The Long and the Short of It
This book is an excellent example of the vital important of connecting text to the corresponding image on the page. On one page the text reads: “ALL TALL We are all tall.” On the opposite page the text reads “ALL SMALL We are all Small.” The characters shown are not different in any significant way other than the four on the first page being much taller than the four on opposite page. The text only works in conveying the difference thanks to the visual imagery. Without the illustrative key to mark the difference, the words on the page would be essentially meaningless.
The Cactus
After being introduced to a large yellow furry creature named Pat, the young reader is afforded a glimpse into the life of this guy. They read along with text as the illustrations show Pat sitting on a hat, a cat, and a bat. Each of the illustrations correspond to words in the text. But then a smaller character tells Pat not to sit on “that” and “that” turns out to be a cactus. This imagery represents a break with the structure of the book which has been adhered to completely to this point: if an object is illustrated, it is also named in the text. The imagery of cactus represents an attempt to enforce a bit of critical thinking skills into the very elementary structure by representing visually something which is not described using text. This is not just a rarity in this book, but in the entire canon of Seuss’ books for beginning readers.
Do Not Hop On Pop
The title is Hop on Pop, of course, but that is not the most welcoming message in the world to stamp on the cover of a book. Perhaps the most memorable bit of imagery in the entire book also happen to be one of the few illustrations which does not show character happy, smiling or enjoying themselves. After hopping on their dad, Pop gets a little mad and, looking notably unhappy, says “STOP You must not hop on Pop.”
CONSTANTINOPLE and TIMBUKTU
One of the most important connections of text and visual imagery is the all caps large-font black on yellow against salmon spelling out of these two exotic locales. It is not the exoticism of the locale that makes them important, however, but the number of letters and the elevated degree of difficulty in spelling these two words relative to the vocabulary used thus far. These are both foreboding words to those who just beginning to learn to spell words like “cup” and “thing.” In addition to be somewhat scary, however, they also represent ambition their purpose is to stimulate a desire to develop reading skills beyond the simple examples making up this book. That these foreboding yet enticing words just so happen to be the names of two foreboding yet enticing is not mere happenstance, of course.
