My kids love Dr. Seuss, so for Christmas we gave them The Lorax.  I don’t know how I reached age 36 without reading this brilliant 1971 classic. Now that I have, I think it the single most imaginative presentation of the tension between industry and environmentalists ever written.  The story opens when a boy comes to a desolate corner of town to hear the story of “the Once-ler” (a green being who is never shown throughout the book except for his arms and legs).  After the Once-ler receives payment from the boy (consisting of 15 cents, a nail, and the shell of a great, great, great grandfather snail) he recounts how he first arrived where they now stand, back then a beautiful forest of Truffula Trees, colorful woolly trees that supported various fantastical creatures.  As soon as the Once-ler drives his covered wagon into this paradise, he becomes so enamored with the fuzzy tufts of the Truffula trees that he sets about cutting them down to make Thneeds.   Why?  Because “a thneed is a thing that everyone needs!”

The Lorax, a short furry animal resembling a sea otter, enters the picture as “a voice for the trees” (think annoying environmentalist, but cuter).  From the time the Once-ler chops down his first tree until he cuts down the last, the Lorax keeps trying to warn him of the dangers to the Bar-ba-Loots, who survive on Truffula fruits. The Swomee Swans and the Humming Fish also suffer from pollution and smog of the thneed factories.

What I love about Dr. Seuss’ fables is that he isn't preachy in his moral teaching.  Even his villains are not evil so much as they are complex and clever.  Just as the Grinch steals Christmas but learns to love in the end, the Once-ler develops a desire to save what has been lost.  I won’t give away the whole story, but I can’t resist sharing some of its words of wisdom.

I meant no harm. I most truly did not. But I had
to grow bigger. So bigger I got. I biggered my
factory. I biggered my roads. I biggered my
wagons. I biggered the loads of the Thneeds I
shipped out. I was shippping them forth to the
South! To the East! To the West! To the North! I
went right on biggering...selling more Thneeds.
And I biggered my money, which everyone needs....

And at that very moment, we heard a load whack!
From outside in the fields came a sickening smack
of an axe on a tree. Then we heard the tree fall.
The very last Truffula Tree of them all! No more
trees. No more Thneeds. No more work to be
done....

But now,' says the Once-ler, 'Now that you're
here, the word of the Lorax seems perfectly
clear. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole
awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's
not.'

In 2008, Random House launched The Lorax Project, a fun interactive website that allows kids and parents to play games, send letters, organize projects, and make simple behavioral changes to protect endangered species. And if you haven’t bought the book, here is a link to The Lorax on Amazon.com.  I promise that you will get as much out of this book as your kids will, maybe more.   I know I have.