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The Big Green Book of Beginner Books

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Find your next favorite Beginner Book in this supersized story collection from Dr. Seuss!

The only thing better than a Dr. Seuss book is six of them in one! The easy words, engaging rhymes and bright art can turn any kid into a reader. Enjoy six stories, including I Am Not Going to Get Up Today , Wacky Wednesday , Maybe You should Fly a Jet! Maybe You should be a Ve t!, Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog , I Wish That I Had Duck Feet, and Great Day for Up  –all on one colorful, sturdy hardcover package.

Originally created by Dr. Seuss himself, Beginner Books are fun, funny, and easy to read. These unjacketed hardcover early readers encourage children to read all on their own, using simple words and illustrations. Smaller than the classic large format Seuss picture books like The Lorax and Oh, The Places You’ll Go! , these portable packages are perfect for practicing readers ages 3-7, and lucky parents too!

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

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428 people want to read

About the author

Dr. Seuss

1,035 books18.4k followers
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

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5 stars
297 (53%)
4 stars
166 (29%)
3 stars
80 (14%)
2 stars
5 (<1%)
1 star
7 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Austin Wright.
1,187 reviews26 followers
February 4, 2015
My friend Kevin is reading a list of best children's books. I am following suite in order to discuss the books with him. By default, I give the books four-stars because they're good at what they're intended to do, which is to keep the attention of children and introduce them to literature.

This compilation is 5-stars...essential for beginning reading. :)
Profile Image for Abigail.
116 reviews29 followers
May 20, 2023
Now, I’ve read The Big Green Book of Beginner Books more than once, and I find it to be superbly amazing, as well as highly inspiring too.

I like the books Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet! and I Wish That I Had Duck Feet the best; they’re coolly superb, as well as highly neat, too.

If I had to pick a few of my favorite parts in this book, I would choose these ones for sure:

You’ve got to BE someone sooner or later.
How about a wrestler...
a writer...
or a waiter?
(p. 182)

Maybe you should fly a jet.
Maybe you should be a vet.
(p. 200)

Of course, the book Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet! is one of my favorites, mostly because the “writer” part and the “vet” (with the latter being a short name for a veterinarian) perfectly describe the careers I would choose, since I know how to write stories, and I have a love for animals (specifically dogs and cats). ✍🏻🐕🐈

I give this book two thumbs up, and I highly recommend it for those who like Dr. Suess and reading books. Finally, I give it five stars (although ten stars would be even better). 😇✍🏻
Profile Image for Tania.
1,465 reviews40 followers
June 16, 2021
Dr. Seuss puts together six great beginner books in one volume, perfect for the littles learning to read. Filled with stories that stretch the imagination and are fun to read out loud, this is a great book to peak the interest of the young reader. Wacky Wednesday has a delightful way of making the text and pictures interactive, as you try to ferret out all of the wacky things the child sees on this strange day, with only numbers as clues. Maybe You Should Fly a Jet introduces children to the wide world of possibilities awaiting them. Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog has some of the best rhymes of all six stories. Overall the stories are fun and creative, and the illustrations really enhance them.
Profile Image for Tina.
44 reviews1 follower
June 27, 2021
Great Day for Up! was my child's favorite, and fun to read as a crescendo. Together with I Am Not Going to Get Up Today! (arguably picking up where the first left off), they bookend the book nicely. Wacky Wednesday is the book version of those "what's wrong with this picture" exercises you might remember seeing in children's magazines when you were young. I Wish That I Had Duck Feet plods a bit but has a decent message (there are challenges in being anyone, so you may as well be yourself). Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet! and Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog? were pretty, but seemed to not have much of a point other than asking questions over and over (and they felt long to the parent reading).
Profile Image for Annie Flanders.
299 reviews4 followers
May 1, 2024
This is a really good book for children who are just learning to read. My dear husband bought this for one of our great- nieces and as usual I get to read the book first .

