It's been awhile since I've read a Dr. Seuss book. Too long probably. A couple weeks go Abi invited me to come to the library with the fam. Sure! Cracks me up, at just 4 years old she is such a first born.
Off to the kids section we go. Hmm, hadn't seen this one before, "The Butter Battle Book" by Dr. Seuss.
By page 3, I was hooked.
"On the last day of summer, ten hours before fall… my grandfather took me out to the Wall. For a while he stood silent. Then finally he said, with a very sad shake of his very old head, "as you know, on this die of the Wall we are Yooks. On the far other side of this Wall live the Zooks. Then my grandfather said, It's high time that you knew of the terribly horrible thing that zooms do. In every Zook house and in very Zook town every Zook eats his bread with the butter side down!" (italics his)
So begins the story. The story continues on til the very end with the two sides constantly one-upping the other with weapons until… Well, that's the end. Dr. Seuss really made this one anti-climactic.
The key elements here that got me thinking were: The relatively minor difference between people groups, the militant force or nationalism one will use to protect his own way of life, and the wall.
It only took the wall to remind of the current immigration debate in the States. There are some who would like a wall built on the border of Mexico to keep people from getting in.
The brilliance of Dr. Seuss is that he shows how the differences are so petty - in the book nothing more than butter being the other side of the bread. But how much different is it in reality? So others might speak a different language, they may have an accent, their skin may be a different color, they may have different food preferences, and so on. But in the grand scheme of things aren't those minor differences. How often we lit petty differences get between us.
Yes, definitely read this book if you can. You may see through this parable parallels to your own life or country.
Off to the kids section we go. Hmm, hadn't seen this one before, "The Butter Battle Book" by Dr. Seuss.
By page 3, I was hooked.
"On the last day of summer, ten hours before fall… my grandfather took me out to the Wall. For a while he stood silent. Then finally he said, with a very sad shake of his very old head, "as you know, on this die of the Wall we are Yooks. On the far other side of this Wall live the Zooks. Then my grandfather said, It's high time that you knew of the terribly horrible thing that zooms do. In every Zook house and in very Zook town every Zook eats his bread with the butter side down!" (italics his)
So begins the story. The story continues on til the very end with the two sides constantly one-upping the other with weapons until… Well, that's the end. Dr. Seuss really made this one anti-climactic.
The key elements here that got me thinking were: The relatively minor difference between people groups, the militant force or nationalism one will use to protect his own way of life, and the wall.
It only took the wall to remind of the current immigration debate in the States. There are some who would like a wall built on the border of Mexico to keep people from getting in.
The brilliance of Dr. Seuss is that he shows how the differences are so petty - in the book nothing more than butter being the other side of the bread. But how much different is it in reality? So others might speak a different language, they may have an accent, their skin may be a different color, they may have different food preferences, and so on. But in the grand scheme of things aren't those minor differences. How often we lit petty differences get between us.
Yes, definitely read this book if you can. You may see through this parable parallels to your own life or country.
The Butter Battle Book: (New York Times Notable Book of the Year) (Classic Seuss)
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