The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

This week I chose to read 'The Lorax' due to it's recent popularity following the movie and the message behind the story. Dr. Seuss creates a world that mirrors today's society, through the themes of sustainability and industrialisation. The story reflects the plot of a tragedy and a future quest for the boy who goes looking for answers on the Lorax. He discovers that the Once-ler chopped down all the Truffula Trees to make Thneeds (jumpers) for people (industrialisation). This had detrimental effects, not only on the trees, but also on the animals who inhabited that environment. The Lorax is the voice of the trees and advocates for sustainability in the book. The story ends with the boy being given the last Truffula Tree seed, hence the responsibility/quest of saving the trees for the return of the Lorax and the forest animals. This gives the reader the opportunity to interpret what happens next and how the forest will look after the boy has planted the seed.
The book is suitable for students ranging from Reception to Years 4/5 due to the story's complex and relevant themes. It is an easy and engaging read for young students, due to Dr. Seuss' use of rhymes, rhythm and 'silly' language. The illustrations are colourful and relate directly to the text. I think that the coda of the story is revealed on the last page when the Once-ler gives the boy the last Truffula seed. The instructions on how to care for and protect the seed sound like direct instructions from the author to the reader on it being everybody's job to sustain our environmnet.

Kirsty

Check out Dr. Seuss' wacky website - it's fun!

http://www.seussville.com/#/books

This is a link for the trailer of the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU7M9J-BV8c