I Can Lick Thirty Tigers Today and Other Stories

by Dr. Seuss

Join the Cat in the Hat for another whimsical collection of short stories!

In this wacky book about how pride and over-confidence may take many forms, Dr. Seuss tells three rhyming stories in verse featuring the Cat in the Hat's son, daughter, and his

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! - Will the cat's son's bravado be too much?
The Glunk That Got Thunk - Here his daughter's imagination get a bit carried away...
King Looie Katz - Take a look back at the folly of one of the Cat's ancestors in this tale about tails.

This lesser-known collection of classic Seussian silliness will be a welcome addition to the libraries of fans of all ages!

and his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, have been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic , and ranked among the world's top children's authors, Dr. Seuss is a global best-seller, with nearly half a billion books sold worldwide.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Humor, Poetry, Classics, Short Stories

Audio Cassette

First published September 12, 1969

About the author

Also wrote as Theodore Seuss Geisel, see https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catchphrase "Quick, Henry, the Flit!"

In 1936 on the way to a vacation in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.

During World War II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.

In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published The Cat in the Hat , which went on to instant success.

In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham . Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet.

Helen Palmer Geisel died in 1967. Theodor Geisel married Audrey Stone Diamond in 1968. Theodor Seuss Geisel died 24 September 1991.

Also worked under the pen name: Theo Le Sieg

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B) 75% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: More a mix of same ol' tricks than fresh/distinctive stories—just sequel shots or retread plots—recycling prior glories.

*Progress update

[Steph Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was asked to join the the Dr. Seuss blog tour, I had no idea I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! even existed. Dr. Seuss has more books out that I can keep track of and I shamefully have only read his more popular works like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. It was the same for my husband, so we sat down together last night and I read him a little bedtime story. It's amazing how no matter how old you get, you can still appreciate the simplicity of a Dr. Seuss book.



I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! features three stories: the book's namesake, King Looie Katz and The Glunk that Got Thunk. Each are told in the same tone you'd expect from Seuss with a good measure of silliness for fun. This isn't an I Can Read! early reader's book, so a really young child would still need assistance with these stories.

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! showed its age with the main character occasionally saying he could "beat up" the tigers. Would a modern Childrens' book contain something like that today? I'm doubtful. It caused a little confusion because I thought he was trying to lick them, but whatever. Maybe I'm trying to apply too much logic to a Dr. Seuss book which is obviously ridiculous. Still, I ended up enjoying the book as a whole and it brought on some sweet, sweet nostalgia!

My personal favorite of the three was The Glunk that Got Thunk because it's perfect for reading out loud, made up words and all. And so my husband recorded this for your enjoyment!



More Reviews and other fantastical things at Cuddlebuggery!

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

These three stories are a wonderful trip for children into an imaginative world, where they learn important lessons, in the most fun way possible.
In the first, 'I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today' the character learns that his bravado does not live up to the reality, in 'The Glunk that Got Thunk' children learn how insurmountable problems can be solved by working together and keeping a level head, and in 'King Loii Katz' children learn a very important lesson:
That sometimes one has to follow ones own conscience and put a stop to the bandwagon. It only takes one to say 'ENOUGH'.
Beautifully illustrated, and with a wonderful sense of humour and imagination.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread this and sending a copy to my granddaughters. It is a great book about bragging and lying. I love the simple lesson about not doing this.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggle to rate this one. This is not the best Seuss, and a lot of the references in this book are pretty outdated for modern kids (a phone with a CORD? what's that, mommy?), but at the same time it's kind of outrageous in that good ol' seussian way. I picked this up used because I had vivid memories of loving this when I was a kid. Miles asks lots of questions, but at the same time he thinks it's mostly hilarious--especially the Katz story. The ending of the last story bothers me and I'm not sure what the message is supposed to be--dont' think about bad things or they might come true? Keep your crazy ideas buried deep down? Girls should only ever have pretty, cute thoughts? I don't know, but there is something not quite right about it. Otherwise, there is lots of fun to be had in these three stories.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In terms of licking, this mischevious cat implies beating up 30 tigers. Yet, this task is impossible for the cat to complete and thus he learns this as the number of tigers he once claimed he could lick or rather "beat" slowly come down to zero. This story is humorous as are all of Dr. Seuss' stories and is a favorite among my first grade placement. They truly enjoyed it. I used 30 chips for each table of 5 students and they had to subtract the number of tigers (or chips) as I read the story and paused throughout. It was a great story to reinforce subtraction with and it was fun to read as well!

