Fruits of the Geisel Mind Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Cat in the Hat

Published in 1957, "The Cat in the Hat" has a talking cat which shows up on a rainy day to entertain Sally and her brother, despite the objections of the children's fish. The tricks carried out by the cat and its companions, Thing One and Thing Two, become increasingly destructive. It was written as an alternative to traditional early childhood primer books.

Answer: The King's Stilts

In the 1939 children's book "The King's Stilts", King Bitram of Binn's serious business is defending the kingdom against the invading nizzards. When relaxing, the king entertains himself by wandering around the streets on red stilts. When the stilts are stolen, this disheartens the king which results in the kingdom being threatened.

Answer: Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

Published in 1948, "Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose" describes how a moose finds himself playing host to a whole range of 'guests' after allowing one small bug to set up home on his antlers. His good nature is taken advantage of by his 'guests', who act increasingly selfishly. Ultimately, he is able to solve his problem when nature takes its course.

Answer: Bartholomew and the Oobleck

"Bartholomew and the Oobleck" (1949) is a sequel of sorts to the 1938 children's book "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins". Bartholomew is now the King's personal advisor and page boy. Bored with the repetitive weather, the King orders a change from his magicians and gets oobleck. This causes problems and it is up to Bartholomew to solve them. The word 'oobleck' from the story is sometimes used as the name for a starch-based goo (1 part water, 1.5 or 2 parts starch) which has some unusual properties.

Answer: Horton Hears a Who!

With the theme of "a person's a person not matter how small", Horton the Elephant makes great efforts to save the microscopic planet of Whoville in "Horton Hears a Who!"(1953). It was inspired by a post-war visit to Japan which changed his feelings towards the Japanese people. Japan had been an enemy country during the Second World War.

Answer: Green Eggs and Ham

The 1960 book "Green Eggs and Ham" was written as a result of a bet that Geisel could not write an interesting children's book with a vocabulary of just 50 words. He is considered to have been successful. Sam-I-am spends most of the book trying to persuade an unnamed character to eat a dish of green eggs and ham. Praised by many critics, the book was banned in China for over 25 years.

Answer: Fox in Socks

Although there is plenty of rhyme in other Dr Seuss books and another book was written as a tongue-twister, it is the 1965 "Fox in Socks" that is the one referred to here. "Oh Say Can You Say?" (1979) is the other tongue-twisting book Dr Seuss wrote. The priority of the author in the design of "Fox in Socks" was sound and structure, so there are plenty of nonsense phrases.

Answer: The Butter Battle Book

"The Butter Battle Book" (1984) describes an arms race kicked off by a disagreement over the way the Yooks and Zooks eat their bread. The conflict escalates to the point where they have weapons that could result in everybody's death, in other words mutually assured destruction. If it is thought of as a satirical or sarcastic work, it is arguably aimed at an adult audience. It was written during the cold war era when such destruction was a real possibility.

Answer: The Lorax

The 1971 children's book "The Lorax" is about the environment. The Lorax is an advocate for the environment, represented by the Truffula trees. Humanity's greed is echoed by the business magnate Once-ler, who prioritises his business over the environment. "Truax", published in the 1990s, was a logging industry response with the Guardbark having the Once-ler role. "The Lorax" is a 2012 film adaptation of the original story.

Answer: McElligot's Pool

This was Marco's second appearance in a Geisel book. He first appeared in "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" in 1937. In "McElligot's Pool" (1947), Marco is fishing in a small trash-filled pond while he does some speculating. It was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1948. It was also one of six Dr Seuss books withdrawn from publication in 2021 due to changing society values.