Crave Online Review: Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

CO – Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel's 1971 children’s book The Lorax is one of the famed author's only overtly political works. It is, in no unguarded terms, about the easy squandering of natural resources in favor of money and fame. The title character, a little orange furry gnome, serves as the conscience for a faceless character called The Once-Ler, who would chop down and consume every last tree in the valley to make a new miracle product he calls a thneed. The Once-Ler destroys the valley, and, as fashions change, becomes a hopeless pariah, sitting alone in the wasteland he created. The book is told in flashback to a young boy who is enlisted to plant the world's last remaining tree seed. The book is most certainly polemical, very powerful, and, like much of Seuss's work, well known and well-loved by generations of children.