September 11, 2025 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, created some of the most famous children’s books of the 20th century. Two of his best-known works, The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, show just how intentional he could be. The Lorax stood among the Truffula trees and spoke for the environment, long before environmentalism was a mainstream cause. The Grinch, meanwhile, offered a parable of greed, redemption, and the deeper meaning of Christmas. Both stories reveal how Seuss used fantasy, humor, and memorable characters to help children think about the world around them. Biographer Brian Jay Jones, author of Becoming Dr. Seuss, tells the story of how Seuss’s work combined playful rhymes with moral weight.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
O.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Now all that was left beneath the bad smelling sky
was my big empty factory, the Lorex. And I the
Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance, Just gave
me a very sad, said backward glance as he lifted
himself by the seat of his pants. And I'll never
forget the grim look on his face when he hoisted
himself and took leave of this place. Thereugh a hole
(00:31):
in the smog without leaving a trace. This is lei Habib,
and this is our American stories. And what you just
heard is an excerpt from doctor Seuss's nineteen seventy one
book The Lorax. In nineteen eighty nine, this book was
banned for the first time in a California school because
(00:51):
it was believed to portray logging in a poor light
and would turn children against the foresting industry. Doctor Seuss
was raised as a Lutheran and had a strong religious background.
His books often included strong moral messages, but he was
always careful with how he went about it. You here
to share a bit about Doctor Seuss's The Lorax and
The Grinch. By the way, is Brian J. Jones, author
(01:15):
of Becoming Doctor Seuss.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
In nineteen forty nine, after he's come out of the
Signal Corps, he's still making a career in ads. He's
dabbled in Hollywood's screen fixing and screenwriting. He doesn't like it.
It's writing by Committee's a little bit miserable. But he
still really wants to do children's books, and he's just
successful enough at it as a sort of second job
that he's actually asked to lead a writer's workshop on
(01:43):
writing children's books for the University of Utah in nineteen
forty nine. It is a pivotal moment in children's literature
because Seuss sits down and writes down by hand what
he thinks makes great writing for children, and he's taking
lesson that he's learned from Capper. You can clearly see
him processing and talking about you've got to make the
(02:05):
words count. You have to keep the action moving forward.
You will lose children. He was telling students in his class,
you know, your biggest competitor right now is comic books.
And so it's Sue's really putting down on paper what
children need to, you know, have their interests sustained, and
how you don't want to write down to them, and
(02:25):
how you don't want to be deliberately saccharind You know,
kids don't like being talked down to. Sus inherently gets this.
If you're trying to impress a kid, or you're trying
to write fancy for some kid, they will see right
through you. You would tell these students in his class
that a child is the toughest audience you will ever
(02:46):
write for, because they will see you coming. You cannot
fool a kid, so don't try. The Grinch was successful
right away. But The Grinch, I think it's a It's
a fascinating book because you know, remember, part of the
message behind the Grinch is that Christmas doesn't come from
a store. And I love that this book was written
(03:09):
by somebody who spent the first part of his career
probably telling you that Christmas did come from a store.
I mean, the guy the guy was in advertising was
very good at it. So I think I think there's
a little bit of Seuss reckoning with himself in this
in this story, which is one of the reasons why
I think it's I think it's one of the reasons
he took it so personally. It could really sympathize with
the Grinch and the Grinch coming around. But it's a
(03:30):
great example of Seuss really working on an ending. Because
Seuss didn't like his books to be overtly preachy or messagy.
He often said, you know again, consistent with what he
said in the nineteen forty nine lectures, if you're trying
to be preachy again, kids are going to see you coming.
They're going to recognize immediate what you're up to you.
(03:51):
They're going to hould up shop, they're going to walk away,
like no kid wants to be preached to. So you
can't you can't do that. So when he got to
the end of The Grinch and was trying to figure
out what happens after the Grinches kind of redeemed himself.
What do you end it with? He was trying to
keep it from being a little too religious if he could,
which is why it ultimately ends with sort of the
Brotherhood of Man where you see you know the and
(04:12):
the cartoon they do it brilliant when the star comes up,
but he's serving the roast beast at dinner, So it's
more of a family type ending than a Christmas y
ending per se. But that was Seus's working really hard
with an ending. Now at one point in his career
he did write a intentionally, deliberately messagey book, and that
was The Lorax. And that's the one book where Sue said,
(04:35):
you know, I set down to do this because I
got mad SUS's house in La Jolla, California, sat up
on Mount Soulo. That it's this beautiful hilltop house still
there today. And at the time he built it, there
was nothing around it, as you can imagine in the
forties and early fifties. But over the years he was
watching development sort of encroach on his hillside and it
was sort of cookie cutter houses and apartments, and he
(04:58):
didn't really you know, he didn't really like the way
they were tearing into the mountainside. So the Lorax was
his intentional way of addressing the issue of being careful
with our resources. Sus never says in the Lorax, don't
cut down trees. As Seuss pointed out, for you know,
after the Lorax came out, he said, look, I write books.
