where we put our attention is SO important.  With attention, comes energy.

If we put our attention on negative things, we give them life and power.  NO!  Let them go [whew that's easier said than done.]  Instead, let's empower positive things.

All us creatures on this planet are so varied -- we span such a range of possibilities.  [I am including here not just humans, but also elephants, dolphins, cats & dogs, cuttlefish and crustaceans, trees and birds and bushes and bees, lichens and rocks and sand and water.]  And Horton, by word and deed, shows us:

A person's a person, no matter how small.

Nature is so splendid.  Can we find the space and time to love all the creatures of the universe?  [except mosquitoes; please, no mosquitoes!]

Today and each day, in little tiny baby steps taken in various places all around this globe of ours, we are creating a beautiful sacred garden full of the glory of nature. You are helping too - thank you!

This story shows how the effort of each and every one of us is important, and how disbelieving people (e.g. the kangaroos and the Wickersham In-Laws) can eventually see the light.

Trivia Questions:

1. On what day does the story begin?
2. In what jungle does the story begin?
3. Describe the family (pictured on the dust speck) "with children just starting to grow".
4. What was the name of the black-bottomed eagle?
5. What time in the morning did the eagle let the clover drop?
6. Where did the Mayor discover the one shirker?
7. What was the name of the shirker?
8. What was the shirker doing?
9. What is the name of the tower in the town?
10. What "word" does the young former-shirker shout?

  The King's Stilts

When you work, really WORK; and when you play, really PLAY.

In the story, we have some delightful Seussian names:

• King Birtram of the Kingdom of Binn (compare these with King Derwin of the Kingdom of Didd of "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" and "Bartholomew and the Oobleck");
• old Lord Droon (sounds like Drone and Droop and Doom), the dour sour-puss villain;
• the Nizzards, the giant blackbirds threatening the Dike Trees;
• the original P.C. creatures -- the Patrol Cats;
• Eric the page boy, with whom all little boys (and I hope girls) identify.

In the story, we see hints of a boy becoming a man. Consider these two moments, both of which involve the great commanding height given by the stilts:

1. Disguised as a tall man (mounted on the stilts and wearing a long robe), Eric runs after the king:

"No time to shrink down to a boy again," thought Eric. 
"I'll just have to stay a tall man."

2. A dejected King Birtram once again sees his long-lost stilts, and we see the boy practically transform into the great man:

"Down from the stilts leapt Eric, the page boy. 
Up onto the stilts sprang Birtram, the King.
He drew a great Kingly breath -- the first one 
in weeks. His head shot up high; his chest 
broadened wide. Birtram of Binn was sturdy, 
straight and strong again, and every inch a King."

We learn about:

• balance, particularly between Work & Play.  But balance is also important between:
  • Talk & Listen
  • Structure & Space
  • Schedule & Free time
  • Motion & Rest
  • Think & Feel
• the benefit of "focus" -- an intense focus on what precisely you are doing;
• the importance of play as motivation;
• and the importance of Breath (see the great Kingly breath above).

So...

     WORK...

          and PLAY!!!

Trivia Questions:

1. When did King Birtram get up every morning?
2. When did King Birtram finish work each day?
3. On what day of the week did Lord Droon steal the King's stilts?
4. What piece of clothing did Eric use for his escape?
5. What sound did the Nizzards snarl at Eric?
6. The noise of the great battle was heard where, and how far away?
7. How long did the battle last?
8. As punishment, Droon eats what for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day?
9. When did Droon get to eat Nizzard hash?
10. What reward did the King give to Eric?

  The Lorax

"At the far end of town" - isn't that where the dumps and the old abandoned industrial sites always are located?

If you want to hear the Once-ler's story, you have to toss in:

• 15 cents (symbolizing money) and
• a nail (symbolizing effort) and
• the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail (symbolizing time).

I am particularly fond of the Snuvv -- "his secret strange hole in his gruvvulous glove".

Are we not all Brown Bar-ba-loots?

"Humming-Fish" -- this is a beautiful description of whales, is it not?

"A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need!"  This definition makes it plain that making Thneeds is good and necessary. So we must not seek to eliminate that activity, but rather to seek to balance it with other needs (such as the need for Truffula Trees).

How do we find a good balance between chopping trees and protecting them?  More generally, how do we find a balance between using and protecting the environment?  I believe the best route is through private property rights.  Please see my speech/paper "Who is the Lorax?", or the Pacific Research Institute's excellent book on free market environmentalism.

Do these words ring in your heart as they do in mine?

UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It's not.

I did something for one small corner of the environment (and the people who live there):  I helped the people of the Pihaena lagoon (on the island of Moorea in Polynesia) protect their lagoon.  See www.drGoose.org.

Trivia Questions:

1. What street does the Once-ler live on?
2. Where does the Once-ler stay?
3. Out of what does he make his clothes?
4. When does the Once-ler (sometimes) tell his story?
5. How do the Once-ler's teeth sound?
6. What noise did the Once-ler hear when he finished knitting a thneed?
7. For how much did the Once-ler sell that first thneed?
8. What slogan was written on the side of the Once-ler's trucks?
9. What were the two types of goo that the Once-ler's machinery produced?
10. What should we feed our new Truffula Tree?
11. To whom is the story dedicated?

   The Sneetches and Other Stories

A Star, or Not a Star, that is the question.

Starism, racism, religionism, sexism, ageism -- I believe freedom is the best policy: freedom of speech and freedom of association.

If we are free to express ourselves, and free to associate (or not associate) with whomsoever we please, then we will also be free to display and discuss our preferences and beliefs.

Yes, this means that bigotry, as ugly as it is, would be legal (as long as it is peaceful).

When a legistlature outlaws signs like "No blacks need apply", those signs do disappear, but discrimination still exists.  And because of that law, bigots will no longer make themselves known - they will hide.  People who discriminate in a free marketplace will pay a premium for their discriminatory preferences, and they will be visible in doing so.

Without consciously intending to, Sylvester McMonkey McBean helps the Sneetches learn that discrimination is stupid.  This lesson comes through the operation of the marketplace.

If laws prevented the Sneetches from freely spending their money for Starist purposes, they may never have learned.  In fact, the Sneetches learn their lesson only after their last cent was spent [This is how I learn best too - I do it until I can't do it any more].

Three cheers for the enlightened Sneetches, for Sylvester McMonkey McBean, and for the mysterious unknowable workings of the gloriously free market!

The Zax

Being stubborn and inflexible can be stupid.

Too Many Daves

It is good to name different things differently.

What was I scared of?

This wonderful story helps us see situations from someone else's point of view.

Trivia Questions:

1. What was the price for getting a star on your belly?
2. What was the cost of removing a star from your belly?
3. What does Sylvester McMonkey McBean wear?
4. Where were the Zaxes making trackses?
5. What rule did the South-Going Zax learn as a boy back in South-Going School?
6. What is the name of the freeway interchange built around the Zaxes?
7. What is the name of the mother of all the Daves?
8. How many sons did she have?
9. What does she wish she had named them?
10. What type of fish might you catch on Roover River?

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