“Unless someone like you…cares a whole awful lot…nothing is going to get better…It’s not.”
Long before saving the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss, speaking through his character the Lorax, warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth’s natural beauty.
To say the Kidlets L.O.V.E. the Dr Seuss stories is a gross understatement. We have read many of his books and our “Seuss Library” is slowly growing. Pixie’s current favourite book is The Lorax. I read the story to her almost every night and the older kidlets love to sit in and listen.
As a surprise for her, I have downloaded, printed and prepared a little Lorax lapbook for her for next week. I downloaded this preschool pack from A teaching Mommy (formally 2teachingmommies.com).
I found these great resources for older children that I’ll be putting together for Koko and Fifi to work on during the week too. I’m sure they’ll enjoy it just as much as Pixie will.
Tons of Lorax activities from Activity Village. These are individual download files that you can pic and choose from.
The Lorax Level 3 unit study by Ami available on Homeschool Share. This is a complete Lorax unit.
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Craft: Make Truffula Trees on Craft jr. This is an easy step by step tutorial on how to make your very own Truffula Trees.
What Lorax themed week would be complete without a Lorax Themed family movie night? We have had the movie since it was released and the kids love it as much as they love the book.
Amazon.com Review
When Dr. Seuss gets serious, you know it must be important. Published in 1971, and perhaps inspired by the “save our planet” mindset of the 1960s, The Lorax is an ecological warning that still rings true today amidst the dangers of clear-cutting, pollution, and disregard for the earth’s environment. In The Lorax, we find what we’ve come to expect from the illustrious doctor: brilliantly whimsical rhymes, delightfully original creatures, and weirdly undulating illustrations. But here there is also something more–a powerful message that Seuss implores both adults and children to heed.
The now remorseful Once-ler–our faceless, bodiless narrator–tells the story himself. Long ago this enterprising villain chances upon a place filled with wondrous Truffula Trees, Swomee-Swans, Brown Bar-ba- loots, and Humming-Fishes. Bewitched by the beauty of the Truffula Tree tufts, he greedily chops them down to produce and mass-market Thneeds. (“It’s a shirt. It’s a sock. It’s a glove. It’s a hat.”) As the trees swiftly disappear and the denizens leave for greener pastures, the fuzzy yellow Lorax (who speaks for the trees “for the trees have no tongues”) repeatedly warns the Once-ler, but his words of wisdom are for naught. Finally the Lorax extricates himself from the scorched earth (by the seat of his own furry pants), leaving only a rock engraved “UNLESS.” Thus, with his own colorful version of a compelling morality play, Dr. Seuss teaches readers not to fool with Mother Nature. But as you might expect from Seuss, all hope is not lost–the Once-ler has saved a single Truffula Tree seed! Our fate now rests in the hands of a caring child, who becomes our last chance for a clean, green future. (Ages 4 to 8)
