The Lorax

The Lorax

Author	Dr. Seuss
Illustrator	Dr. Seuss
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	1
Genre	Children's literature
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	June 18, 1971 (renewed 1999)
Pages	64
ISBN	0-394-82337-0
OCLC	183127
Dewey Decimal	[E]
LC Class	PZ8.3.G276 Lo
Preceded by	Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
Followed by	Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!

The Lorax is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971.^[1] It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, the main character, who "speaks for the trees" and confronts the Once-ler, a business magnate who causes environmental destruction.

The story is commonly recognized as a fable concerning the danger of greed causing human destruction of the natural environment, using the literary element of personification to create relatable characters for industry (the Once-ler), the environment (the Truffula trees) and environmental activism (the Lorax). The story encourages activism and involvement in making the situation better: a quote from the Lorax states, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not". The Lorax shows Dr Seuss’s views on climate change and pollution, teaching kids about how important it is to do our part to protect our environment or in this case truffula trees.

It was Dr. Seuss's personal favorite of his books. He was able to create an engaging story addressing industrial/economic and environmental issues. Dr. Seuss stated: "The Lorax came out of me being angry. The ecology books I'd read were dull...In The Lorax I was out to attack what I think are evil things and let the chips fall where they might".^[2]