The 25 Most Popular Books by Dr. Seuss

An unnamed young boy is having quite the wacky day. When he wakes up, he sees a shoe on the wall and the ceiling. He goes to school and even more wacky things – 20 in total – happen. He also sees a bird in a shoe, and the sun colored green. When he tries to warn his teacher and classmates they don’t believe him. A patrolman tells him it will all end when all the wacky things have been counted.

One of two Seuss books written for adults, “The Seven Lady Godivas” re-tells the legend of Lady Godiva, the wife of an English earl who rode through the streets naked to protest excessive taxes. When a man – now remembered as “Peeping Tom” – snuck a look at her, he was struck blind. In the Seuss version, there are seven naked sisters and their lovers. After the death of their father on a horse, the sisters vow to postpone their marriages until they uncover all noble horse truths. This leads to a bevy of horse idioms, such as “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” and “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” Considered a flop in 1939, the book was republished in 1987, but again failed.

A young boy named Peter T. Hopper loves eggs. But not the kind that comes from hens. Instead, he travels the world collecting eggs from odd birds, like the Shade-Roosting Quail and the Grickly Gactus, to find the best tasting scrambled eggs. (This is one of the Dr. Seuss titles no longer being published)

In On Beyond Zebra, Seuss through a young narrator invents a whole new bunch of letters of the alphabet beyond the traditional 26. Each letter corresponds to a fantastical creature. For example, HUMPF is a Humpf-Humpf-a-Dumpfer and Fuddle is Miss Fuddle-dee-Duddle. (Problematic imagery has taken this title out of the publication roster.)

Written for very young children, “Hop on Pop” introduces toddlers to rhymes, such as “hop” and “pop,” “cup” and “pup,” and “mouse” and “house.” In 2013, the Toronto Public Library received a complaint about the book, saying it promoted violence against fathers. The library decided against removing what it considered a humorous and well-loved children’s book.

One day in class, Mayzie sprouts a daisy from her head. She doesn’t know why it happened or what can be done. An agent makes her a celebrity, but the Cat in the Hat, who serves as narrator, persuades her to go home. She eventually understands her problem, and the daisy goes away. But it does pop up on occasion. (The book was published after Dr. Seuss’s death.)

Known more for his literary works and rhyming poetry, Dr. Seuss was also an accomplished illustrator. In 1931, he contributed art for a book, “Bоners.” (Don’t get upset: The term means “bloopers.”) The bloopers came from unintentionally funny answers from youngsters. One example: “King Arthur collected all the fine brave good-looking young men of his time and called them the Knuts of the Round Table.”

“Fox in Socks” tells the story of a fox and a creature called Knox. The fox tries to get Knox to say a series of tongue twisters, but the yellow creature cannot. Angered, Knox puts the fox in a bottle with the final words – a “tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled wuddled fox in socks.”

Set in a feudal kingdom, a young boy, Bartholomew Cubbins, angers the king when every time he takes off his hat in deference to the ruler another hat appears on his head. King Derwin of Didd has the boy thrown in a tower. But in exchange for the 500 hats that have materialized, Bartholomew is given 500 gold coins and freed. Unlike most of his works, Dr. Suess wrote this book in prose, not rhymes or metered verse.

Young Marco has been fishing in McElligot’s pool when a farmer tells him no fish can be caught there. Instead of giving up, Marco uses his imagination to think of all the fish he could catch, like Circus Fish, Dog Fish, and Eskimo Fish “from beyond Hudson Bay” – the last of these considered problematic, leading to the book going out of print – if he is patient. The theme of the book is never to limit a child’s imagination.

In this sequel to “The Cat in the Hat,” the mischievous feline returns for more shenanigans. After Sally and Conrad’s mother leaves, she instructs them to clear away a pile of snow. But more trouble ensues when the Cat eats cake in the bathtub with the water running, leaving a pink stain all over. Further chaos erupts as a gaggle of smaller cats enter the house. Sally and Conrad attempt to clean up the mess, but all ends well.

Bartholomew returns, this time as a page boy to King Derwin. When the bored king orders his magicians to come up with a new substance to fall from the sky, he unleashes a storm of sticky green glop called Oobleck. But Bartholomew stands up to the king, and says he must apologize for the mess he caused. The king does so, and the skies are right once again.

