It seemed fitting considering my title of this blog, to have my first post on Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss has become widely known through his unique poems and stories that have captured the hearts and captivated the minds of children and adults everywhere. Although what endears Dr. Seuss to me is not only his creative poetry, but the politics and messages that lie within his writings. I think it is important to make students critical thinkers, especially within the arts. When students read a piece of literature, see a play, listen to music, view a piece of art, it is important that they not only appreciate the work, but be critical of the work and see the meanings and the history that lie within the piece. Many of Dr. Seuss' works "advocate social change, teaching generations of children not only how to be better readers, but better people as well" (Independent Lens, Dr. Seuss).
Something not known to many people, is that the popular story 'Yertle the Turtle' is modeled after Hitler. Dr. Seuss began his career political cartooning during WWII that "denounced racism, isolationism and other issues", and this political cartooning aspect linked into his children's literature.This particular story has created some debates within the education community as to whether it is too political to expose children to. Below is a link to a Globe and Mail article outlining an example. This is one thing I have struggled with, that when stories have political messaging, how far is to far?
Globe and Mail:
