Rating: 
Summary: Kind of disappointing . . .
Review: I'm one of those who grew up in the `50s with the Dr. Seuss books, and I still enjoy them. But I was somewhat disappointed with this collection of his editorial cartoons from 1941-42. Partly, that's because his creativity seems to have stumbled in doing them -- especially if you compare his work to, say, Herblock's wartime cartoons. And partly, it's because the book itself could have been much more informative. The lengthy notes on each drawing mostly just describe what you're already looking at; there's very little analysis. Aside from that, I'm puzzled at the comments of all the critics (and the other reviewers here) on Dr. Seuss's aparent "racism" in depicting the Japanese. This was wartime, folks! Of *course* there was anti-Japanese racism in the United States! Portraying the enemy in extremely uncomplimentary terms was part of the war effort. Remember the Warner Brothers theatrical cartoons? Remember the official U.S. government visual interpretations of the Japanese? Granted, it was stronger in the case of our Asian enemies because (1) there were relatively many fewer Japanese-Americans in 1942 than there were Americans of German and Italian descent, and (2) Asians simply stand out more prominently in a predominantly European country. Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing. And while it may be politically incorrect for me to point this out, it certainly doesn't make *me* racist to make the observation.
Rating: 
Summary: Dr. Seuss Goes to War
Review: In Dr. Seuss Goes to War, Richard Minear depicts the cartoonist's editorial cartoons for New York's PM newspaper. Minear defines PM as a "left-wing daily newspaper" that ran from 1940-48. Theodore Seuss Geisel landed a job as editorial cartoonist from 1941-2 after which he never drew another editorial cartoon again. Minear shows how Dr. Seuss conveyed his political beliefs into cartoon format. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Petain, Laval, and Lindbergh, were often among the personages depicted in some negative political light.Minear does not wax sentimental towards what Dr. Seuss eventually became in that he uses anti-Japanese-American cartoons as well as those that modern American Seuss fans can be proud of. Anti-Japanese-Americanism is the only apparent negative racial flaw in the Seuss arsenal. African-Americans and Jewish-Americans were not subjugated to similar negativism's. Fans of Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham or the many other Seuss works will delight in seeing historical figures drawn similarly to later Seuss creations. This is an important book that shows a little known aspect of Geisel's life, one previously limited to biographical sketches.
Rating:
Summary: Dr. Seuss Goes to War
Review: In Dr. Seuss Goes to War, Richard Minear depicts the cartoonist�s editorial cartoons for New York�s PM newspaper. Minear defines PM as a "left-wing daily newspaper" that ran from 1940-48. Theodore Seuss Geisel landed a job as editorial cartoonist from 1941-2 after which he never drew another editorial cartoon again. Minear shows how Dr. Seuss conveyed his political beliefs into cartoon format. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Petain, Laval, and Lindbergh, were often among the personages depicted in some negative political light. Minear does not wax sentimental towards what Dr. Seuss eventually became in that he uses anti-Japanese-American cartoons as well as those that modern American Seuss fans can be proud of. Anti-Japanese-Americanism is the only apparent negative racial flaw in the Seuss arsenal. African-Americans and Jewish-Americans were not subjugated to similar negativism�s. Fans of Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham or the many other Seuss works will delight in seeing historical figures drawn similarly to later Seuss creations. This is an important book that shows a little known aspect of Geisel�s life, one previously limited to biographical sketches.
