So, I understand that this book was written a long time ago, before this kind of environmental fairy tale was popularized, and perhaps when it was needed more. But it still seems like a total straw man (hello? can't you just plant your own grove of sustainable truffula trees?). And does the Lorax have to be such a jerk about everything? Maybe he could propose some sort of compromise . . . I guess as a kids' book it's supposed to be simple for kids to understand, but kids aren't that dumb. I like a lot of Dr. Seuss, but any time he's trying to get across any kind of message (even a good one) it just rubs me the wrong way.

It's been many years since I read this book and I was actually hugely impressed. First, it's simply brilliant Dr. Seuss in terms of the writing style and illustrations--gotta love the fishies and bears and that cute little Lorax--and did anyone notice how Grinch-y the Once-ler's hands looked!?--and the rhymes and "nonsense" words that really make so much SENSE. Gosh, I love me some Dr. Seuss! And I love that, in the end, it is a young person who is entrusted with shaping the world--yay, empowered kids!

One of the best by Dr. Seuss, about environmentalism and taking care of the planet. Someone should buy Trump a copy.

A classic, released in 1971, that gets more relevant with each passing day.

In short: A jerk discovers a paradise with Truffula trees (with the "sweet smell of butterfly milk"), and his greed takes over. Despite the many warnings of the Lorax, he sells unnecessary things made from the very necessary trees, until the trees, and the creatures that depended upon them, are all gone.

I'd love to say that we were already well on our way to learning how to avoid this fate ourselves, but ... *gestures in literally any direction.*

The insults flung at the Lorax may sound familiar, given that we've heard them over and over again, most recently (as of this writing) as hurled at a 16-year-old activist whose intelligence, and indifference to delicate fee-fees, has triggered countless elderly, privileged men.

The Lorax is a classic, but is in no way a musty relic of a previous time. Read it with your kids. Encourage them to read it on their own - often. Plant that seed and nurture it.

This story presents the complicated issue of caring for our environment to children in an approachable lesson about the mythical creature “the Lorax”. The Lorax “speaks for the trees” as he defends a forest of “Truffula” trees from the greedy axe of the Once-ler, a man selfishly determined to make a fortune without thought to his lasting impact on the environment and creatures around him. The Once-ler is successful, as least for a while. But before long, the Truffula trees are all gone, the forest creatures are forced to leave for their own survival, and the Once-ler who refused to heed the warnings of the Lorax is soon out of business for good. The story offers an element of hope and redemption at the end, as the Once-ler gives his account to a small boy many years later, offering him the last Truffula seed with the expectation that the boy will reverse the damage that he has done.

In spite of the complexity of the underlying issue being presented in this story, Dr. Seuss tells it in his characteristically decodable, rhyming style. Additionally, the pictures themselves tell the story in ways that the words cannot. For these reasons I have classified this as a picture book.

There are many, many ways to potentially integrate this book into a classroom. Students grades K-5 could focus on rhyming and build word awareness that way. Teachers could also utilize the heavy lessons being taught in this book to open children’s eyes to how they can impact the natural environment around them for both good and bad.

τι υπεροχο μηνυμα που μεταφερει αυτο το βιβλιο για το περιβαλλον.

Now who would have thought that Seuss back in the 60’s would have already been concerned about the destruction of the environment – so much so that he wrote this incredible and addictive story (asked for by my son two to three times a week). My kid is always asking me about the Once-ler “Why can’t we see his body? Why did he make the Barba-loots go away? Why did he cut down the Truffula tree? What is a Thneed?” The lessons are so simple and yet so subtle here – and it is great on so many different levels. The Thneed question makes me almost blush because I have so many thneeds (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Cinema Display, PS3, etc). Who else would have thought of such a perfect word like thneeds. Or sluppity slupp and gloopity gloop. Tonight my son wanted me to show him a Whisper-ma-phone and to hear a snargley voice. What can I say? It is a story that I can STRONGLY recommend to anyone reading this blog and especially to the kids of my readers. I just hope that the UNLESS will be applicable to the generation after ours with our Valdeses and Fukushimas…of course are not directly the fault of our generation but then our generation hasn’t really made headway in preventing these disasters either.
I just hope that I don’t glow in the dark as I walk through the grickle grass eating humming fish sushi.

a critique of capitalism and environmental activism, all of that in a childrens' book ?? this man was doing God's work

The Lorax is one of Dr. Seuss' most legendary stories. This book chronicles the deforestation of a fictional landscape populated by a variety of interesting animals. All done for the sake of capitalism. The story has profound environmental message that would be appropriate in grades 3 and above. The story is a bit more complex than many other Seuss novels and in order to truly understand it, it needs to be analyzed in the upper grades. I could see this story paired with an environmentally themed assignment or possibly a project highlighting an eco problem. This book finds its way into many school curricula across the country and has aged very well.

I'm not a great fan of Dr Seuss but this story was great. We are always keen to teach our children about the environment and this book has an important lesson in it.
We loves the story, the rhymes and the illustrations very much and are off to watch the movie that was made a few years ago.

And for a few minutes, I became a kid again. I remember my first animated movie as a kid was "Dot and the Whale". It was based on a similar environmental theme. A girl named Dot rescuing a whale with the help of his dolphin friend Wilson. I spent countless hours watching it again and again.
It left a strong impact on me and maybe became a reason for me to pursue scuba and mountaineering.
I felt the same after reading "The Lorax",.

A sad plight of our environment today where everybody is busy consuming and corporates are busy mind washing you by adverts, etc to trick you into believing you need their products leaving behind carcasses of trees, turning rivers and water bodies into dump yards, destroying marine life, spreading air pollution, decrease in air quality and ultimately leading to numerous diseases.
The Lorax has put all these issues beautifully. The poetic prose and concise writing won my attention right from the beginning.
Coming to the issue, the truth is nobody cares about the environment truly. As an individual, yes maybe we care but as an organisation, as a corporate or as a group of consumers, we couldn't care less.
Only when everything is lost, we will value what we had, what we took for granted.

I recently read something which really touched me. it goes something like this.. "Only when the last drop of water and the last of the fish is over, we will realise that we cannot eat money".

holy shit this 65 page book was deep lol