Dr. Suess

This pop-up adaptation of the popular Seuss story is published in conjunction with the release of the long-awaited animated feature film Horton Hears a Who! Unlike other pop-up adaptations that use text abridgments, this book contains the complete text of Horton Hears a Who! David A. Carter has skillfully followed Seuss’s signature pacing by alternating five big, blow-out pop-ups with 11 booklets, pull tabs galore, and many special effects. In all, ten glorious spreads bring this classic to life in magnificent full color. Also available in a deluxe limited edition with a special pop-up, a full-cloth binding and full-cloth slipcase, signed and numbered by David A. Carter.

You just saw the movie in theaters, now take the original book home. Surely among the most lovable of all Dr. Seuss creations, Horton the Elephant represents kindness, trustworthiness, and perseverance–all wrapped up, thank goodness, in a comical and even absurd package. Horton hears a cry for help from a speck of dust, and spends much of the book trying to protect the infinitesimal creatures who live on it from the derision and trickery of other animals, who think their elephant friend has gone quite nutty. But worse is in store: an eagle carries away the clover in which Horton has placed the life-bearing speck, and “let that small clover drop somewhere inside / of a great patch of clovers a hundred miles wide!” Horton wins in the end, after persuading the “Who’s” to make as much noise as possible and prove their existence. This classic is not only fun, but a great way to introduce thoughtful children to essentially philosophical questions. How, after all, are we so sure there aren’t invisible civilizations floating by on every mote? — Richard Farr

The Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small, hates Who-ville’s holiday celebrations, and plans to steal all the presents to prevent Christmas from coming. To his amazement, Christmas comes anyway, and the Grinch discovers the true meaning of the holiday.

Solla Sollew is a tale of a young person who discovers the “troubles” of life and wishes to escape them. Through a series of adventures experienced when trying to reach the mythical city of the title (”where they never have troubles/at least very few”) the protagonist comes to realize that he must face his problems instead of running away from them. (At the end of the book, it is revealed that the mythical city has just one problem: a creature given to slapping keys out of keyholes has taken up residence in the gate to the city, and it is considered extremely bad luck to kill this kind of creature. As a result, nobody can get into the city. In fact, the mayor moves to another city called Boola Boom-Ball, “where they never have troubles/no troubles at all.”) It features typical fantastic occurrences, as well as some mild political statements. In one instance, the protagonist is forced to pull a wagon for a bossy would-be helper. In another scene, he is drafted into the army under the command of the fearsome, but ultimately cowardly, tyrant General Genghis Khan Schmitz.

Behind Mr. Sneelock’s ramshackle store, there’s an empty lot. Little Morris McGurk is convinced that if he could just clear out the rusty cans, the dead tree, and the old cars, he would have nothing to stop him from using the lot for the amazing, the world-beating, Circus McGurkus. The more elaborate Morris’ dreams about the circus become, the more they depend on sleepy-looking, innocent Mr. Sneelock, who stands outside his ramshackle store sucking on a pipe, oblivious to the fate that awaits him in the depths of Morris’s imagination. He doesn’t yet know that he’ll have to dispense 500 gallons of lemonade, be lassoed by a Wily Walloo, wrestle a Grizzly-Ghastly, and ski down a slope dotted with giant cacti. But if his performance is up to McGurkian expectations, then “why, ladies and gentlemen, youngsters and oldsters, your heads will quite likely spin right off your shouldsters!”

In the book, Gerald McGrew is a kid who, when visiting a zoo, finds that the exotic animals are “not good enough”. He says that if he ran the zoo, he would let all of the current animals free and find new, more bizarre and exotic ones. Throughout the book he lists these creatures, starting with a lion with ten feet and escalating to more imaginative (and imaginary) creatures, such as the Fizza-ma-Wizza-ma-Dill, “the world’s biggest bird from the island of Gwark, who eats only pine trees, and spits out the bark.” The illustrations also grow wilder as McGrew imagines going to increasingly remote and exotic habitats and capturing each fanciful creature, and brings them all back to a zoo now filled with his wild new animals. He also imagines the praise he receives from others, who are amazed at his “new Zoo, McGrew Zoo”.

“UNLESS someone like you… cares a whole awful lot… nothing is going to get better… It’s not.”
Long before saving the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss, speaking through his character the Lorax, warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth’s natural beauty.

Hears an introduction for babies to the wonderful mishmash world of sounds. Listen to the cow’s MOO, the frying eggs’ SIZZLE, and the thunder’s BOOM BOOM BOOM. There are plenty of noises for everyone!