Treewhispers

Article by Michelle Lewis

Like many native English speakers of my generation, I grew up with Dr. Seuss. The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Green Eggs and Ham were among the many books I knew by heart even before I could read properly. The silly characters, bright artwork and outrageous rhymes captivated my imagination and took me to new worlds. However, one book stood out among many as my all time favorite Dr. Seuss book: The Lorax. From the beginning, I was drawn into the flight of the brown barbaloots, swomee swans, hummingfish and their unlikely guardian, the Lorax himself. In the end, I even found myself pitying the Onceler. It could be argued that this book and the Onceler’s final words in particular, “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lots, nothing is going to get better. It’s not,” helped…