Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! (Hardcover)

by Dr Seuss (Author), Jack Prelutsky (Author), Lane Smith (Author) "I've always lived in Dinkerville,..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Bonkers

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
With the release of Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! readers young and old are afforded a dazzling glimpse into the genius of Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. The book is based on 14 rough drawings and verses Geisel's secretary gave to the author's editor, Janet Schulman, after his death in 1991. In these scribbled sketches and scratched-out lines, we witness the Seussian process in building a story. When brainstorming the name of what resulted in the Diffendoofer School, he jots down several possible names--"William Wilkins Woofer Junior," "Woodrow Watkins Woofer," "Zoofendorf Elementary," "J. Ebeneezer Bomberg Jr."--all of a slightly different cadence and rhythm, which he tests like a composer writing a new concerto.

A small collection of Geisel's rough sketches would be plenty to thrill even the Grinchiest of readers, but there's much more to this marvelous book. Renowned children's poet Jack Prelutsky and award-winning illustrator Lane Smith were called to action by Schulman to pull these sketches into a complete story that would make Dr. Seuss fruffulous with glee. Prelutsky's delicious verse is uncannily Seussian, and it is inexplicably sensational when exploring the Diffendoofer School to discover good old Horton, a platter of green eggs and ham, and a few Whos from Who-ville scattered across the surreal and fascinating landscape of Smith's artwork. Lane and Prelutsky have gone above and beyond the call of duty, maintaining the characters and themes Geisel was just beginning to develop, but enhancing them with their own delightful stylistic stamps.

Above all, this incredible book is an ode to unorthodox, unusually creative teachers, and the innovative thinking they encourage in young minds. (Miss Twining, for example, teaches "how to tell chrysanthemums from miniature poodles.") It is a noble theme, and one that Geisel surely had in mind when he concocted these preliminary sketches. Both new Dr. Seuss aficionados and those who remember The Cat in the Hat's 1957 debut will cherish this book for its message, artwork, and poetry, and most of all, as a tribute to the man who inspired thousands of readers. (Age 3 and older)

From Publishers Weekly
Dr. Seuss's name towers over the title on the jacket here, setting up readers to measure the book within?extrapolated from scanty manuscript and sketches?against the late artist's classic works. While such a comparison is almost certain to disappoint, it also distracts from an appreciation of the fruitful collaboration between the ebullient Prelutsky (The Dragons Are Singing Tonight) and the innovative Smith (The Stinky Cheese Man). Given some rough art and verses and a list of characters that were compiled by Seuss in 1988 or 1989, Prelutsky and Smith fashion a plot, message and visual milieu (see Children's Books, Feb. 9). Zesty rhymes, some of them Seuss's own, catalogue the eccentric staff of Diffendoofer School. Then trouble threatens: the students must take a standardized test to prove Diffendoofer's worth, lest the school be closed and everyone sent to Flobbertown ("And we shuddered at the name,/ For everyone in Flobbertown/ Does everything the same"). The valiant Miss Bonkers inspires her troops. Balancing a globe on one finger, she proudly declaims: "We've taught you that the earth is round,/ That red and white make pink,/ And something else that matters more-/ We've taught you how to think." Smith pastes in some Seuss sketches and invites Seuss characters and book jackets into his collages. The look, however, is very much Smith's; his style is so strong that it subsumes the Seussian elements in evidence (not just the collaged art but the typeface, the colored pages, the tilt of a given character's nose, etc.). Perhaps the richest reward?for adults if not for children?is the absorbing, meaty afterword by editor Janet Schulman, which allows readers a view of Seuss's draft and gives rare insight into the creative process. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (April 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679890084
• ISBN-13: 978-0679890089
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,552 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Number 2 pencils make you cringe . . ., August 16, 2000

By	K. Bennett (Rolla, MO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! (Library Binding)

I loved Dr. Seuss as a kid, but I have to admit, I don't always like reading him aloud now that I'm a parent. Don't tell my kids, but I know how Green Eggs and Ham ended up behind the sofa. Mom and Dad hid it there after they'd been forced to read about boxes and foxes and sockses too many times in a row one night. This new book, based on notes and sketches found among Dr. Seuss's papers after his death, might escape the fate of Sam-I-am, at least in our house. There are some definite funny moments. Discussing the cafeteria workers, the narrator says, "They make us hot dogs, beans, and fries, / Plus things we do not recognize." Although the food may resemble that found in some educational institutions, the philosophy does not. Instead of teaching the students the traditional canon and rote memorization, the teachers at Diffendoofer teach an eclectic mix. Extolling the virtues of his teacher, Miss Bonkers, the narrator says: She even teaches frogs to dance. And pigs to put on underpants. One day she taught a duck to sing -- Miss Bonkers teaches EVERYTHING! Of all the teachers in our school, I like Miss Bonkers best. Our teachers are all different, But she's different-er than the rest. Most of all, the teachers teach their students how to think. This works great, until the day of the dreaded standardized test. If the students at Diffendoofer School don't pass with flying colors, they'll be forced to go to Flobbertown, where everyone does everything the same. Amazingly enough, the test covers all the things the Diffendoofer teachers have been teaching -- and for those questions on material they haven't covered yet, the students use their thinking skills to come up with the right answers. Lane Smith's illustrations pay tribute to Dr. Seuss. Several characters from Seuss books walk the halls of Diffendoofer School, along with Smith's more angular characters. The library is stocked with Seuss books. At the end of the book, there's the story of how this book came to be. After reading the original verses and studying the original sketches, I re-read the story and marveled at how Prelutsky and Smith took a small amount of material and fashioned Hooray for Diffendoofer Day.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diffendoofer Day, June 22, 2000

By A Customer

I LOVED this book so much, I have read it again and againbecause it is so good. Dr. Seuss had started this book before he died,but never got to finish it. Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith completed the book and did a TERRIFIC job at it. It is from the point of view of a student who goes to school at Diffendoofer. She describes each of the teachers and what they teach. But now the students of Diffendoofer school have to take a test, if they don't pass, everyone will be sent to another school, a dreary school. Read the book to find out what happens in the end, if Diffendoofer passes the test and keeps the school, or if the students fail and get sent elsewhere. I recommend this book to ANYONE!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great gift for a master teacher, December 28, 1998

By A Customer

I am the principal of a non-traditional public high school; I received the book as a present from a first year teacher. It should be part of every beginning teachers opening-of-school packet. It is all about teaching kids how to think, and how to be successful in "different-er" ways.