Rating:
Summary: The Butter Battle Book In Real Life
Review: The worst book ever done by Theodore Seuss Geisel - Dr. Seuss to the world - was his 1984 attack on American participation in the arms race, The Butter Battle Book. What made the book objectionable was not only the wrongness of its thinly-veiled premise (two races seperated by a wall disagree over how to butter toast and the result is war), but the rank hypocrisy involved, a hypocrisy displayed in this fascinating compedium of some 200 editorial cartoons Seuss/Geisel penned for the New York magazine PM just before World War II and during the war's early years. The wartime cartoons Seuss penned run the gamut. All have as their theme the invincible rightness of American victory over the Axis as well as attacks on isolationists. On isolationists, there is a cartoon in which a motherly type named America First reads a swastika-stamped children's book about "Adolf The Bear;" the woman reads to the two startled children on her lap a passage belittling the suffering of "foreign children" at the hands of Nazi Germany. There is another portraying Charles Lindbergh collecting trash for the Axis. Other cartoons are more blood-curdling. There is a gruesome picture of Hitler dancing amid a sea of hanged Jews. Even this, though, is outdone by Geisel's often grotesque portrayal of the Japanese - the best cartoon shows an Uncle Sam eagle using a piece of wood with an exposed nail to pummel a slant-eyed "Japanese" cat on a corner of "Jap Alley," only to see a horde of similar "Jap" cats marching toward him. Contemporary audiences will likely object to the racial stereotyping involved in Geisel's Japanese cartoons, never mind the real life barbarism and inhumanity of the Imperial Army that justifed such unflattering portrayals. As mentioned, the hypocrisy of Seuss' Butter Battle Book compared to his wartime cartoons is what makes the latter fascinating viewing 55 years after VE and VJ Days. Richard Minear touches on this hypocrisy when he notes the willful amnesia involved in Seuss' parable on American reconstruction of defeated Japan, Horton Hears A Who. Minear has done a service unearthing these long-forgotten cartoons of Dr. Seuss.
Rating: 
Summary: SKETCH THIS ONE A WINNER! EVEN WITHOUT THE GREEN EGGS ...
Review: Theodor Geisel gone political? That's right. The man responsible for "Green Eggs and Ham" and "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" has a serious side: He repeatedly vilified Hitler and the Nazi threat in a series of political cartoons he penned in the '40s for the popular, liberal New York newspaper "PM." Author and historian Richard Minear has amassed nearly 200 of these imaginative illustrations in this important book --- illustrations that urge Americans to fight Hitler, buy U.S. bonds, help control inflation and support the war effort. The enemies are clear: Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Japan. Seuss' work is sharply critical of anti--Semitism and anti-Black racism, yet the images are shockingly and undeniably racist in their portrayal of Japanese Americans. (Remember the time frame --- 1941-1942 --- and American opinion at the time.) Sketch this one a winner.
Rating:
Summary: This book has an odd charm!
Review: This book caught my fancy since it is so odd! We all know and love Dr. Seuss, and his Grinch story has become part of our secular Christmas cannon, which has secured his immortality. But I never knew that he drew political cartoons! This book covers about three years during World War II where Theodore Geisel (note his German surname) drew political cartoons. The cartoons have several distinct characteristics: First, they are quite patriotic, and in light the holocaust and of our current conflagration, we know that he did the right thing. Another thing is that they are very pro-war-remember the German surname. He knew that we were in the right in fighting this just war. Lastly, he was quite a sever critic of the isolationists, especially Charles Lindbergh (note *his* German surname). The art has the familiar whimsy that characterizes his other more famous books. His US eagle looks more like an ostrich. What I found fascinating is that you see some drawings and images that appear in his children's books. For example, on page 182, you see an elephant that is a perfectly drawn Horton, from "Horton Hears a Who," and "Horton Hatches an Egg." Another design is on page 244, where he drew a stack of turtles in a victory "V" shape, which looks suspiciously like "Yertle the Turtle." The best drawings in this book are of Hitler. In some magical way, Dr. Seuss has captures the sick hubris that was our little Adolph. He draws him with his eyes closed, in a cocky indifference to the world around him. He has that ragged little toothbrush moustache. But I think the position of the head, the stuck-up nose, coupled with lifted eyebrows coveys the back essence of the man. This design belongs in a holocaust museum, since it is more than a cartoon, more than a caricature, but is more like a drawing of Hitler's smug soul. This book is not for your children, but more for a die-hard Seuss fan, a pop-culture historian, or a weirdo eccentric eclectic like myself. I guess you could say this the gift for someone with everything. The sheer shock value of this book is worth the price of printing! There commentary on the cartoons, explaining the issues and the targets of Seuss's wicked quill. We focus on the battles and generals of WWII, but there were also battles and generals on the home front that were as decisive as Pearl Harbor and Midway. Seuss was one of these genius generals who fought the battle of the mind and heart of every American.
Rating:
Summary: This book has an odd charm!