The Big Green Book of Beginner Books has 6 books in it - all under one cover ---> Great Day for Up ---- Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog ---- I Wish That I Had Duck Feet ---- Wacky Wednesday ---- Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet! ---- and --- I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today!

This is going to be perfect for our very young great niece who is just learning to read. As much as I liked all the books - my fave is I Wish That I Had Duck Feet.


Happy Reading!!!
222 reviews1 follower
March 29, 2021
A compilation of about seven stories by Dr. Seuss franchise in the best form of his children's writings. This is a great book for parents of young children to read them to their elementary children. I found this at a yard sale and decided that this should be a collector's item. We will hand it down to one of our children or grandchildren.
Profile Image for Dayton.
19 reviews5 followers
December 10, 2021
I had never seen any of the six Dr. Seuss beginners books collected here until my elementary school daughter brought this home from the school library. But it was books like this, with imaginative art and roll off the tongue words that enthralled me as a child and helped me become a lifelong reader. I hope my child gets “caught” too.
215 reviews
March 29, 2019
I'm not a fan of Dr. Seuss so I cringed when my kids selected this one at the library. I was pleasantly surprised at the stories, all of which I had never read before. I would buy these 6 stories for my collection.
Profile Image for Cherish Brown.
1,328 reviews11 followers
January 21, 2021
(4☆ Would recommend)
Dr. Seuss books are great for learning, since they have such colorful pages, engaging pictures, and rhyme. Kids love them. Having so many Dr. Seuss books in 1 book makes it such a good bedtime book.
675 reviews1 follower
January 19, 2024
These are fun Dr. Seuss anthologies that my kids and I enjoyed. I read all of these with my children and they are great tools for learning how to read with repetitive phrases and words and lots of rhyming.
Profile Image for Josh.
7 reviews29 followers
October 2, 2019
Exillerating
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Dananna.
238 reviews
January 6, 2020
I love Dr suess' creative twists and turns. He always brings a smile
to my face. This is a fun series of questioning the norm, would you rather questions and maybe you should be a... So fun!!
Profile Image for ElectricWolf 1705.
2 reviews3 followers
Read
August 13, 2020
I thought it was a hilarious book when i was younger,me and my grandma use to read it all the time
Profile Image for Miles.
61 reviews2 followers
March 28, 2024
A great curated selection of the more creative and inventive Dr. Seuss stories. The first half in particular is my favorite. With the variety, i thoroughly enjoyed reading this to my nephew.
Profile Image for Thebruce1314.
958 reviews5 followers
February 28, 2013
A great collection for the price (on sale at Target for $10 this week). Though not all of the stories are the greatest Seuss works, there is a lot of scope for the imagination here. Wacky Wednesday uses the illustrations to tell part of the story, and Maybe You Should Fly a Jet explores career options, with the message that you can do anything, as long as you do something.
Profile Image for Natalie Pietro.
350 reviews75 followers
May 5, 2012
My favorite thing about this book had to be finding out James Stevenson did the illustrstions for "I am NOT Going to Get up Today!" Hes one of my favorite authors from when I was a young girl. All in all a good collection to introduce your child to the wacky world of Dr. Seuss.
50 reviews2 followers
Read
November 23, 2015
Dr. Seuss had all great beginner books. They keep students interested and motivated to keep reading. With great illustration and funny rhyming words students learn to broaden their vocabulary and learn to love reading.
Profile Image for Tuscania.
345 reviews16 followers
January 9, 2010
I love the collections of Dr.Seuss, we also own the Big Blue book. I'm always looking out to see if there are any more Big books.
Profile Image for B.
220 reviews8 followers
January 7, 2014
It's Dr. Seuss! What more can you say? Inspirational, appropriate and fun for any age.
Profile Image for Erin.
219 reviews
July 1, 2014
This was our first time reading some of these stories by Dr. Seuss. Me and my kids (4 and 5) laughed our way through it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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