The Butter Battle Book: (New York Times Notable Book of the Year) (Classic Seuss)

by Dr. Seuss

Book Overview

The Butter Battle Book, Dr. Seuss's classic cautionary tale, introduces readers to the important lesson of respecting differences. The Yooks and Zooks share a love of buttered bread, but animosity... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394865804
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Length: 56 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.3" x 0.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The Real Slim Seuss

Dr. Seuss is a fantastic author; he has imagination, story-telling abilities, and a wonderful and clever sense of political activism. I was telling my history teacher about all the not-so-hidden political messages in all of his works and this work is the perfect example of Dr. Seuss's writing style. The Butter Battle Book has many different levels for what is so often called a children's book from an acclaimed so-called children's author. The battle between Yooks and Zooks over which way butter goes on bread gives children a good, simple, but true story about dealing with petty differences in a constructive way. Otherwise, bad things can happen, like war. That meaning is very good for children to learn and this is a great book to teach kids with. However, adults reading this book can see the obvious historical parallels and the deeper implications of the story line. The pettiness behind the conflict of the Cold War is Dr. Seuss's vehicle for conveying the astounding destructive potential behind a war where the enemies lose sight of their true goals and meaninglessly try to 'out do' each other. The war ends up getting fought for the wrong reasons and something that we will forever regret and can never take back may happen. This is a very real danger and the prejudice attached to battles like the one in this book eat away at our morals, our societies, and our motives. Dr. Seuss has done the world a wonderful lesson by showing this to children and adults alike.

An Important and Fun Book

This is one of the best Dr. Seuss books ever! I think that The Butter Battle Book and The Lorax are two of Suess's most important works. If you want to get a kid thinking on a larger, more global scale read this book to them. Dr. Seuss combines his usual imaginative poetry and illistrations with a serious, real life problem. I had a LOT of his books in my room as a kid, but this one sticks out in my head as one of the best and most important.

The many Levels of Seuss

Even at 20 years old, I still love Seuss. The silly word play always made me laugh, and I always figured the good Dr. was sending us messages on more levels than we could comprehend. The first time I picked this book up I was expecting a clever, bouncy, colorful edition of seuss, however, it just scared me. The message is very clear, and very startling. Maybe it is a good book for children to read, after all, they are the future. But then again, Suess only wrote 30% of his material throughout his carreer for children. I really love this book.

Yooks and Zooks, having a war.

Yooks and Zooks having a war. They are having a war over: which way do you eat bread with butter?Yooks eat their bread with the butter side up. Zooks eat their bread with the butter side down. The book is very hilarious, with full page color. Great for All Ages! Than-x Dr. Seuss! Another good book by Dr. Seuss: Horray For Diffendoofer Day!