Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! (Beginner Books(R)) (Hardcover)

~ Dr. Seuss (Author) "Think left and think right and think low and think high..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Contains one of Dr. Seuss's solid-gold morals, the joy of letting one's imagination rip."--The New York Times.   -- Review

Review

"Contains one of Dr. Seuss's solid-gold morals, the joy of letting one's imagination rip."--The New York Times.  

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (August 12, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394831292
• ISBN-13: 978-0394831299
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,553 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning Creativity for Children of All Ages, July 27, 2000

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This book was one of the five that I most enjoyed reading to our four children when they were young. Upon rereading the book, I bgan to realize why I enjoyed it so much . . . as well as why they did.

Children begin with quite vivid imaginations, and education (and the socializing process) quickly discourage their imaginations in favor of coloring between the lines (following the conformist rules). This wonderful book by Dr. Seuss extolls the creative process and liberates the child (and the parent) to use their imaginations. "THINK! You can think any THINK that you wish . . . Think of a race on a horse on a ball with a fish!" It's like getting a license to use your natural creativity.

The book encourages creativity in a variety of effective ways. As the above quote shows, juxtaposition (combined with wonderfully funny illustrations) can allow the child to see that words can be jumbled together in ways to create fantastic images. The book begins and ends with this method.

Through the book, the illustrations are drawn to highlight the unusual. Many different colors are combined, in odd ways, and in odd shapes.

Then, after the imagination is revved up a bit, Dr. Seuss begins to do mental pirouettes by introducing such creatures as GUFFS (fuzzy orange creatures with tails that have large furry balls along them them), SNUVS (yellow creatures wearing color mismatched gloves -- you can see how the name sometimes helps with the rhyming), BLOOGS (green, yellow, and blue creatures blowing by in the white sky above the black water), and ZONGS (with a tail that is 15 times as long as the body which winds among blue and pink mushrooms).

Of course, the visions are sometimes more literal: Kitty O'Sullivan Krauss diving into a balloon pool over her house.

I thought that the RINK-RINKER-FINK and the VIPPER of VIPP were especially wonderful inventions. They juxtapose many different concepts in a particularly mind-liberating way.

If any book can overcome you tradition, misconception, and disbelief stalls, this one is it. By sharing it with your children while they are young, you can keep them from ever developing the stalls in the first place.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!, December 25, 2002

By	"katzechen" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This delightfully illustrated, simply readable, and wonderfully silly volume is one of my favorite of Seuss. It uses simple rhymes and easy words perfect either for parents to read aloud, or for beginning readers to read by themselves.

Unlike Green Eggs and Ham and many of his other stories, this book follows no storyline, but simply takes children (and their parents) on a delightful journey of the imagination.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fine children's book with lots to be learned, February 15, 2008

By	Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! Is a charming book by the immortal Dr. Seuss who wrote many fine children's books in his time. Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! is no exception. This book encourages children to imagine and eventually explore the world without fear.

The book has excellent illustrations that amuse children--and adults; and the rhyming text always impresses me.

The book starts by encouraging children to use their imaginations to think up what other animals and/or places in the world may be like. This alone can stimulate a lot of conversation between you and your child about other places in the real world and what life is like there. This will go a long way toward teaching younger children about the world out there that one day they will be exploring for real. In addition, the book also has Dr. Seuss using his own imagination to give examples to children as to how to use their imaginations; we get words about foreign things and sounds like "guff" and "schlopp." This does a marvelous job of teaching children to always be optimistic.

The book has even more value. Younger children will profit from learning words critical to their growing vocabularies including yellow, blue, red, pink, black, white, night, day, left and right--and more! Excellent.

The book cover withstands some throwing around just in case your child accidentally mistreats it; and, as always, the paper quality of these books by Dr. Seuss is very good.

I highly recommend this fine children's book. It teaches much to both very young children and older children as well. Get this and enjoy it with your growing child!