Our first Dr. Seuss selection is “I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today!” A small Cat in the Hat sets out one fine morning, feeling proud of himself and proclaiming that he can lick thirty tigers. What he doesn’t know is that thirty tigers are waiting for him just over the ridge, causing him to rethink his bravado. First he asks the curly-haired tiger to step out of line, bringing him down to twenty-nine, and then he eliminates the first group, leaving a mere twenty-two. Anyone should be able to lick twenty-two tigers, right? Okay, maybe not . . . how about getting rid of the ones with dirty fingernails, and the ones that are underweight, and the ones who look sleepy, and two of them do look a little hot out in the sun. Maybe he’ll only lick the one remaining. And he’ll do that, right after lunch.
Next we read “King Looie Katz.” The king was very proud, especially of his tail, which he had specially washed on a daily basis. The tail must never touch the ground, and he had a special helper named Fooie follow him around to carry his tail so it wouldn’t drag. One day while Fooie followed Looie, he noticed that his own tail was dragging. So he got Kooie to follow him and hold his tail. Soon Chooie was carrying Kooie’s tail, and Hooie followed Chooie, and was followed by Blooie – and soon every cat in the kingdom was hooked onto this long cat-tail-carrying chain. It was quite ridiculous. There was, however, one small cat whose tail was not being carried, and that was the last cat in line. His name was Zooie, and it made him angry that while he carried someone else’s tail, no one was carrying his. So he did something very brave. He quit, and he threw down the tail he was carrying. All the other cats thought he was wonderful, and threw down their burdens too – and now each cat carries his own tail, including the king.
Last comes “The Glunk that got Thunk.” Little Sister loves to sit quietly in her room and use her Thinker-Upper, which lets her imagine all kinds of wonderful things. And when she’s done, she turns it off. One night, she decided to turn it on as fast as it would go, and get some excitement in her life. (I sense impending doom.) “Think, think!” she cried, and her Thunker-Upper started to go faster and faster, making a strange sound, when suddenly – there appeared before her a giant green Glunk! She tried to unthunk it, but a Glunk will not be unthunk. To top it off, he wants to make long-distance telephone calls to his mother (he’s an only child and she depends on him, you see). Sister tried with all her might to unthunk him –and finally enlisted the help of her brother. Working together, they were able to unthunk the Glunk, and now she only thunks nice friendly things. It’s much better that way.
This compilation book was first published in 1967.
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