101 Books, Number 29

Favorite Books from Throughout My Life

30: Bartholomew and the Oobleck, 1949, by Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel, 1904–1991)

The sky is leaking gooey green!

Bartholomew is on the scene

And figures he must figure out

What all this oobleck is about.*

This book came out when I was five—

And Dr. Seuss made me alive.

Oh, sure, I was alive with breath—

And thus would know both love and death—

Imagination he awoke—

And each new book, a masterstroke.

I felt I was Bartholomew—

And had to do what he would do:

Solve every problem, land or sky—

Keep doing so until I die.

So thank you, Dr. Seuss, a lot

For pictures, characters, and plot.

And for that Grand Awakening

(Of which you were my first fair king).

My life’s progressed—yes, on and on—

And still I want that oobleck gone!

*He does.