Save Dr. Seuss

The library in Pine Ridge wasn't big. It was a single story building with three rooms. The main room, reference room and the children's room. It was neat, clean and well-lit.

You could find books about almost anything in the main library. The reference room held various history books and maps along with encyclopedias. The children's library was for reading to small children and books for those just learning to read. It was colorful with posters of storybook characters telling them the benefits of reading.

The librarian was a middle-aged woman named Julia Philpot. She kept everything in order and wasn't against talking unless you got to loud. She greeted everyone who entered with a smile.

The news around the library was that there was an effort by some people to ban some of Dr. Seuss' books. It was an unpopular idea among the people of Pine Ridge because most of them grew up with Dr. Seuss' stories and read them to their children. They didn't want their library to remove any of them.

The word got around to the children's library room.

One night after Mrs. Philpot had set everything back in order and Jim the janitor had swept and mopped the floor, the library was locked up for the night. That's when the residents of the children's library came to life.

Seuss characters gathered at a small round table to discuss the subject.

"I owe him my life," said the Fox with socks.

"All that I am I owe to him," said the Cat in the hat while Thing 1 and Thing 2 did somersaults on the table.

Yertle the turtle ambled slowly to the table. He didn't have anything to say, he just didn't want to miss anything.

The other storybook characters were concerned, too. They gathered around to show their support.

"What are we going to do about this?' Sam I Am asked.

"What can we do? asked Cinderella.

The wise owl on one of the posters said, "Whoo!"

"I think I hear a who," said Horton.

"No," said the Grinch, "all the whos are in Whoville."

"We need to hold a protest," the Lorax said.

"We agree," said the three little pigs in unison.

"But how?" said Alice.

"I have a wocket in my pocket," Llama Llama said.

"And just where do you have a pocket?" Tigger asked.

"In my red pajamas," Llama Llama replied.

"I agree with the idea of a protest," Cat in the hat said. "But how do we go about it?"

"We could mess up this room," the Mad Hatter said. "Show them we are angry."

"Good idea," Sam I Am said.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 started by scattering magazines. One fish, two fish, red fish and blue fish jumped around in and out of their fish bowl splashing water all over the table.

Jack and Jill got so exited they tumbled off the bookshelf. Humpty Dumpty got so upset over Jack and Jill falling that he rolled of his shelf and scrambled himself on the floor. Bob the builder tried to figure out how to fix him. The little engine that could told Bob to move over saying, "I think I can, I think I can." In the end neither of them could put Humpty together again.

"Is anyone hungry?" asked Little Red Riding Hood. "I have food in my basket."

"Do you have any honey?" asked Pooh.

The wicked queen offered Pooh an apple which he wisely refused.

Rumpelstiltskin started throwing books across the room. The three little pigs started building houses out of them.

The seven dwarves started singing "Hi, Ho" and marching around the room, waking Sleeping Beauty. She yelled at them to pipe down, she was trying to sleep.

Rapunzel let down her hair from the top shelf. Prince Charming tried to climb up it but got tangled in it. This cause Rapunzel to fall off her shelf and and get her hair even more tangled.

"We need to get more organized!" shouted the Lorax.

Snow White and Cinderella started to clean up the mess.

"Not that way! Leave the mess. We need to make plans," the Lorax said.

"Plans for what? Other than making a mess in here, what can we do?" Horton asked.

They sat around the table to discuss the issue. No one spoke.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 found some crayons and started writing "Save Dr. Seuss" on the windows, posters and the tables while Smokey the Bear scowled down at them from his poster.

Hansel and Gretel started dropping bread crumbs on the floor while the Cheshire cat disappeared leaving only a big grin.

Llama Llama pooped on the floor and Piglet slipped on it and nearly knocked Eeyore off his feet. Cinderella rushed to clean up the mess with magazine pages.

"We've got to rearrange the room," Cat in the hat said. "Move the tables to one side, the chairs on the other. Turn the books around on the shelves and mix them up."

Rapunzel untangled herself from Prince Charming and started to cry.

"What are you crying about?" he asked.

"I'll never get these tangles out of all this hair," she said.

Thing 1 brought her a pair of scissors and she started to cut her hair. Rumpelstiltskin hurried to pick up the hair and put it in his pockets.

They all pitched in and made a terrible mess in the children's library. Satisfied and weary, they slid into books at random. As a result, Thing 1 and Thing 2 ended up in Yertle the Turtle's story, Horton wound up living with the three little pigs, Alice and the Cat in the Hat went riding on the Magic School Bus, and Cinderella ended up in Llama Llama's red pajamas.

In the morning Mrs. Philpot unlocked the door and stepped into the library. Looking around she saw the main room still neat and clean, as was the reference room. Then she gasped, both hands in front of her mouth and her eyes wide.

The children's library was a mess. She ran to the door and found it still locked. How did this happen? She called Jim the janitor to ask if he had come back during the night. He said he hadn't left home after work. She told him what she had found and he said he'd be right over.

She hadn't entered the room but could see through the windows what had been done: tables and chairs out of place, books turned around backwards, magazines all over the floor and "Save Dr. Seuss" written all over the place.

When Jim arrived she showed him what she had found. All he could say was, "I guess we better not get rid of any Dr. Seuss books."