Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss - OPTIONAL

Seuss, Dr.  Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories  Random House, 2014.  $15.00  PICTURE BOOK  Content: G.   

Four stories are included in this children’s book.  First, Horton and the Kwuggerbug is about Horton the elephant and his adventure with a Kwuggerbug looking for Beezlenuts.  The Kwuggerbug takes advantage of Horton’s since of duty and in the end the karma comes back and punishes the Kwuggerbug.  Second, Marco Comes Late is about a boy who gives his teacher an outlandish story about why he was late to school.  Third, How Officer Pat Saved the Whole Town tells about a police officer that stopped trouble by killing a gnat that would have had a snowball effect of trouble for the town.  Forth, and last, is The Hoobub and the Grinch which is a page long story about how a Grinch is bamboozled into buying a piece of string.   

These stories from Dr. Seuss involve characters from some of his better known books and the rhyming stories are fun to read aloud.  Although the stories have a good message, there are few illustrations and some pages of just text.  The first eight pages of the book are an essay from a Seuss enthusiast that tells what all the stories are about.  I think the essay should have been moved to the end of the book because it discourages young readers from picking up the book and tells the stories that you are about to read before you have a chance to read them.  It’s not the best Seuss book out there, and if you aren’t a Seuss lover then you probably won’t care for this book.   

EL (K-3)-OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.