Customer Reviews

Hunches in Bunches

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I ADORE Dr. Seuss. In fact, I'm pretty sure that his work is the source of a sizeable chunk of my love for language in general, and for poetry. In fact, I think my love for Shakespeare started as a child, with Dr. Suess. This stuff was really profound for me.

But I have to say, if Geisel really did write this one, he was NOT in top form. The music of his language is missing - some of the verses are downright clunky, and the usual depth is lost in horrific lines like "... together we'll trot to some real cool spot and play a few video games."

Maybe he was trying to be contemporary. And some of the illustrations here really ARE wonderful, but I have to say, this Seuss lover (who now spends as much as an hour and a half a day reading the stuff to his own daughter, who love it) finds this one way off the mark.

Children usually do not realize that the internal dialogue in the mind is a source of confusion and distraction for almost everyone. The great strength of this book is to make that psychological reality tangible and to address ways to deal with it. You also give the parent a chance to share her or his perspective on internal voices. The book's key point is that you should consider all the perspectives that occur to you, compare them, and choose a good one to pursue.

"Do you ever sit and fidget

when you don't know what to do . . . ?"

"My trouble was I had a mind.

But I couldn't make it up."

"Oh, you get so many hunches . . . ."

In the story, the hunches include one to do homework, another to go play video games, yet another to fix the rusting bicycle, while another suggests a bathroom break. As the hunches build, the decision gets harder. Thinking about it just adds more hunches.

The key point is:

"Make your mind up! . . .

Only you can make your mind up!"

The suggested method is to split yourself into several people and to decide what to do by letting each one represent a hunch. To me, that's a variation on the Benjamin Franklin method of putting each choice down on a piece of paper with a list of the pros and cons for each. Then compare the lists.

If everyone learned that method at a young age, it would be wonderful! A lot of adults still need to learn this lesson, so don't limit your gift giving of this book to youngsters!

After you finish this book, I suggest that you encourage your child to verbalize his or her urges. Then talk to her or him about how he or she is sorting it all out.

Take the best choice, rather than the most impulsive one!

Dr. Suess books are classic's. I have never read this book before. As I was reading it with my 3 year old son before bedtime, several times in the book they used the word dumb and stupid. I am fully aware that those words are not "bad" words. However my son has picked up on those words (prior to the book) and uses them in a harsh tone of voice as bad words when he is upset that makes them sound worse then they are. So I just try to steer clear of those words in my daily language and also try to limit how much he hears those words in general. (which is a challenge all in it's self because once again they are not "bad" words). So I was kinda shocked when I was reading and came across those words (which I didn't read aloud) in a children's book. So I'm not telling you not to buy the book, just a little FYI that those words do appear in the book a couple of different times. I'm sure that in most children it is no big deal to hear those words, but for mine it is.

I mean, it's okay... but when compared to almost any other Dr. Seuss book, it is sub par.

I picked this book up at the library for my 3 1/2 year old because I had never seen this particular Dr. Seuss book before. I realized right away that this was one of his more modern books (he even mentions video games!). My son loves it-- he had me read it over and over again. The main problem I see in this book are certain phrases that I really don't want him to start repeating, namely "stupid schlopp" and "dumb a dunce." After my husband read the book to him, he actually called him a stupid schlopp, not realizing that it was bad, so we had to have a conversation with him about certain words not being polite.

Other than that, the book really isn't as magical as some of the other ones. I don't think it makes much sense. Sure, we all get "hunches" about what we should do and sometimes it's hard to make up our mind, but the hunches that the little boy experiences aren't the best examples. I don't really understand what up and down hunches are.

Sigh. I don't know. It's definitely not one that I need in our children's book collection, and I'll be relieved to return it to the library.

This book was so much fun to read to my children. My daughter loved it so much I had to read it to her all the time. When she was old enough to read, she memorized the WHOLE book. She could stand and recite it from beginning to end and act it out for her little brother who thought she was just the best big sister. Now that is a powerful testimony as to how much they enjoyed it. She is now 27 and still remembers the whole book.
I'm sure your children will enjoy it as much as mine did.
Karen

This is definitely one of my favorites! It is a book that is different than most and is very enjoyable. Allows kids (and multi-tasking parents) to see the importance of staying on task.

We love Dr. Seuss, and our goal is to slowly buy our kids his whole collection. His stories are so engaging and offer really worthwhile themes and lessons for parents to talk about with their children. So when it came time for Christmas, I started looking for the next book to buy, and unfortunately, settled on this one. I realize not everyone is particular about how they speak to their children and what words kids learn, but we try to avoid words like 'stupid' and 'dumb'. This book uses both; those are not concepts I want my three-year-old or one-year-old to learn. Besides the poor language choices, the book seems pointless compared to many of his other books. Definitely disappointed with this book and my hunch is to be more selective in choosing next time!

My mom and dad used to read my brother and I this book when we were kids, and I love that I now read it to my daughter. It is a cute book!

I'm a Kindergarten teacher and I was a little skeptical that they would enjoy it but to my surprise they did (after I explained what a hunch was). I found myself enjoying it as well :)

This book was a gift but I know any of Dr. Suess books are good. This book was for my 51 year old son who collects Dr. Suess books and did not have this one.