The Parables of Dr. Seuss by Robert L. Short

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Publishers Weekly

A generation ago, Short hit a nerve with The Gospel According to Peanuts, which sold more than 10 million copies and launched a series of "Gospel According to" books about religion and popular culture. Here, with more mixed results, Short offers the same treatment to the stories of Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, who is often dismissed as a children's writer rather than the "first-class Christian thinker" Short feels he is. Short tackles 11 Seuss tales, from the famous and well-known (How the Grinch Stole Christmas!and Green Eggs and Ham), to the little-read (I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew, which Short confesses is his personal favorite). Drawing on the Bible, especially Paul and the Gospels, and the plays of William Shakespeare, Short presents quick theological readings of these stories, with the highlight being the creative "cat-echism" he crafts as a creed from The Cat in the Hat. He points out some things Seuss fans may not have noticed, e.g., Loraxmay well be an acronym for "the Lord and Christ," making the story a parable about faith rather than merely a lesson on environmental responsibility. Despite these flashes of brilliance, the book feels thin and disjointed, with waiflike chapters existing best as individual micro-essays rather than part of a cohesive whole. (Feb.)