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Nov 18, 2010

Skylar rated it:

This is clearly a parable for nuclear proliferation, and no doubt Suess condemns it. However, there is no clear moral drawn in this story, and the events are left unresolved. What will happen? "We will see..." Therefore, the reader is left to draw his own conclusions. As a parent, you can "read" this any way you like with your child: the liberal can focus on the frivolity of war and the dangers of mutually assured destruction; the conservative can, in contrast, argue that pea More...

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Mar 15, 2008

sarafem rated it:

Another Seuss work with a social undertone, this one is about prejudice and war. Two groups hate each other for what amounts to a completely ridiculous reason, and each thinks they are better than the other. Through classic indoctrination, their governments feed citizens the ideas that they are different and must hate one another.

A random and rather juvenile act of violence instigates a full-assault war, and it is interesting to watch as the two sides compete to see who can build a b More...

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Dec 04, 2011

h. rated it:

Let me just tell you how much I love this book.
I love this book this ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More...

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Sep 11, 2011

Carolyn rated it:

wide reading for CI546

grade level: elementary school

genre: picture book

themes: war, one-up-man-ship

cultures: as with all Seuss books, his goofy creatures could represent any / every culture.

school use: I might use this book to teach kids about the futility of war.

review: A book that illustrates many things about war: the silly reasons we do it, the way we stay competitive in it (whoever has the most weapons wins), the slow-moving reali More...

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Mar 24, 2011

Tiger Holland (All-Consuming Books) rated it:

Dr. Seuss, what a guy. He writes about mischievous cats in striped hats, grumpy green-furred scrooges who hate Christmas, and...nuclear warfare. Lest you think that kids books are all fluff and sunshine, here's a pretty convincing argument for the depth and seriousness possible in children's books.

A 'Grandfather" character in the Yook village dedicates his life to the Yook philosophy that bread should always be spread with butter on its top side. One village over, the community More...

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Oct 31, 2010

Sandra rated it:

Okay you are probably wondering why I am talking about this book. In my Language Arts class my students had to read "The Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss. Today I read "The Butter Battle Book" also by Dr. Seuss. The idea is they are to compare and contrast the two books. Needless to say my very knowledgeable sixth graders proceeded to tell me how the Butter Battle Book is actually a political story about the Cold War. I almost dropped my teeth. Why? A few years ago when I did a More...

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Oct 07, 2009

Samantha rated it:

One of the most profound and powerful of Dr. Seuss's books. I would recommend it to politicians and men and women of the armed forces everywhere. Or even just those who like to quarrel and tend to let things get out of hand over heated emotion. *Sigh* I know war and fighting and a system of defense is important towards a countries "safety" and preservation or what not but by now after paying attention to history and war and all the blood that has been shed can we find a better way t More...

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Mar 10, 2009

Davelowusa rated it:

A response to Cold War nuclear proliferation and mutually assured destruction as told through buttered toast.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 04, 2008

Mandy rated it:

This children's book contains an amazingly powerful message...it identifies a social flaw the way we often judge/look down on others(for ridiculousdifferences) and a wedge forms...grows and before you know it we have nuclear proliferation- Dr Suess style...yet there are no winners when it comes to war...it is very profound way to examine our world and our world's history...a lesson never too early to learn- did I mention I liked this book?

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Apr 15, 2009

Jeff rated it:

I am currently discussing the allegory with my students. We are reading Animal Farm, as is the standard allegory fare. I thought I would mix it up a bit and throw them something they weren't expecting, so I chose The Butter Battle Book. As a small child, this wasn't one of my absolute favorite of Seuss's stories, but I still liked it. As an adult, I truly love and appreciate it. True, it does present a very simplistic view of a very complex problem, but it's a children's book. That's how t More...

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May 24, 2007

Jaime rated it:

I know this book looks odd on my list, but its a great social commentary on the arms race. Leave it to the history major to make something out of a Dr. Seuss book... but let me tell you, The Butter Battle Book isn't the only social commentary disguised as a children's book that Seuss wrote!

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Jul 14, 2010

Christina rated it:

This is an amazing classic. It would be perfect to use in a social studies classroom from 4th grade to 7th grade. It broaches the subject of war and disagreements between societies. For instance, it could be used to get the kids thinking in 7th grade when we discuss the middle east and the various religious views there that have led to armed conflict. It might seem silly to some, but if you stop in the middle of a lesson discussing this and suddenly read the class this book, and then kept going, More...

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Sep 28, 2007

Albert rated it:

I think this book shaped my opinion of war and competition long before I ever realized it, which is a testament to Dr. Seuss's genius. Like most of his other books, I re-read it as an adult and liked it even more.

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Oct 20, 2011

Sharne' rated it:

1.Picture book, Controlled Vocabulary
2. This book is about the Zooks vs. the Yooks and how they choose to eat their breakfast. They fought and fought each other in the "butter side up" war. Hilarious read.
3.
a. Moral of the story
b. The moral of the story does not provide kids with a positive example. After reading the book, kids would gather the idea that fighting over differences are okay. I think Dr. Seuss shoyuld have ended the book in a positive way.
c. The More...

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May 06, 2008

sMarty rated it:

This is my favorite of the Dr. Seuss books I think it is so fun to see all the imaginative ideas in this book that he comes up with. It also has a great cliff hanger and teaches a lesson.

