HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS!

By Dr. Seuss (Theodore S. Geisel '25). NewYork: Random House, 1957. $2.50.

Take the old story of the Christmas Spirit triumphing over the anti-social grump and you have a brief outline of Dr. Seuss' latest creation. The characters are, of course, the whimsical, imaginative non-existent creatures which are his specialty, so that the treatment of this seasonal stand-by starts off with a new twist of complete unreality. (If Dr. Seuss ever gave up these fancies it would break innumerable hearts.) So away we go, with a Scrooge-like Grinch whose dislike of happiness and noise is so great he devises a really hideous scheme to prevent the arrival of Christmas, going a step further than Dickens. In spite of unexpected difficulties, he succeeds in his plan only to discover that Christmas is more than mere presents. As you can see, the basic plot is not new but the idea of stealing Christmas is a nice angle and how it is done I'll let you find out.

The uninhibited mind of Dr. Seuss leaps lightly from peak to peak and never mind the valleys! His drawings, with shades of Christmas red for color, maintain the artist-author's usual brand of fine whimsey. The rhymes continue to flow with unceasing zest, the same high original and fanciful standards prevail. His invented creatures are as alluring as ever. It is a continuing source of pleasure and amazement that each book can continue to be so entertaining and to know that more will come and be just as good as the last one. Which cannot often be said of the fourteenth book which still deals with the same kind of sheer nonsense.