I am not a Zook, I am not a Yook. Dr. Seuss and Nuclear War

Dr. Seuss is one of the most beloved children's book writers, and for good reason. His books are funny, have great illustrations, the poetry is fantastic, and the imagery stays with us for a lifetime.

What many people don't realize is that Dr. Seuss had a serious side. From his political cartoons, to the serious books he wrote about the environment, to this book - The Butter Battle Book - a book about the nuclear arms race.

The Butter Battle Book is a story of two countries he made up, which are inhabited by two tribes, the Yooks and the Zooks. They have a disagreement about the most trivial of things - which side of the bread should be buttered! Yooks butter theirs on the top, and Zooks on the bottom. By accident, a war is started, and in typical Seuss fashion, each side begins to make bigger and bigger machines (of destruction). This "arms race" culminates with the development of the "bitsy big-boy boomero" bomb which is smaller than an egg and extremely powerful. The book finally ends with a representative of the two tribes standing at the wall that divides the two each holding a bomb.

Who's going to drop it? Will you...? Or will he...?

As a teenager, this book had an impact on me, even though it is packaged as a book for younger children. This was during the nuclear arms race we had with the Soviet Union. A time when Star Wars meant more than a good movie - it was a time when Ronald Reagan was busy pushing his own "bitsy big-boy boomero." Even though I grew up in a military household, this parable hit a nerve in me. I began to see our governments attempts at building bigger and better weaponry (Star Wars) for what it is in this day of instant annihilation - a waste of good money. The United States is such an affluent country - can we not spend our money to press for peace? Since the book looks like a children's Seuss book, the message in part is "look people, this is so simple a child can understand it: can't you see how silly you're all acting? We're all humans, and underneath our labels we're all the same - so stop killing one another already" You can apply this message to escalations of warfare in Israel/Palestine, to our escalation of the Arms Race with the new Star Wars plan, or to a playground incident when a child picks up a rock.

But... Should this book be read to children

Many people believe that this book should not be read to children of any age. That is baloney.

While the theme of nuclear arms races and total annihilation may be beyond the youngest of children (thank the Lord for at least a few years of innocence), the concept that people can turn petty disagreements into giant, escalating flamewars* is something that even young children need to be exposed to. Research has shown that children see themselves as Zooks and Yooks at incredibly young ages.

As kids become tweens and teens, the idea of nuclear war can be more easily conceptualized. As it did for me, this book (as much as any long English lit novel) can provoke thought and ideas about war, why we go to war, and what peace means.

Unless you are afraid of independent thought in your children, there is no reason to keep this book from them. The book makes sense on many levels, and the way you answer questions about it should be age-appropriate. I heartily recommend this book for people of all ages. Read it to your 10 month old baby. Read it to your 98 year old great grandfather.

As they said in the 60s (supposedly anyway - I wasn't exactly there) "Make Love, Not War"

-JW

*one only need to hang out on an Epinions club or notice board for 10 minutes to see evidence of this!