Fox in Socks

Gosh, I’d forgotten how much I loved this Dr. Seuss book with its endless tongue twisters which are bound to make your tongue numb should you actually attempt to read it out loud. Something I don’t think I’d done since I was a wee thing and must have laughed my little heart out loud at, if tonight’s solo performance was anything to judge by. I might not have children to read to, but listening to David Hyde Pierce delivering this story with the perfection you’d expect from that actor, I just HAD to pull out the book and try it for myself and the result was hilariously inept, as I suspect it must be for most normal non-actor human beings who don’t spend half their working days doing tongue twisters as warm ups.

Everyone’s show more favourite part has got to be the tweedle beetles (leaving out the last couple of stanzas to avoid spoilers!):


“When tweetle beetles fight,
it's called a tweetle beetle battle.

And when they battle in a puddle,
it's a tweetle beetle puddle battle.

AND when tweetle beetles battle with paddles in a puddle,
they call it a tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle.

AND...

When beetles battle beetles in a puddle paddle battle
and the beetle battle puddle is a puddle in a bottle...
...they call this a tweetle beetle bottle puddle paddle battle muddle.

AND...”

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On its own terms, as a young children's "beginning to read" book, this rates 5 stars.

I read it numerous times to my sons when they were little and it was always a firm favourite. Great for pre-readers, too, as the alliteration and rhymes make it eminently memorizable after a couple of reads, so the little ones know what's coming and can join in.

One of the many Dr Seuss books that give me a warm, nostalgic glow, remembering those happy story-times before bed.

This is without a doubt my all time favorite from Dr. Seuss. The tongue twisters are silly and truly challenging and the illustrations are great. My 21 month old daughter has started pulling this one off the shelf at bedtime, and let me tell you, it is a pleasant break from book after book after book of "The New Adventures of Curious George." The tweedle beetle section has to considered one of the all time supreme tongue twisters. I much prefer Fox in Sox to Oh Say Can You Say, which inexplicably seems to be the better known of the two. This one is fun, and funny, and it gives your tongue some serious exercise. What more could you ask for?

My son borrowed this book from his school library every week until I finally bought him a copy so that he would read other books. He loved all the verbal play and tongue twisters said fast. My daughter, I later discovered, truly disliked the story and how mean the fox was to Mr. Knox. I like all the word play and how much you can do with just a few words; and (spoiler?) Mr. Knox seems to win out in the end.

This is one of my favorite books by [a: Dr. Seuss|61105|Dr. Seuss|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1193930952p2/61105.jpg]. The illustrations are delightful, the colors vibrant, and the sheer absurdity of it enough to make one grin.

Also, attempting to rap it is incredibly fun.

Go on, try it.

A fox in socks asks Mr. Knox to join him a variety of "games," all of which turn out to be saying different tongue twisters, to poor Mr. Knox's dismay!

This book has the typical Seussian illustrations and silly language, upping the ante here with a number of different tongue twisters. Although it can be a mouthful to read aloud, it's waaaay better than Seuss's Oh Say Can You Say?, which is truly impossible. I found that the young kids in my life got a kick out of hearing me read this book, rather than trying to tackle it themselves, although in theory they should be able to read most if not all of the words on their own.

This book is a great rhyming and tongue twister book for children. Dr. Seuss is a classic poetry writer for children. The funny and crazy words match the illustrations perfectly. The illustrations are colorful and bring the words on the page to life.