Thursday, August 1, 2013

poor bartholomew

I always viewed Dr. Seuss with suspicion as a child. We owned a large hardcover copy of The Five Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins but I felt scared every time it was read to me. The executioner was large and burly. Did I just say executioner? That story should have been rated PG seven or eight at least for violence don't you think. Poor Bartholomew. He was supposed to take off his hat and he really did try. It's just that there was no end to the hats hidden under hats hidden under hats. I found that disturbing too. Couldn't he have just snatched them all off at once?
The artwork of Dr. Suess added to my unease. Thing One and Thing Two looked strangely like The Cat in the Hat and for that matter, the fish had the same face as the Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz and that can't be right.
Time heals they say and perhaps it's true in measure.
One of my favorite books to read my own little girls was the Dr. Suess ABC book. I had it committed to memory in time and could probably still chant it out if I had to.
A...a....what begins with a.....Aunt Annie's aligator....a...a....a
B....b....what begins with b....Barber, baby, bubbles and a bumble bee.....

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