Rhyming

I read this in Hungarian and I think the translation has a majr issue that might have spoiled it for me. I will update my rating when I read it in English, too. ( )

A Dr. Seuss original sprinkled with inflectional endings, prosody and alliteration. This story featuring circus characters crawling with charisma is a great way to showcase creative writing elements to children of all ages. ( )

Morris McGurk imagines the amazing circus he would create in the empty lot behind Sneelock's Store in this rhyming romp of a picture-book. From amazing animal acts to daring stunts from Sneelock himself, our young narrator is convinced that The Circus McGurkus would be the best show on earth...

First published in 1956, If I Ran the Circus was Dr. Seuss' twelfth picture-book, and it offers a variation on a theme that was fast becoming, at this point in his children's book career, a staple in his work. Namely, the idea of a young narrator who describes a fantastic catalogue of imaginary creatures. Prior titles falling into this general category include McElligot's Pool (1947), If I Ran the Zoo (1950) and Scrambled Eggs Super! (1953). I recall reading this one as a girl - the image of Sneelock standing inside his store immediately jumped out at me, as one I had encountered before - but I don't have strong memories of it, overall. I picked it up for this reread as part of my recently begun Dr. Seuss retrospective, in which I will be reading and reviewing forty-four of his classic picture-books, in chronological publication order. This is a project I undertook as an act of personal protest against the suppression of six of the author/artist's titles - And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, McElligot's Pool, If I Ran the Zoo, Scrambled Eggs Super!, On Beyond Zebra! and The Cat's Quizzer - by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, because they contain outdated and potentially offensive elements. See my review of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, to be found HERE, for a fuller exploration of my thoughts on that matter.

In any case, I found If I Ran the Circus to be an entertaining title, full of all of the rhyming fun, fantastical creatures, and zany artwork that I have come to identify with Dr. Seuss' work. Like so many of his books, it offers a pean to the almost limitless powers of a child's imagination, as Morris McGurk makes up all kinds of unusual creatures, and envisions all kinds of unlikely acts for them to perform, in his amazing circus. Despite this cornucopia of creatively imagined beings, I think what I liked the most about the story was the figure of Sneelock, whose versatility (at least, in Morris' mind) makes him the star of the show. There's something rather amusing about the way that Morris thinks Sneelock would be only too happy to help him, no matter how outlandish the task, because the two are friendly. This running joke finds its culmination on the final page, as Sneelock, hitherto depicted with his eyes closed, while enjoying his pipe, is shown with eyes wide open, presumably in alarm. Although this isn't one that I would consider a favorite, when it comes to Dr. Seuss' work, it is quite entertaining, and is one I would recommend to picture-book readers looking for fun stories featuring imaginative youngsters. ( )

Dr. Suess is always great about having pictures and fun poetry that is always fun for the classroom to read. ( )