TEN APPLES UP ON TOP!

By Theo. LeSieg (Theodor S. Geisel '25). New York:Random House Beginner Books, 1961$1.95.

The voice is still the voice of Dr. Seuss even though he has reversed Geisel into Le Sieg! The illustrations, alas, are by a strange hand. Let us hope that this is a temporary aberration. Having thus admitted that we like our Dr. Seuss straight, let us see what he is doing in his new disguise.

"Ten Apples Up On Top" is another Beginning Beginner Book, the vocabulary limited to seventy-five different words. It is amazing that a story can be created so effectively from so little. The secret is that the illustrations provide the missing words. From the text you would not know that the apples were being balanced on the heads of assorted animals. It is more than a mere picture book, and requires a harmony of text and plates to make an effective unit. To one used to the inventive pencil of Dr. Seuss, the lost opportunities here seem immense. On the other hand, it is satisfactory to know that his verse stands up just as well, when, for a change, a lion looks like a lion!

The story consists of competition (to see who can cope with the most apples), pursuit by an angry bear, extraordinary gymnastics while no apples fall down, and a final collision with apples everywhere. The action is -all held in place and controlled by the verse which skillfully repeats, re-uses and rearranges the seventy-five words. And don't forget that the book is in rhyme. It looks easy but I am sure it is not. Alas that I already know more than these few words and cannot have the fun of starting with this book!