Dr. Seuss & Early Childhood Education March 27, 2008

The Dr. Seuss books have been a favorite of mine as long as I can remember. The silly rhymes and stories that fill these books have stuck with me throughout my years and now, as a future educator, I believe that these books are excellent for teaching many different concepts to children. Not only do they teach great concepts, but they are very inspirational and motivational.

One concept that can be addressed through these books is Diversity. The story “The Sneetches,” for example, talks about two different types of creatures called the Sneetches: the Star-bellied Sneetches and the Plain-bellied Sneetches. A problem arises when the Star-bellied Sneetches claim they are the best Sneetches because of their stars on their bellies. These snotty Sneetches would stick up their nose at the Plain-bellied Sneetches and leave them out of games, parties, and other activities. However, a sly stranger named Sylvester McMonkey McBean created a machine that could give the Plain-bellied Sneetches stars, but only for a price. The angry Star-bellied wanted to show that they were the best Sneetches, so the sly stranger offered to remove their stars with his star removing machine, but only for an even greater price. Soon this became a confusing battle of removing and adding stars, and when the stranger had taken all their money he packed up and left, leaving the Sneetches all mixed up. After this, they decided to accept all the Sneetches, Star-bellied or not, and they said that Sneetches, no matter what kind, were the best “Sneetches of the beaches.” This creates an important lesson for children, teaching them to accept each other as is and not to focus on the little differences.

There are also many books that can help teach the children concepts about themselves. A few examples of this are:

“The Foot Book” which describes different shapes and sizes of feet;

“The Eye book,” which talks about eyes and what they can see;

“The Tooth Book,” which explains who has teeth and who does not and also teaches children how to take care of their teeth.

For more information about these books, and for other Dr. Seuss resources, visit this website here.