Childhood Memories of Early Dr. Seuss Books

The other day I made a comment to some friends at work about Oobleck.  They did not know what I was talking about.  When I questioned them further about some of my favorite old Dr. Seuss books they looked at me with blank stares.  They had never heard of Bartholomew and the Oobleck or any of the older Bartholomew stories that Dr. Seuss wrote so many years ago.          Theodore Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904 and wrote under the pen name of Dr. Seuss.  He was an American writer and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books.  He published over 60 children's books the most famous of which included "Green Eggs and Ham", "The Cat in the Hat", and "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish". 

Apparently there are many people who are not aware of the first series of books he wrote around the time of WWII.  Dr. Seuss's first children's book was called "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberrry Street" written in 1937.  Within a fairly short time Dr. Seuss wrote three books featuring my favorite character, Bartholomew Cubbins.  The first of these was called "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" about a poor peasant boy who lived under the shadow of the kings palace.  One day on the way to the market Bartholomew is arrested for refusing to take his hat off for the king.  In reality each time he removed his hat a new one appeared on his head until he removes 500 hats in all.  It is a great story with wonderful artwork, which is traditional of Dr. Seuss.

In 1939 Dr. Seuss wrote another story about Bartholomew called "The King's Stilts". This time he was a page boy who worked for the king of a land surrounded by the ocean.  The kingdom was protected from the sea by hundreds of trees with tangled roots which some buzzards loved to eat.  The king had an army of special cats that kept the birds away but it required daily vigilance to protect the tree roots.  The king loved to ride his tall red stilts when he went each day with the cats to guard the trees.  The stilts are stolen by an evil man who believes it is undignified for the king to run around on stilts.  Bartholomew saves the day and the kingdom from flooding when he recovers the stilts and returns them to the king.  Another great story that I will always remember.

Following WWII Dr, Seuss wrote a third book around the character of Bartholomew Cubbins.  This book was called "Bartholomew and the Oobleck".  In this wonderful story a proud king is unhappy with the normal weather he has in his kingdom.  He orders his magicians to conjure up something new.  What they come up with is a green sticky goo called Oobleck which falls from the sky.  Eventually it brings the entire kingdom to a stop as everyone and everything gets stuck.  When the king himself gets stuck in Oobleck he finally realizes how wrong he was and says "I'm Sorry".  The Oobleck immediately melts away leaving the kingdom with the four normal seasons and a happy king.  One of my favorite parts is the chant spoken by the magicians in their dark cave deep within a mountain.   

In his later years, Dr. Seuss wrote a lot of smaller books with silly rhyming words.  These books were very different than his early books which were written in prose.  But for some reason, the silly rhyming books seem to be the ones for which he is most remembered.  I am grateful that I was raised by parents who encouraged me to read and enjoy these wonderful books.  I will always remember them.