Although it is hard to imagine not reading any Dr. Seuss book out loud at least once, Fox in Socks was published with the specific encouragement that its intricate web of dizzying rhymes be externally vocalized. The book was first published in 1965, by which time the fame that had been steadily increasing for Seuss for almost two decades was already transforming into the legendary status he now enjoys. The premiere airing of what would quickly become a holiday season television can’t-miss—the animated adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas—was only a year and a half away. It was into simmering pot of Seuss making that leap from merely successful author to writer whose very name on the cover ensured a best-seller that Fox in Socks came into the world on June 19, 1965.
Geared toward beginning readers as young as three or four, Fox in Socks does not have the benefit of a strong cohesive story to win over its readers. Since most of them actually could not read, the entertainment value comes from hearing others—most often parents, grandparents, older siblings or other household guardians—make the complicated rhyming strategies of Mr. Fox come alive without themselves tripping their tongues over the twist and turns taken by the limited vocabulary. Like other books written for this age group, the illustrations accompanying the text are mostly limited to visualizations only of actual nouns found in the narrative. Thus, one image features a fox wearing socks atop clocks on bricks and blocks while chicks with socks cavort on his back. In most cases, if the word isn’t on the page, there is not representation of it in the illustration. A notable exception to this rule is the bed in which the chicks and bricks tock and tock.
The book also differs from other beginning reader books published by Seuss in having a number of relatively important minor characters feverishly whipping in and out of the overall story. The devilishly crafty title character is situated as something of a nemesis to Mr. Knox, the man to whom the Fox directs his outrageous rhymes. Within those rhymes, however, appear characters like Sue who sews socks for herself and clothes for Slow Joe Crow. After those two exit, Mr. Fox will introduce Bim and Ben and their broom band. Another pair of characters know as the tweetle beetles were transported from The Foot Book and into a 1975 TV special titled The Hoober-Bloob Highway in a segment based on their comedy bit as related in the book by Mr. Fox.
