UP PUP Pup is up.
CUP PUP Pup in cup.
PUP CUP Cup on pup.
The opening lines set the stage for all that is to come. This is not a story book by Seuss like that one about the Grinch and Christmas. It does not even feature a storyline as thin as Green Eggs and Ham. Hop on Pop is designed for the youngest fans of Dr. Seuss; in fact, it is likely the book which introduced many of them who would go on to read about the Grinch for themselves. By contrast, most of the readers of these lines—at least at first—are likely parents or babysitters or others of a more advanced age than the intended audience. The point is to introduce young—very young—children to the miracle of language.
SAD DAD BAD HAD Dad is sad.
Very, very sad.
He had a bad day. What a day Dad had!
While there is no plot or any manifest connective tissue between the rhymes on the page, it does reveal a systematic approach. The words used to make up sentences become more prevalent and the rhymes increase in sophisticated as the book moves forward. In the opening pages, the conceptualization of the rhymes are limited to a single image. Here, it can be seen that the rhyming is linking dad having a day that is both sad and bad. It is bad because it is sad. Or, perhaps, vice versa.
That one is my other brother.
My brothers read a little bit.
Little words like If and it.
My father can read big words, too.
Like CONSTANTINOPLE and TIMBUKTU
If there was any doubt that Hop on Pop is not a Seuss book intended to actually be read by its target audience, the conclusion should remove it entirely. While perhaps some very advanced beginning readers might make it past the first page or two, by the time they reach this point their head would be exploding. But “Constantinople” and, especially, “Timbuktu” are very fun words to hear. They stand out significantly from the vocabulary which comprises the bulk of the book and perhaps even present a challenge to some of those parents or babysitters. But the purpose has been served: language gets increasingly more complicated as you learn it. The more a person works on developing their verbal skills, the more expansive their own vocabulary becomes. And even if a person never has to introduce Timbuktu into their conversation for the rest of their lives, it is still a good word to know. All words are, after all.