Horton, a giant elephant, is asked by Mayzie, a bird, to sit on her egg for a short time until she returns. But Mayzie is lazy and never returns. Despite hardships, Horton doesn’t abandon the egg. Eventually, the egg hatches and a creature both bird and elephant emerges. The creature stays with Horton, while Mayzie leaves with nothing.

A tribute to a young boy’s imagination, “If I Ran the Zoo” tells the story of Gerald McGrew, who visits a zoo. Unimpressed by the animals he sees, he envisions more exotic creatures, like a lion with 10 feet and the Fizza-ma-Wizza-ma-Dill – “the world’s biggest bird from the island of Gwark, who eats only pine trees, and spits out the bark.” He says if he ran the zoo he would free all his imaginary animals. However, the book was one of six cited for racist images, including two characters from “the African island of Yerka” illustrated as shirtless, shoeless, and resembling monkeys. The estate of the author said it would no longer publish the book in 2021.

Yertle the Turtle is king of the pond. But he wants to sit higher than his stone allows him. He orders other turtles to pile up beneath him so he can see further. Eventually, the turtle at the bottom of the pile, Mack, has had enough and burps, which tumbles Yertle in the mud. The other stories are about a young girl-bird, Gertrude McFuzz, who wants a bigger feather, and a bear and a rabbit who brag about their hearing and smelling abilities.

Two children discover the wonder of all the creatures in the world, from multiple-footed animals to Wumps and Nooks. With the help of these imaginary creatures, the book teaches young people to accept our differences.

Young Marco conjures imaginary people and vehicles along Mulberry to tell his Dad about. In 2021, the Seuss estate announced it would no longer publish “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” because of a racist depiction of an Asian man.

Written during the Cold War era, “The Butter Battle Book” depicts the ongoing battle between the Yooks and the Zooks. Each side butters their bread on opposite sides. The conflict leads to an escalating arms race with both sides poised for mutual assured destruction in the end.

Another story about accepting differences, the bird-like Sneetches are divided into two groups: One with stars on their bellies and others with no star. The star-bellied Sneetches believe they are superior. When Sylvester McMonkey McBean offers to solve the problem by adding or subtracting a star, the Sneetches realize they’ve been tricked and decide all Sneetches are equal.

Kindly elephant Horton stumbles upon a tiny world – Whoville – with tiny humans. At the request of the Mayor of Whoville, Horton declares he will protect them, saying “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” Despite other animals mocking him at first, Horton protects the people of Whoville.

Like many Dr. Seuss books, “Oh, the Place You’ll Go!” has a deeper meaning for children and adults. The book encourages the reader to take chances and try new things. The lines – “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own and you know what you know, and YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go” – sums up the theme of the book.

The importance of trying new things is the theme of “Green Eggs and Ham.” Sam-I-am offers an unnamed man a plate of green eggs and ham. The man refuses saying he does not like green eggs and ham. Finally, the man tries the green eggs and ham and declares: “I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you. Thank you, Sam-I-Am.”

A fable about protecting the environment, “The Lorax” tells the story of the forest of the Truffula trees felled by Once-Ler to build a business. When a creature named the Lorax protests, Once-Ler ignores him and continues to destroy the land. After all the trees are gone, Once-Ler realizes the damage he caused and repents, remembering what the Lorax told him, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Once-Ler gives a boy some seeds to regrow the forest with the hope the Lorax and other animals will return.

Made into three movies and a still beloved television cartoon, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” shows how the spirit of Christmas warmed the heart of the Grinch, who was born with a heart two sizes too small. On Christmas Eve, the Grinch steals all of Whoville’s presents, hoping to stop the celebration. But when the residents of Whoville still sing with joy on Christmas, the Grinch is changed forever, realizing Christmas is more than gifts.

Considered a classic of children’s literature, this book opens with an unnamed boy and his sister Sally sitting at home on a rainy day. Soon, a Cat in a red-and-white-striped top hat and red bow tie arrives and chaos ensues, with pictures flying off the wall and objects dropped on the floor. But all ends well when the Cat cleans everything up before the children’s mother comes home. The book was made into a 1971 animated TV series and a live action movie in 2003.