[Siobhan]

LOVED this collection. I can honestly say I have never seen most of these stories anywhere else, and it is really interesting to see some of Dr. Seuss' stories that are less well known or forgotten over time. I think that it was a really fun way to connect all of the stories in this book, making them all about the Cat in the Hat's family, while also making us feel like we already had a connection with the characters, even though they were not ones we had ever interacted with before. My personal favorite story in the collection is King Looie Katz. It is about a king who makes someone carry around his tail so it won't drag on the ground, and before long, that cat makes someone carry their tail around until there is just one cat at the end of the line who has no one to carry his tail. It's a fun story and it teaches a good lesson about being self sufficient that is important for kids to understand. I always like it when good lesson are brought up in fun books, I think it makes learning fun and interesting for the readers.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've been looking for books by Dr. Seuss that we haven't yet read. This book had such a strange title that we just had to borrow it from our local library. It has three short stories that are entertaining, but odd. They have most of the classic rhyme and flow as his more popular books, as well as unusual characters and colorful illustrations, but the tales just aren't as charming as some of his others. Perhaps that's why I'd never heard of it before. Still, it was a quick, entertaining read and we enjoyed reading this book together.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! (There are actually three stories: I can lick 30 tigers today, King Looie Katz and The glunk that got thunk) I am just like the cat who was sure he could whip 30 tigers... then had some excuse or another and that number got smaller and smaller until finally he wasn't whipping any tigers. That is like my "to-do" list every day.

[Rena Sherwood]

This is one of the most memorable Dr. Seuss books I've ever read ... and I had to read it to help with a comedy drama troupe at college. The skit was to prove that Dr. Suess was the most perverted author ever.

One of the punchlines was holding up the cover of this book.

Think about it.

You're welcome. Good night, kids.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hidden gem! Most obscure Dr. Seuss books, in my experience, are obscure for a reason-- they are bad or weird or both. But this book is funny and fun to read, and the boys like it, too.

[MelMon Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't go wrong with Dr. Suess.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today!
4 stars & 4/10 hearts. When I first saw this I thought it meant LICK as in touch with the tongue. It wasn’t until page 4 that I realized it was lick as in BEAT UP—which highly amused me. The story was quite funny, in a sly, understated way…

King Looie Katz
4 stars & 4/10 hearts. This story reminded me of Yertle the Turtle ! A cute, funny little story about democracy, well done.

The Glunk that got Thunk
3 stars & 3/10 hearts. I didn’t care too much for this one, but it did have a good moral. ;P

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

includes 3 stories, the 1st is all about boasting and bragging and pride, and I liked the lesson it teaches. the second is about knowing when to quit and looking out for yourself. the third is about imagination and where it could take you. and cat in the hat features in this book, even if it isn't really part of his series.

[ZaBeth Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has three short stories told by a little *boy* who from the family potrait in the final story looks like the son of the "Cat in the Hat. (1957)"

"I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today" - I probably would have enjoyed this more if I had correctly defined "lick" as "to fight" instead of "to clean." While my interpretation is probably more politically correct for today's bully sensitive society, it did not make the story funnier. While there may have been some vague counting involved, I didn't feel much of anything from this story. That is until I got to the last page and realized the correct definition and then I just felt the fool.

"King Looie Katz" - Everything that I felt was missing from the first story, Dr Seuss got right in the second story. So far Katz is my favorite Dr. Seuss and it is going to take near perfection to unseat it. First published in 1969 this story is still relevant today and should be required reading for high school and college students. It probably wouldn't hurt for our public officials to read this as well. Seuss puts in a few rhythmic rhymes so the story keeps a peppy pace. The message is simple and clear; we all need to stand up and take care of ourselves. And the characters' names and drawings are cute. It is a winning combination for a childrens story.

"The Glunk That Got Thunk" - I like this story because it shows the sister using her imagination; something very rare in today's video game childhoods in my opinion. But like any child she gets inpatient with her slow thinking and tries to rush it. Of course she creates something she can't unthunk or control. Big bother helps her to see the errors of her ways so there is a family message here as well. And while this story may be showing some age around the edges by mentioning long distance phone bills, kids still can relate because no one wants to get into trouble with their parents. If your kids question the phone bill just remind them that too much texting would cause the same drama.

All in all these are good stories. I'd read them to my kids if I had any.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remembered this book, while I was reading the title story to my son, as another one of the Dr. Seuss books I had as a child. The first story is about a boy who believes he can beat up thirty tigers, but the longer he is with them, the less he thinks he can beat. I liked the story although my son I don’t think understood most of the nuances of it. The second story is about the king of cats who didn’t like his tail to drag on the ground, so he hired someone to carry it. And then they felt important and didn’t want theirs to drag either, and so they hired someone and on down the line until the smallest cat decides he’s had enough of carrying other people’s tails. He quits quite loudly and the rest follow suit, and that’s why cat’s carry their own tails now.

The third story was hard to explain to my son, but I rather enjoyed doing the voices for it. A young girl usually imagines pretty fluffy things, and then uses her Un-Thunker to make them go away. One day, she decides that she wants something more substantial, and so thinks really really hard and comes up with the Glunk. He is a large green monster who immediately starts using the girl’s phone to call his mother long distance, even though it is dreadfully expensive and will make her father go broke. He ignores her and keeps talking until, with the help of her brother, they Un-Thunk the Glunk together. From then on, she is back to pretty fluffy happy things. In a way, that story is rather sexist. Specifically because the girl only has fluffy thoughts and the one time she tries to really concentrate, she creates a monster, that she can only get rid of with a boy’s help because she is too weak. Aside from that, overall the stories were ones that me and my son enjoyed. Recommended for ages 4-7, 3 stars.