(05:18):
Books are printed on paper. I live in a house.
A house is made of wood. I'm not anti logging,
I'm not anti cunning down trees. I'm pro being responsible
with what we have and that's sort of the message
of the Lorax, which a lot of times gets lost
in the discussion of that. I think it's his most
consistently banned book. A lot of times it was banned
in sort of the northwestern part of the United States
(05:39):
where they rely on logging and timbering and things like that.
But that's probably his most controversial book because of that.
And Seuss always warned people like, be very careful. You know,
I've got a message in here, but be sure you
understand what that message is. And it's got I think
one of the most beautiful messages of any of Seus's books,
where he says, unless someone like you cares a whole
awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not
(06:03):
I mean, that has nothing to do with logging, with timbering, nothing.
It is a universal message. It is the beautiful point
of that book in there that is SUS's getting as
messages as he's ever going to get. And I think
when people get wrapped around the axle on whether Sus
is being you know, too environmental in this and he's
too woke and he's paying too much attention to the
(06:23):
movement of the time. You know, this was when Earth
Day happened in the early seventies. The real message in
there is unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. You know, take charge,
get involved. That's the message with Lorax more than anything else.
But that's the one time Sus deliberately set out to
convey a message, and look how carefully he does it.
(06:47):
He really sweated that, and I mean that book was
tough for him anyway, but like really agonizing over message
because as he had told everybody in the in the
late nineteen forties, you know, if you are deliberately messaging,
you are in big trouble. You know, everyone will immediately
see what you're doing. And so I just think that's
so interesting with the Lorex is because people think they
see what he's doing, you know, they immediately start saying
(07:09):
he's being environmental, he's talking about logging. He's well, he is.
But the bigger point is unless someone like you cares
a whole awful lot. I mean, that's the real message
of the Lorax more than anything else, and SEUs is
almost hiding it in plain sight because he was being
so careful about it.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Two beautiful short stories about the Grinch and the Lorax
here on Our American Stories, Leehabib here and I'd like
to encourage you to subscribe to Our American Stories on
Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you get our podcasts.
Any story you missed or want to hear again can
be found there daily again. Please subscribe to the Our
(07:50):
American Stories podcast. It helps us keep these great American
stories coming
O.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Now all that was left beneath the bad smelling sky
was my big empty factory, the Lorex. And I the
Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance, Just gave
me a very sad, said backward glance as he lifted
himself by the seat of his pants. And I'll never
forget the grim look on his face when he hoisted
himself and took leave of this place. Thereugh a hole
(00:31):
in the smog without leaving a trace. This is lei Habib,
and this is our American stories. And what you just
heard is an excerpt from doctor Seuss's nineteen seventy one
book The Lorax. In nineteen eighty nine, this book was
banned for the first time in a California school because
(00:51):
it was believed to portray logging in a poor light
and would turn children against the foresting industry. Doctor Seuss
was raised as a Lutheran and had a strong religious background.
His books often included strong moral messages, but he was
always careful with how he went about it. You here
to share a bit about Doctor Seuss's The Lorax and
The Grinch. By the way, is Brian J. Jones, author
(01:15):
of Becoming Doctor Seuss.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
In nineteen forty nine, after he's come out of the
Signal Corps, he's still making a career in ads. He's
dabbled in Hollywood's screen fixing and screenwriting. He doesn't like it.
It's writing by Committee's a little bit miserable. But he
still really wants to do children's books, and he's just
successful enough at it as a sort of second job
that he's actually asked to lead a writer's workshop on
(01:43):
writing children's books for the University of Utah in nineteen
forty nine. It is a pivotal moment in children's literature
because Seuss sits down and writes down by hand what
he thinks makes great writing for children, and he's taking
lesson that he's learned from Capper. You can clearly see
him processing and talking about you've got to make the
(02:05):
words count. You have to keep the action moving forward.
You will lose children. He was telling students in his class,
you know, your biggest competitor right now is comic books.
And so it's Sue's really putting down on paper what
children need to, you know, have their interests sustained, and
how you don't want to write down to them, and
(02:25):
how you don't want to be deliberately saccharind You know,
kids don't like being talked down to. Sus inherently gets this.
