Modern Fantasy: "The Lorax" by: Dr. Seuss

         

          The modern fantasy book that I chose is called The Lorax written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. This book is about the Once-ler’s story about how he found these beautiful Truffula Trees and he decided to chop them all down to use them to make Thneeds (a type of clothes).  Then the Lorax came along and warned the Once-ler to stop chopping down the trees because he was killing the environment. The Truffula Trees were a part of a complex community of organisms, like the Brown Bar-ba-loots and the Humming-Fish. The Once-ler had his eye on money and ignored the Lorax’s warning. Eventually he cut down all of the Truffula Trees and completely destroyed the environment. The Once-ler realizes his horrible mistake but it is too late. He tells this story and gives the last Truffula Tree seed to a boy in hopes that he does not make the same mistakes that he made.

            Following the genre evaluation from the book, The Lorax meets all of the criteria for a quality piece of literature. The characters and story is completely fictional and fantasy, but it is logical and the message is clear. This story applies to real life environmental issues and presents it to children in a way that has these fantasy elements and colorful illustrations. The language is rich and has invented vocabulary that makes sense this fantasy world come to life.

            This book has many elements from the Social Justice handout, but the two most prevalent elements are “respect for others” and “social action”. Throughout the book, the Lorax tells the Once-ler the importance of respecting all the animals and trees because they are a part of a bigger self-sustaining system. The Lorax teaches that all things on earth deserve respect. The other element, “social action” occurs at the end of the book when the Once-ler gives a young boy the last Truffula Tree seed and tells him to do what he wants with it, but hoping he does not make the same mistake as he did. This is a call for action against deforestation and other environmental issues.

            In the classroom, this book can be used in many ways. This book can be used while teaching about deforestation or other environmental issues. Students can discuss the issues in the book and think of different things that the Once-ler should have done. Students can brainstorm ways they can take social action against environmental issues in our society and how to spread awareness.