Four rhyming stories about star-bellied snobs, two stubborn travellers, a mother with twenty-three Daves and a pair of empty pants
Four stories with a point
On the beaches where the Sneetches live, some have small green stars on their bellies and some do not, and the Star-Belly Sneetches never let the others forget it. Then a clever salesman arrives with a machine that can put stars on, or take them off, for a price. The title story is joined by three other rhyming tales, each with Dr. Seuss's unmistakable pictures and gentle wisdom.
Who will enjoy it
Children aged about four to eight and the adults who read to them, especially families who like stories that spark conversation.
What you will get
A classic collection of four funny rhyming stories about prejudice, stubbornness, names and fear, full of Dr. Seuss's playful pictures and wisdom.
The Sneetches and Other Stories Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · Rhyming stories · Fairness · Read-aloud
Length
72 pages · ≈ 2 h
More about this book
Few picture books explain prejudice as clearly as The Sneetches. The salesman, Sylvester McMonkey McBean, sells stars to the plain-bellied Sneetches, then sells removals to the snobs who want to stay different, until nobody can remember who was who, and his pockets are full. The point lands without a lecture, and children grasp it instantly. It has become a classroom favourite for talking about fairness and belonging.
The other stories are just as memorable. In The Zax, two creatures meet head to head and refuse to step aside, while the world builds around them. Too Many Daves is a short, very funny list of names a mother wishes she had chosen for her twenty-three sons. What Was I Scared Of? follows a narrator haunted by a pair of empty pale green pants, a spooky but ultimately kind story about fear of the unfamiliar. The rhymes are a joy to read aloud.
It is one of the most rewarding Seuss books for repeat readings, with something new to talk about each time. Older children enjoy spotting the jokes in the pictures. About 72 pages in the Random House hardcover.
The Lorax
Horton Hears a Who!
Green Eggs and Ham
The Cat in the Hat
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Drama
Moo, Baa, La La La!
The Witches
Captain Underpants
Barnyard Dance!
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator