(Caldecott Honor Book) (Classic Seuss) - Bartholomew and the Oobleck

My son loves this book, it keeps him occupied for at least fifteen minutes. He will go to the bookshelf and bring it to me to read to him. The reason I only gave it 4 stars was because for a board book the pages are thinner than most, along with the flaps. Even though it is very entertaining for my 16 onth old, with as much use as it's going to get, I don't see the construction of the book holding up for very long. All in all though, I would still have purchased it even if I had known because he likes it so much.

I have always loved this book about being satisfied with what "is". In my estimation, Dr. Seuss was a genius. Another favorite story is 'The Star-Bellied Sneeetches. Oh, of course there's always 'The Grinch Who Stole Christmas' to add to the list too!

This is a classic Dr. Seuss story. My children loved it and now their children can love it as well. I have even made OObleck. Just water, corn starch and green food coloring. It make the book even more endearing.

A revisit to Bartholomew Cubbins who previously appeared in The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins finds him the King's page and the Grand Duke missing. Again the prose form rules this darker fantasy (sequel?) written 9 years after the original story instead of the normal Seussian poetry; I vastly prefer the clever and surreal 500 Hats of the two books.

The king wants to establish his power and uniqueness and calls his magicians to make Oobleck fall from the sky. Bartholomew attempts to be the voice of reason to the hubris-plagued king, but the king wasn't having it. When the first drops of green fall, the royal page feels nothing but fear.

Want to know where the generation of urban fantasy - horror fans came from? I bet many of them had this book in their homes growing up. Where 500 Hats is fantasy, Oobleck is a horror - child version.

Still a solid book after all this time.

As a small child, I loved Bartholomew and the Oobleck and found it absolutely hilarious. As an adult, I related to it differently, but I still enjoyed it. Unlike most Dr. Seuss books, this one is written in prose, and I missed the rhythm of his verse. But I appreciated the morals of the story, which went over my head when I was little. The story deals with a king who was tired of the things that come from the sky--rain, fog, sunshine, and snow--and asked his royal magicians to come up with something new. They created oobleck, a thick, green, and extremely sticky substance that rained from the sky and created huge problems in the kingdom. The king needed to find magic words to stop the deluge of oobleck, and the magic words he found were "I'm sorry" and "It's all my fault." He also learned to appreciate the things that naturally fall from the sky without demanding more. Those are worthwhile lessons for everyone to learn--ones that should be pointed out to children who, like I was, are simply carried away by the humor.

I'm unsure where this falls on the reading scale. The pages have quite a lot of text, making this difficult for very young children to pay attention, and difficult for new readers to handle on their own. I think, ideally, this is to either be read to a very well-behaved classroom, or it's good for one-on-one reading work with an adult.

Educators and guardians should note that oobleck is a thing! It's a mix of corn starch and water, which has the odd quality of stiffening under quick pressure (such as running across it), but loosening under sustained, unmoving pressure (such as standing on it). Makes some with your kids after reading this book, for a really fun learning experience!

The story could be framed in a few ways, with environmental message and "careful what you wish for" being tops. In the end, though, I think kids are going to be more likely to remember making their own oobleck, rather than the story, and that's fine! It will provide a little entertainment, and that's good enough!

Theodor Geisel, also known to the world as Dr. Seuss as been a true legend of children's books for many years for many reasons. His looks on children was very different from most authors, his illustrations were unique oddly bizarre but amazingly one of a kind, and his writing of rhymes and strange names and imaginable characters were his art. I remember reading many of his Beginner Books as a little child, but I've never read many of his earlier books that much. But after reading one of them, which is "Bartholomew and The Oobleck", it showed me that Dr. Seuss was more than just an author, he was a genius.

In this book, we are taken to the Kingdom of Didd, where the story focuses on a young boy named Bartholomew Cubbins. The king starts to become angry at the sky ands it's weather, and growls and it. When winter comes, the King's grows more angry about the sky and finds a solution. With the help of his seven magicians, they will grant his wish of what will fall from the sky, thanks to one word: Oobleck. The magicians chant a rhyming spell and then out of his window, Bartholomew sees small green drops falling from the sky and the king is filled with delight by the outcome. But then, the oobleck starts to stick together in the kingdom, making a huge green mess. Bartholomew runs around the kingdom to find help, but already many have been affected by the oobleck: stuck in it, ate it or walking on it. Then he thinks of one person who can stop this madness: the king.

As Dr. Seuss books go, this book truly hits home like many of his other books. What I've always have admired of Dr. Seuss is his whimsical illustrations. The black-and-white illustrations are just wonderful and even the green oobleck as well. The book even teaches readers a true lesson: be careful what you wish for. Even though this is one if Seuss' oldest books, it really is charming and filled with excitement. I found it to perfect for all fans of his books. To me, it's half fairy tale and half middle-age tale. Readers, young and old, will love experiencing all of Seuss' books, thanks to this charming tale.

This book is probably the best value and choice for children under 3 among the Dr. Seuss offerings. This book draws on five of the best Dr. Seuss books for young learners in abridged and more interactive fashion to make it exciting and interesting to very young children.
You get basic counting, letter identification, prereading training, introduction to rhyming, and the alphabet all in one fun book with great flaps that the smallest fingers will lovingly turn open. Any child can get a great educational start on important basics here, and graduate to working with the complete five books to provide this information in more depth.
The first two page spread is from The Cat in the Hat and covers all the numbers up to 20. Each flap has a number of Seussian animals or objects behind it. The order of the numbers is scrambled across the two pages so your child can also learn to look for numbers in order, as a way of reinforcing counting skills.
The second two page spread is from Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? The child is encouraged to make the appropriate animal sounds. These sounds are printed out, and this spread provides experience and skill in letter and word identification, and oral reading.
The third two page spread is from There's a Wocket in My Pocket! This section is good for beginning readers because the animals behind the flapped items rhyme with the flapped items (like wocket and pocket). Your child can then learn a few sounds for consonants by seeing and hearing how changing one letter changes the sound and meaning of the whole word. With the clue of the flap item, this section also helps with basic word decoding.
The fourth two page spread is from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. This section features a full rhyming scheme. "From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere." This rhyming futher reinforces letter identification to help with word decoding. By making this section easier to memorize, your child may well start to "read" this section to you before the other ones.
The fifth two-page spread is from Dr. Seuss's ABC and has all 26 letters in it. Again, they are not in exact order, so your child can also learn the alphabetic order by working with this. The Cat in the Hat returns as the host for this adventure. Having had so many examples of the importance of letter identification in the immediately prior three sections, this is a good place to introduce the whole alphabet.
Most children will probably want to do this book from front to back every time. That may seem like a lot for you to read with them, but the learning experience is very good that way. I urge you to follow through with that approach if your child likes it. With over 70 flaps to turn over, there's plenty of interactivity to keep boredom at bay.
If you find your child is doing much better on some sections than others, you might move onto the rest of that book at that point. Most children will find some material easier than others. Since this is all somewhat related, you can build on strengths that way to help open up any minor blocks to learning that you may be seeing.
Flap away!