The Lorax by Dr Seuss

This review is based on an audio copy of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Narrated by Ted Danson.15 mins

The Lorax is a Dr. Seuss tale about a young boy who lives in a polluted landscape. He wonders about The Lorax who once lived there until he, according to rumors, no longer could. He goes to ask The Once-ler, who knows all about the place, what happened to The Lorax?

The Once-ler tells the boy of how he found and fell in love with the beautiful place.The Once-ler reminisces that the place was once filled with wonderful Truffula trees that the Once-ler took advantage of with his invention of Sneed's. He chopped down Truffula trees to make sneed's for profit. The Lorax, an orange creature who is the lone voice of the trees, asks him to stop because he was ruining the beautiful place. The Once-ler instead asks his family to come help him cut the trees to make even more money.

The Once-ler's greedy demands on the land interrupts the creatures who live there. They lose food from the trees, smog fills the air from the machinery, and the ponds become polluted. The creatures have to leave because they can no longer survive there. The Once-ler continues with his destruction until there are no more trees to chop down. When all he work is gone and the land is demolished, everyone leaves. The only ones left are The Once-ler and the sad and disapproving Lorax, who, after there is nothing more to save, also leaves.

Now all that was left in the bad smelling sky, was my big, empty factory, the Lorax and I. The Lorax said nothing, just gave me a glance. Just gave me a very sad, sad, 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 heisted himself and took leave of this place, through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace.

The story ends on a promising note with one last Truffula tree seed remaining. The Once-ler gives the seed to the young boy and tells him there is hope that the place might be restored and then The Lorax and all his friends may be able to return.

Notes: The Lorax focuses on bringing environmental awareness to children in an imaginative way - with creatures such as The Lorax and trees such as Truffula's, and clever rhymes. The Lorax is a good way to educate children about things such as littering, and teaching them doing their part to keep the earth clean. The words "stupid" and "idiot" are both used once in the text. I listened to the The Lorax with my children on a drive to the grocery store, unaware that those words would be used. Since we teach that both are "bad words" my girls' pointed it out immediately. The reading has a musical score that, in the very beginning of the story, is somewhat overpowering, making it hard to clearly take in what is being said. Luckily, that particular musical bit only lasts a minute or so. The rest of the score goes well with, and aids in the story telling. Ted Danson does a good job with the narrating. He reads deliberately and rhythmically. His voice paints a clear picture of the things taking place.

The Lorax is currently 2.95 on Audible. It is definitely an audio book that I recommend for children.

*All images were found online and are copyright  of Dr. Seuss.