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains 3 separate Dr. Seuss stories.

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today is about a cat in the hat character who plans on beating up 30 tigers, but he realizes he can't do it and begins sending tigers away until he gets down to just one tiger. Then he says, "I'll beat you up right after lunch."

King Looie Katz is about a king cat who loves his tail so much that he puts someone in charge of holding up his tail all day long. Then that person wants the same service and so on until one big line is formed. But the last cat in line feels cheated and quits the job which inspires everyone else to become more "demo-catic."

The Glunk that Got Thunk is about a little girl who dreams up soft fuzzy little things every day after dinner. But one day she wants more so she dreams bigger. But that dream become much too much for her and her brother must come along and save her.

I was disappointed in the quality of the verse in stories 2 and 3 and the messages in stories 1 and 3. One tells us about beating up tigers, and the final story says little girls should just keep on dreaming warm fuzzy little girl dreams because they can't handle more.

I love Dr. Seuss, but I do not feel these stories live up to those of his that send good messages like The Lorax or The Sneetches or those stories that are absurdly entertaining like One Fish Two Fish and Fox in Socks.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today (1969) is one of the Dr. Seuss books that I missed reading as a child. It would seem to be one of the lesser known books in the Seuss collection. Since it was published in my birth year, I decided to check it out--even though its length technically makes it ineligible to count as a candle on my birthday cake. The common theme of the three stories in the book is pride and overconfidence. The titular story has a younger Cat in the Hat type (his son?) bragging that he can take on 30 tigers. That number gradually dwindles until he decides that maybe he'll lick just one tiger...another day. "King Louie Katz" addresses the issue of aristocracy versus democracy when King Louie starts a trend of Katz carrying more important Katz's tails until the lowest Katz on the totem pole rebels. And "The Glunk That Got Thunk" shows what can happen when a little girl thinks up an idea that she can't control.

The stories are enjoyable, but definitely not on a par with The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, Green Eggs and Ham, and the like. ★★★ and a half.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Seussian shorts.

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today!- A mini Cat in the Hat boldly proclaims he can lick (as in beat up) 30 tigers, but quickly cuts that number down to zilch as his word is put to the test.

King Looie Katz- In a kingdom of cats, King Looie is very proud of his tail; so proud that he will not let it drag on the ground and instead hires a servant to hold it up while he walks. When the servant seeks a servant and so on the last cat in the line is fed up and quits. The system breaks down and in the end each cat holds his own tail up.

The Glunk that got Thunk- A world-class thinker challenges herself to think harder than ever before and thinks up a Glunk which cannot be unthunk. The Glunk quickly settles in racking up the phonebill and proving one bad houseguest. It'll take her brother to help her unthink the Glunk.

Full color short stories.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! (8/10) is a nicely amusing, one-joke tale of a braggart talking his way outta fight/mauling without losing face. King Looie Katz (10/10) not only has some of Seuss’s most fun rhyming prose, it tells a tale (with a denouement not dissimilar to Yertle the Turtle) encouraging independence and democracy (“democatcy”) over hierarchical autocracy. “The Glunk that Got Thunk” (7/10) is a Cat-in-the-Hat redux about letting-imagination run riot (ironically). It’s good, but excessively word heavy this time, a little too much.

9/10

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another charming collection of little rhyming stories with a moral lesson. The illustrations aren't quite as imaginative, and the stories are a little more repetitive than others, but a good lesson is given about the dangers of pride (and in the last story, possibly addiction?). As with others, the lessons are a sign of the times (written in the Cold War) - he actually uses the word "democratic" to refer to the right way to live - not that I disagree, but it's interesting to consider the context of his messages (which seem often political)

[Willow Redd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three short Seuss stories involving the Cat in the Hat's... family...

In "I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today," the Cat's son is full of bravado and wants to battle some tigers. Then, we visit with one of the Cat's ancestors in "King Looie Katz," who puts his subjects to work to keep his tail off the ground. Finally, in "The Glunk That Got Thunk," the Cat's daughter gets in some trouble with the power of her imagination.

That Glunk is a funky punk.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book for kids! So imaginative and creative. Easy read that children will find delightful!

Dr. Seuss is always brilliant! His stories and rhymes are fun and entertaining! Some of my all time favorites!! Such a great way to entertain children and get them interested in reading!

[Slow Man · Rating 4 out of 5]

This must be one of the less popular Dr Seuss books which I never heard of. But it is as creative and imaginative as all of his other books. He got his formula correct and I am sure all his readers of all ages appreciate his body of work.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

expansionist of the popular early readers inspired by DR Seuss

[Christopher Meades · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Seuss of all time!!!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about a young cat in the hat and a story about his younger sister. A middle story about a kingdom of proud cats. A very catty book indeed.

[thered_hairedreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this to my class this morning; it was very enjoyable!

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Seuss book that has three stories in it. Each were stories I wasn't familiar with and had never read them before. My son and I both enjoyed reading this book.

[Chloe Mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

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