Readers Review: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" by Dr. Seuss
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-12-22/readers-review-how-grinch-stole-christmas-dr-seuss
The Grinch is the classic Dr. Seuss tale of a bitter, cave-dwelling, green, creature with a heart "two sizes too small." He lives with his faithful dog, Max, on snowy Mount Crumpit just north of Whoville, home of the Whos. Every year, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities of Whoville. Envious of the Whos' happiness, he decides to steal their Christmas presents, holiday roast beast and decorations to "prevent Christmas from coming." Instead of keeping the Whos from their holiday joy, the Grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas. Join Diane and guests as they discuss this holiday favorite.
Guests
Reverend Derrick Harkins
Senior Pastor of The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D. C.
Maria Salvadore
children's literature specialist and former coordinator of children's services for the Washington, D.C. public library system
Philip Nel
author of "Dr. Seuss: American Icon" and the Director of the Program in Children's Literature at Kansas State University
Comments
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Growing up one of my fondest memories was my Dad pretending to not want to watch the Grinch because he felt so sorry for the Grinch's poor little dog. What is the dog's name?
I identify with the Grinch more and more. The holiday zeitgeist has gotten so overwhelming that I feel a need to push back and get some SPACE from the nonstop false and overbearing "cheeriness" of it all. I wish we could observe the winter holidays for a BREIF period of time instead of dragging it out ad nauseum. Happy Festivus.
I am a 49 year old man who really gets depressed over the commercialism of Christmas. This story is part of the antidote to that. One more comment: I realized only recently that the Whos in this story were the same people on the dust speck from the Horton story. Another way to look at this is to see how selfishness and self-centeredness cuts us off from the joy of living. There are Whos everywhere...but we have to look outside of our comfort zone to find them.
I have 2 kids, ages 4 and 5, and my favorite books to read to them are Dr. Seuss (Lorax, Sneeches, Oh the Places You'll Go, etc.) because the books create wonderful teaching moments from learning letters to mature topics that remain releant decades after the books were written. Did he choose subjects that are so integral in our social fabric that his books would be timeless?
Diane and guest,
Just as Santa is a kin to St Nicolas is the Grinch akin to the christmas "Krampus" of eastern europe or "Black Peter" in Holland?
-Eric Punta Gorda
Max is the dog's name! As I was growing up, my godfather and I used to exchange letters including Grinch trivia at Christmas time. Thank you for highlighting one of the great modern Christmas stories.
My wife and I grew up with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I'm 49 and she is 45. When we were expecting our second child we weren't sure of a name if it was a boy. We were sitting watching the Grinch before Christmas and it was snowing and as we were watching we both commented on how sweet Max the dog was... and we decided at that point that if our second child was a boy, he would be named Max... and he is.
I serve as contingent faculty for two local schools, and I use Dr. Seuss to teach Sociology :) My (college age!) students think I have lost my mind the first time I read them a story in class.
The ability to use an adult interpretation of a story they have heard since childhood reinforces my teaching goals of personal responsibility, active citizenship, and global equality far more effectively than my lecturing at them for hours on end. I think my job would be a lot harder without Dr. Seuss.
One of my favorite books. I can recite the book verbatim from memory but, I think it is the Whos who stole Christmas. The Whos have a Bill O'Rielly version of Christmas, secular. Deflection keeps us from the truth more than a direct assault.
Merry Christmas
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