Review: This book caught my fancy since it is so odd! We all know and love Dr. Seuss, and his Grinch story has become part of our secular Christmas cannon, which has secured his immortality. But I never knew that he drew political cartoons! This book covers about three years during World War II where Theodore Geisel (note his German surname) drew political cartoons. The cartoons have several distinct characteristics: First, they are quite patriotic, and in light the holocaust and of our current conflagration, we know that he did the right thing. Another thing is that they are very pro-war-remember the German surname. He knew that we were in the right in fighting this just war. Lastly, he was quite a sever critic of the isolationists, especially Charles Lindbergh (note *his* German surname). The art has the familiar whimsy that characterizes his other more famous books. His US eagle looks more like an ostrich. What I found fascinating is that you see some drawings and images that appear in his children's books. For example, on page 182, you see an elephant that is a perfectly drawn Horton, from "Horton Hears a Who," and "Horton Hatches an Egg." Another design is on page 244, where he drew a stack of turtles in a victory "V" shape, which looks suspiciously like "Yertle the Turtle." The best drawings in this book are of Hitler. In some magical way, Dr. Seuss has captures the sick hubris that was our little Adolph. He draws him with his eyes closed, in a cocky indifference to the world around him. He has that ragged little toothbrush moustache. But I think the position of the head, the stuck-up nose, coupled with lifted eyebrows coveys the back essence of the man. This design belongs in a holocaust museum, since it is more than a cartoon, more than a caricature, but is more like a drawing of Hitler's smug soul. This book is not for your children, but more for a die-hard Seuss fan, a pop-culture historian, or a weirdo eccentric eclectic like myself. I guess you could say this the gift for someone with everything. The sheer shock value of this book is worth the price of printing! There commentary on the cartoons, explaining the issues and the targets of Seuss's wicked quill. We focus on the battles and generals of WWII, but there were also battles and generals on the home front that were as decisive as Pearl Harbor and Midway. Seuss was one of these genius generals who fought the battle of the mind and heart of every American.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but with flawed presentation
Review: This book would have been greatly improved by a strict chronological ordering of the cartoons---they are somewhat scrambled---interspersed with summaries of key WWII events. Some of the subtleties of political details motivating particular cartoons will be lost on readers that don't have a ready knowledge of WWII chronology and the associated personalities.
Rating:
Summary: The Not-So Silly, but Still Recognizable Dr. Suess
Review: This collection of Dr. Suess' political cartoons of the WW II era is likely to intirgue both history buffs as well as the fans of all those wildly imaginative kids' books. The cartoons are not chronologically ordered. Rather, they are grouped by themes, with introductory material by Minear preceding each (e.g., "The Home Front," "Hitler and Nazi Germany," "Winning the War"). This may seem a bit chaotic to some, but in another way, it can be beneficial in that it encourages one to make one's own comparisons of cartoon symbolism by paging back and forth. Minear provides just enough historical backdrop. What I admire is that he respects the reader enough to refrain from making a complete interpretation of the cartoons. He often poses rhetorical questions that suggest multiple motives for Suess. I like that; it leaves me to make up my own mind based on my own knowledge of historical events. Children familiar with Seuss will have a natural attraction to the cartoons, as many of the forerunners of familar characters appear there. However, they are also likely to ask questions about things they don't understand. For children old enough (and that's a personal call), this can be a wonderful way to introduce them to the history of World War II and the political climate of the times. Suess had a strong anti-isolationist stance, but he also touches upon racism (labor exclusion practices during the war, anti-semitism). He also demonstrates some degree of racism himself, in the depiction of Japanese. True, that was the prevalent attitude of the times, but again, you have an opportunity to open up some deeper discussion with a child or with your own conscience. Teachers may be especially interested in tapping the potential of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Dr Seuss vs Yertle the Turtle
Review: This is an extraordinarily important book for educators. My students in universities all over the US tell me that their earliest and most beloved connection to literacy was through Dr Seuss. Yet, to them, Seuss stands outside history, an icon, and when I ask them to make lists of the most important people of the US in the 20th century, they rarely mention him. "He's from everywhere, for all time," one student told me. This book sets that right, as it should be. In the best of traditions, it uses history to do it, combining original documents with interviews, the selection of important material, and a grasp of the social context. Here, we can see that Seuss at least dabbled with the left, and he held racist views, despite his anti-fascist outlook. Perhaps that will help some of my students understand how the US could fight the Nazis--with a segregated military. We learn the source of Yertle and the Who's who Horton hears, connecting whimsy with the material world, a maneuver Seuss both employed and denied. Seuss, author of the anti-racist text, The Sneetches, the lover of literacy, becomes human here, and we are the better for it.
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