Dr. Seuss Makes Me Leuss

Sneetches & Other Stories

Dr. Seuss's Snooty Sneetches Posted Feb-21-2006
Warning: Poetry Ensues...
My favorite Dr. Seuss story is about the Star-Belly Sneetches.

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches
Had none upon thars.

The snooty Star-Belly Sneetches decided that they were better than the Plain-Belly sort and would purposely exclude them from "frankfurter roasts or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts."

Wise to this stargregation, Sylvester McMonkey McBean entered the scene and "put together a very particular machine" that put stars upon the bellies of the Plain-Belly Sneetches for three dollars each.

So what do we soon have? All Sneetches with stars upon thars!

Clever McBean didn't end there, for he realized the original Star-Belly Sneetches became distinctly aware... with all sneetches now resembled alike, their upturned noses and sense of betterment could now take a hike!

What did entraprenuer McBean offer to the upper classes? A new opportunity to separate the masses. For ten dollars eaches, his new Star-Off Machine would remove the stars upon the upper-crust Sneetches.

(You see what's happening here, don't you?)

So in and out of the machinery all the Sneetches would go, to add stars, to remove stars, to forefront the show. Meanwhile, McBean's money pile continues to grow, and when the Sneetches would realize their folly, nobody would know.

(This went on for some time: the Star-Bellied Sneetches would get their belly stars removed, while the Plain-Belly Sneetches would get stars added. The snooty Sneetches attempt at one-up-Sneetchmanship just wouldn't work. McBean exploited this, preying on this familiar Sneetchy nature.)

"They are doomed to this cycle!," the reader must think. That is... until Seuss mirrors McBean as a wonderful fink. As McBean drove off with his money and machine, Seuss restores our faith in the Star- and No-Star Sneetch regime.

"I'm quite happy to say
That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day,
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches
And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars
And whether they had one, or not, upon thars."

A lovely lesson in human Sneetchy nature.

And now...

10 Reasons Why I LOVE Checking Out Dr. Seuss Books from the Library*:

1. Selecting books off of the knee-high shelves makes me feel like a kid again.
   
   
2. The Sneetches remind me of certain yucky people, and seeing them illustrated in a Seuss way makes me giggle.
   
   
3. The colorful illustrations and skewed perspective in the stories bring joy to my soul.
   
   
4. Rhyming stories are so much fun, especially when paired up with a pun. (sorry!)
   
   
5. I have a short attention span. The books are just long enough for a nice juicy creative snack.
   
   
6. The titles Yertle the Turtle and Fox in Socks makes me smile.
   
   
7. Things that happen in Dr. Seuss books give me hope for humankind.
   
   
8. If he can lick 30 tigers in one day, so can I.
   
   
9. I dig striped hats.
   
   
10. The people at the library have no idea that the books are for me! •

* Originally from my Inner Diablog © 2003

© 2006 Chris Dunmire www.chrisdunmire.com. All rights reserved.