HOP ON POP.
By Dr. Seuss (TheodorGeisel '25). New York: Random House,1962. 64 pp. $1.95.
The subtitle explains it all: "The simplest Seuss for Youngest Use." My days of elementary reading are so far away that it is hard to visualize how one would have loved this intriguing teaching method. We who were brought up on the Plume de ma Tante are stunned by this book with its logical increase in vocabulary, coupled with matching illustrations which not only translate but fascinate. The general arrangement is to have two or three capitalized words, in large type, at the head of each page. Below, in regular print, a simple sentence using the capitalized words. On the lowest level comes the explanatory picture, printed in clear colors, the anticipated Dr. Seuss creations. Do not be deluded into thinking that each page is the same. Most of them are, but with an eye for the unexpected (and when, except for delightful verse, imaginative illustrations, fascinating vocabulary, is Dr. Seuss ever routine, pedestrian or expected?), for proper balance, and for controlled variety, at exactly the right place, the order or content of the page is shifted.
There is no story or connecting thread, though several pages may tie to each other. Suspense is not needed. The illustrations are exciting enough along with learning new words. A mouse with a large red house on its back fits with MOUSE and HOUSE, or a creature about to sit on a cactus copes with PAT (its name) and SAT. The book ends with a flourish, the carrot before the donkey, for someday the beginner will also be able to read such words as CONSTANTINOPLE or decipher a non-stop production such as TOPHOPSTOP.
As a sort of postscript, not really connected with this book, one wonders what either the new reader or Dr. Seuss himself would do with some of the titles of plays now playing in New York, such as "Oh Dad, poor Dad, Mamma's hung him in the closet and I'm feelin' so sad." Can't you just see what could be done with this?
