This Week We Are Reading: The Lorax

We’re massive Dr. Seuss fans in our household so it’s no surprise that The Lorax has become one of our bedtime favourites. The Mr and I grew up reading Dr. Seuss and I’m glad that Isabelle shares the same enthusiasm for the books that captivated us as children.

I speak for the trees!

Dr. Seuss is known for the light-hearted, whimsical stories filled with wacky names and places, the Lorax is no exception to this. Containing the familiar Seuss ingredients – engaging rhyme, amusing characters and wonderful illustrations, it’s enough to delight children and adults as well.

The Lorax whilst delightful for children, tells the rather blunt story of the devastating consequences of what can happen to the environment through human greed, by taking advantage of natural resources and nature in the world which we live.

The story begins when a boy comes to the home of a peculiar creature called Once-ler (you only see his green arms) The boy wants to know all about the Lorax; “what it was”, and “why it was there”.  After paying the Once-ler a small fee, the Once-ler narrates the story for the boy.

The Once-ler begins to tell his tale “I came to this glorious place. And I first saw the trees. The Truffula trees”. As he tells his story, the pictures become brighter, more cheerful, and colourful. We see how the town once looked, long, long ago when there there were animals, birds, green grass … and trees! Transfixed by these trees, the Once-ler cuts one down to make a “Thneed”. Now, a Thneed is supposed to be a useful thing, which people can find many uses for.

Shortly after the first tree is cut down, the Lorax appears. He explains that he talks on behalf of the trees, because the trees cannot talk for themselves. “They have no tongues”. The Lorax warns the Once-ler of the dangers of what he is doing but the Once-ler becomes too greedy to care and ignores the Lorax. Continuing to cut down the trees to make Thneeds, until all the trees have been cut down, the land becomes grey and barren. The once thriving environment became a desolate wasteland.

I love the Lorax and Isabelle became a huge fan to, it’s a captivating book covering a serious and all too true statement about the dangers of greed and how we treat the environment.