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Dec 10, 2011

Wendy rated it:

This is an amazing book from the intriguing mind of Dr. Seuss. The very witty wording is such that keeps keeps adults and children alike enthralled in the story.
The story is about the battle between the Yooks who claim bread should be butter side up and the Zooks who say bread should be butter side down. A grandfather is telling a story to his grandson about a time when the wall that seperates the Yooks from the Zooks was much smaller. And that was when the Butter Battle began.

More...

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Jan 18, 2012

Stefan rated it:

Personally I loved "The Butter Battle Book" and this paragraph shows why. It is about 2 groups of creatures one group likes there bread with the butter spread under it and the other group likes there bread with there butter spread over it and because of there differences they go to war. But the part I liked was the contraptions they made they were so big and so crazy looking and every time they lost they would upgrade the contraptions and the words in the book even rhymed through out t More...

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Aug 29, 2009

White rated it:

This is one of the best books ever written, children or otherwise. This is about a war that escalates over which way a culture spreads butter on their bread. It is a mirror of our own society and how ridiculous we are to destroy so many lives over something that is ego and superficial. Dr. Seuss is an obvious pacifist and what I would call a perspectionist. He allows us to see ourselves through the perspective of his inventive characterizations. Wonderful book. It is an antiwar demonstration a More...

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Jul 10, 2009

Mrs_M rated it:

This is one of the best books ever written, children or otherwise. This is about a war that escalates over which way a culture spreads butter on their bread. It is a mirror of our own society and how ridiculous we are to destroy so many lives over something that is ego and superficial. Dr. Seuss is an obvious pacifist and what I would call a perspectionist. He allows us to see ourselves through the perspective of his inventive characterizations. Wonderful book. It is an antiwar demonstration a More...

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Sep 27, 2011

Amadéa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Mar 18, 2011

Grace rated it:

I remember reading this book when I was a kid. :) I think every single person on Earth needs to read or be read this book. If everyone understood the message that Dr. Seuss managed to distill in this story, we could save all of the lives, the money, and the misery that frivolous wars over religion and ideology cause the world. Just think how much better the world would be if Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim extremists would just realize that they're all essentially eating the same bread More...

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Nov 28, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Mom's Review: Absolutely brilliant book about diversity, acceptance and the stupidity of war that is just as relevant today as when it was written in 1984 (although obviously written years earlier). Done with Seuss' usual delightful artwork and wonderful rhyme, it is one of those stories that will stand the tests of time. This is one of my favorite books of all time ever since it was introduced to me by my professor for the Children's Literature course I took in college. I am still amazed that More...

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Feb 22, 2009

Amanda rated it:

Author/Illustrator: Theodor Geisel

Genre: Fiction Picture Book

Year Published: 1984 by Random House Books for Young Readers

Reading Level: Late Early

Topic/Theme: War/Battles

Issues Addressed: The Cold War, Differences (in opinion), Intolerance

Classroom Uses: Read Aloud, Individual Reading, Guided Reading

Summary: Do you eat your toast butter side up or butter side down? This may seem trivial, but it isn't. The Zook More...

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Feb 08, 2010

Megan rated it:

This is not one of the better Dr. Seuss books. The story does not grab you the way some of his other works will. The story is about two groups who do not get along because they butter their bread on differnt sides so they keep creating bigger and bigger things to try and hurt each other... has a somewhat cold war feel to me.... could read to kids who are fighting especailly in the youger grades when saying things like "well if i cant go to your birthday party you cant come to mine!"

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Jun 16, 2009

Lucille rated it:

This book was first introduced to me in my grade 10 academnic history class by my teacher. At first, we thought she was joking. Then, as she began to read, we realized just how perfectly Dr. Seuss managed to capture the Cold War in such a way that anyone could understand it. I truly think that this is a brilliant piece of literature that really gets a message across, and believe it or not, it taught me a lot about history, and gave a new edge to an old story.

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Dec 07, 2009

Christopher rated it:

advanced 4th grade to high school

I gave this book a rating of five stars because the story is predictable, and the book lends itself to other curriculum. The story moves along in a simple fashion. One side has one weapon and the other side tops it. It shows the ridiculousness of war, through a story that has good visual aids, short sentence length, and a controlled vocabulary.

(Social Studies, U.S. History)

lesson plan: I would use this book as an introduc More...

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May 15, 2011

Chelsea rated it:

My 3-year-old picked this out at the library this week. I hadn't read it before and figured it would be fine for the little fella. Okay, I was wrong. The wording had him a bit lost and he was totally stumped by the open-ended conclusion. That being said, I think it could be a wonderful teaching tool when he gets a little older. So many of the Seuss books are great for introducing historical and political concepts.

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Jun 17, 2011

Tom rated it:

I love how Dr. Seuss books are often so political, and yet so fun to read. This one is just a great parable of the arms race and the Cold War, and it's a hoot to read. Even though I'm a butter-side up guy, I like the point the book makes, and books like these always are a good test for phonics. It is pretty long for a kid's book, but fun.

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Feb 26, 2010

Andrew rated it:

A childhood favorite. I actually wrote an essay to apply to college based on this book. I don't remember what the essay was about but this book is still good. =D Intended to be a commentary on the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., this book applies in so many ways to the rat race we run in having more possessions and more this and that with our neighbors. Dr. Seuss rocks.

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May 09, 2009

Eve rated it:

I was looking for a prose to perform at my speech tournament and this was the first I picked up. As ridiculous as most of his more developed stories, Butter Battle holds a communistic tale between the Zooks and Yooks and how their minuet social differences have manifested into an all out war (sound familiar?) Though I did not end up using the porse, still a good read for any age.

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