If you're trying to impress a kid, or you're trying
to write fancy for some kid, they will see right
through you. You would tell these students in his class
that a child is the toughest audience you will ever
(02:46):
write for, because they will see you coming. You cannot
fool a kid, so don't try. The Grinch was successful
right away. But The Grinch, I think it's a It's
a fascinating book because you know, remember, part of the
message behind the Grinch is that Christmas doesn't come from
a store. And I love that this book was written
(03:09):
by somebody who spent the first part of his career
probably telling you that Christmas did come from a store.
I mean, the guy the guy was in advertising was
very good at it. So I think I think there's
a little bit of Seuss reckoning with himself in this
in this story, which is one of the reasons why
I think it's I think it's one of the reasons
he took it so personally. It could really sympathize with
the Grinch and the Grinch coming around. But it's a
(03:30):
great example of Seuss really working on an ending. Because
Seuss didn't like his books to be overtly preachy or messagy.
He often said, you know again, consistent with what he
said in the nineteen forty nine lectures, if you're trying
to be preachy again, kids are going to see you coming.
They're going to recognize immediate what you're up to you.
(03:51):
They're going to hould up shop, they're going to walk away,
like no kid wants to be preached to. So you
can't you can't do that. So when he got to
the end of The Grinch and was trying to figure
out what happens after the Grinches kind of redeemed himself.
What do you end it with? He was trying to
keep it from being a little too religious if he could,
which is why it ultimately ends with sort of the
Brotherhood of Man where you see you know the and
(04:12):
the cartoon they do it brilliant when the star comes up,
but he's serving the roast beast at dinner, So it's
more of a family type ending than a Christmas y
ending per se. But that was Seus's working really hard
with an ending. Now at one point in his career
he did write a intentionally, deliberately messagey book, and that
was The Lorax. And that's the one book where Sue said,
(04:35):
you know, I set down to do this because I
got mad SUS's house in La Jolla, California, sat up
on Mount Soulo. That it's this beautiful hilltop house still
there today. And at the time he built it, there
was nothing around it, as you can imagine in the
forties and early fifties. But over the years he was
watching development sort of encroach on his hillside and it
was sort of cookie cutter houses and apartments, and he
(04:58):
didn't really you know, he didn't really like the way
they were tearing into the mountainside. So the Lorax was
his intentional way of addressing the issue of being careful
with our resources. Sus never says in the Lorax, don't
cut down trees. As Seuss pointed out, for you know,
after the Lorax came out, he said, look, I write books.
(05:18):
Books are printed on paper. I live in a house.
A house is made of wood. I'm not anti logging,
I'm not anti cunning down trees. I'm pro being responsible
with what we have and that's sort of the message
of the Lorax, which a lot of times gets lost
in the discussion of that. I think it's his most
consistently banned book. A lot of times it was banned
in sort of the northwestern part of the United States
(05:39):
where they rely on logging and timbering and things like that.
But that's probably his most controversial book because of that.
And Seuss always warned people like, be very careful. You know,
I've got a message in here, but be sure you
understand what that message is. And it's got I think
one of the most beautiful messages of any of Seus's books,
where he says, unless someone like you cares a whole
awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not
(06:03):
I mean, that has nothing to do with logging, with timbering, nothing.
It is a universal message. It is the beautiful point
of that book in there that is SUS's getting as
messages as he's ever going to get. And I think
when people get wrapped around the axle on whether Sus
is being you know, too environmental in this and he's
too woke and he's paying too much attention to the
(06:23):
movement of the time. You know, this was when Earth
Day happened in the early seventies. The real message in
there is unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. You know, take charge,
get involved. That's the message with Lorax more than anything else.
But that's the one time Sus deliberately set out to
convey a message, and look how carefully he does it.
(06:47):
He really sweated that, and I mean that book was
tough for him anyway, but like really agonizing over message
because as he had told everybody in the in the
late nineteen forties, you know, if you are deliberately messaging,
you are in big trouble. You know, everyone will immediately
see what you're doing. And so I just think that's
so interesting with the Lorex is because people think they
see what he's doing, you know, they immediately start saying
(07:09):
he's being environmental, he's talking about logging. He's well, he is.
But the bigger point is unless someone like you cares
a whole awful lot. I mean, that's the real message
of the Lorax more than anything else, and SEUs is
almost hiding it in plain sight because he was being
so careful about it.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Two beautiful short stories about the Grinch and the Lorax
here on Our American Stories, Leehabib here and I'd like
to encourage you to subscribe to Our American Stories on
Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you get our podcasts.
Any story you missed or want to hear again can
be found there daily again. Please subscribe to the Our
(07:50):
American Stories podcast. It helps us keep these great American
stories coming
Host
Lee Habeeb
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