The Sneetches – A Small for Big Book Review

We’re at the dawning of a new era at Small for Big. Meet our first guest blogger: Chris Dunbar! Chris is an old friend, dad to two hilarious, adorable, smart boys, and the husband of the talented Lori, from Paisley Wallpaper. He also runs their etsy shop, Fresh Snapped Photos which is full of Lori’s beautiful photography. Make sure to give a hearty welcome to Chris, and let us know with a little comment what you think of The Sneetches!

So my super-talented friend Mari asked me a while back if I’d like to be a contributor to Small for Big. While I was completely excited and flattered by the offer, I worried that my admittedly lumbering writing style may detract from her elegant, minimalistic blog. That, combined with the fact that I’ve never contributed to a blog before, and have scarcely strung more than three sentences together on paper since high school, had me worried a bit. To alleviate some of my worry, I’ve decided to take the easy way out with my first post. That is why today I present to you a ‘book’ review of one of the best-selling and most beloved authors on the planet – Dr. Seuss.

Now I’m sure there are some Seuss haters out there, and if I had to guess I’d say that group is comprised mainly of people who have only read his most popular work. However, without a doubt, there are a slim few, if any, children’s authors more cherished than Dr. Seuss. Of course, the good ol’ doc isn’t infallible, as There’s a Wocket in my Pocket certainly proves. Seriously Ted, a “Nooth Grush on my Tooth Brush”? I realize “Wocket” is an early learning book of “ridiculous rhymes”, but that’s just plain lazy. And don’t get me started on Green Eggs and Ham. I know it’s a favorite of many, and while I rate it an 8 on the “Clever Use of Only 50 Words” scale, that’s still a full 2 points lower than I rate it on the “Excruciating for Parents” scale. For those of you unfamiliar with this scale, it goes from Eric Carle to “Please let the Zombie Apocalypse start today so I never have to read this book again”. The one saving grace of Green Eggs and Ham is that, without it, this excellent clip of Jesse Jackson on Saturday Night Live would not exist.

While I’m not a fan of being preached to, whether from a pulpit or a PSA, I am a fan of the Seuss stories that have a message, even if it is fairly blatant. Stories like Yertle the Turtle or The Butter Battle Book or The Lorax are far more interesting to me than reading about the multitude of increasingly smaller cats that The Cat in the Hat keeps on top of his head. That is why The Sneetches is one of my most beloved children’s books, and easily my favorite of Dr Seuss’ tetrametered tales.

The Sneetches is the title track from Seuss’ The Sneetches and Other Stories which was published in 1961. Now of course The Sneetches is far from his most obscure work, but as it has yet to be bastardized by Hollywood, I’m sure there are still plenty of people that have never heard of it. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, it goes something like this:

Sneetches are delightfully odd-looking yellow creatures that have socially divided their species into two separate factions: The Star-Bellied Sneetches and the Plain-Bellied Sneetches. The Star-Bellied Sneetches, having green stars on their bellies, are the dominant group and shun the Plain-Bellied Sneetches. The Plain-Belly Sneetches are fairly meek and spend most of their days wishing they had stars of their own.

The Sneetches segregated living situation is suddenly thrown out of whack when they get a visit from Sylvester McMonkey McBean. This self-proclaimed Fix-It-Up-Chappie has made a fine living exploiting the class system of the Sneetches. When he arrives on the beaches of the particular Sneetches in this story, he gets right to work and sets up a Star-On Machine. At the sight of this contraption, the Plain-Belly Sneetches are more than willing to fork over the $3 fee to climb into the machine and become part of the “in” crowd.

Now, obviously, there is no way for the original Star-Bellied Sneetches to discriminate against the no-longer-plain-bellied Sneetches, so they become irate. McBean, having seen this a thousand times before, has a solution just waiting for them – The Star-Off Machine. A trip through this machine costs $10 and leaves the Star-Bellied Sneetches star-free and exclusive once more.

I’m sure you can guess where the story goes from here. The Sneetches bankrupt themselves running between the two machines trying to either fit in or stand out, and at the end of the day they are unable to differentiate one Sneetch from the other. However, despite McBean’s insistence as he drives away rich, that you can “never teach a Sneetch”, the Sneetches come to the realization that “Sneetches are Sneetches and no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches”.

Despite it being only a year shy of its 50th birthday, The Sneetches contains lessons that are still quite relevant today. From the ugliness of discrimination and prejudice to the “keeping up with the Jones’” mentality of consumerism, this story can teach kids quite a bit.

In addition to the morals of this story, the story itself is just downright fun to read! Like most of Seuss’ tales, The Sneetches is written in anapestic tetrameter, which is one rhyming scheme my brain can read aloud without stumbling over itself. Also, the illustrations are great and classic Seuss. My boys especially love it when we get to McBean’s machines, as I let them orchestrate their own sound effects. Each piece of the detailed contraptions makes a unique noise that I love to hear come alive each time we read it.

If you asked either of my boys which book we’ve read more than any other, they’d both scream “SNEETCHES!” without hesitation. They love it when I pull this book off the shelf, and I hope your kids (and you) will love it too!