The Lorax - Truffula Trees with Dipping Sauces

"UNLESS someone like you
cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better.
It's not," - The Lorax, Dr. Seuss

So. It's Banned Books Week and we're talking banned and challenged books. I thought long and hard about which book I wanted to feature this week. At first I had another title chosen but it was a book that my kids don't particularly enjoy. They really, really like Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, though, and guess what--this book was once banned. Really? Dr. Seuss? What about this book, with its peaceful message of environmentalism and sustainability (perhaps more relevant now than when it was published in 1971) could be cause for concern?

Uh, apparently that very message. Way back in 1989 some parents in the Laytonville (CA) Unified School District decided the book "criminalized the forestry industry" and had an "anti-logging message"; they attempted to get it removed from the elementary school's reading list. While their attempt to ban the book was unsuccessful, it goes to show that people can and will get upset about anything. We're used to hearing about books that are challenged due to profanity or their depictions of violence, sexuality, race or class relations. . . you get the idea. But attempting to ban a gentle children's story about the importance of respecting our environment? Now, Laytonville does happen to be a logging town (I'm highly amused by the idea of a bunch of burly loggers getting all up in arms over a Dr. Seuss book) so I can understand the concern but does that warrant restricting access to a book? Shouldn't kids--especially kids growing up in this industry--be exposed to the very real consequences of deforestation? Even if you didn't know that I send my son to the hippy dippiest kindergarten you can imagine (you do now!), the fact that I am writing a post speaking out against the censorship of books should tell you my thoughts on the subject.

As far as the story itself goes, The Lorax is a cautionary tale told by the Once-ler, a character who once found fame and fortune by chopping down Truffula Trees and making Thneeds from their tufts. There is such a demand for Thneeds that he brings in more workers, and machines, and builds factories. All the while he must deal with The Lorax, a nuisance of a guy who "speak[s] for the trees" and keeps popping up to tell him that cutting down the trees is wrong and that he's slowly poisoning the area. There is no more Truffula Fruit to feed the Bar-ba-loots and the polluted waters can't sustain the Humming-Fish population. Eventually, the Once-ler relates, there is no life left where the Truffula Trees once grew abundant. The last tree has been felled and the native wildlife has been driven away. As has The Lorax. The pictures, once vibrant oranges, purples, greens and pinks take on a grayish, nightmarish tone. The only hope, the Once-ler cautions, is for you (the reader) to care "a whole awful lot." Then, when the trees are replanted and life returns, The Lorax might come back.

As I type this I can't help but wonder if Wall-E was at least partially inspired by The Lorax.

The Lorax is a subtly powerful book and a wonderful way to introduce kids to the concepts of environmentalism and green living. Even though, admittedly, my kids weren't interested in pursuing that line of conversation right after we finished reading. Maybe it's enough that they're slowly absorbing the message each time we read it, and they don't even know it.

When I am choosing books and recipes to feature here I don't always have a plan. Sometimes I get the idea for a recipe as we're reading the book. Other times I choose a book and craft a recipe to fit the book. Or I choose a recipe and find a book that works. This time I chose the book well before I had any food ideas. I was struck with inspiration as I meandered through my local produce market and came face to face with a display of colored cauliflower. Is it just me or do the green, purple and orange crucifers look particularly Seussian? They became the inspiration for today's snack:

Truffula Trees with Dipping Sauces

Ingredients:

• Brightly hued cauliflower
• Dipping sauces (we used hummus, raspberry dressing and garlic-Caesar dressing)

1. My plan, initially, was to simply serve the cauliflower alongside the dipping sauces and let the boys go to town. However, they were very insistent that we make the actual trees. My older son was the one to come up with a suggestion as to how we could make them: "Use celery!" We tried to attach the cauliflower to celery stalks using peanut butter as glue but the celery really couldn't support the weight of the cauliflower and the peanut butter was not the most effective glue so we settled for a pretty picture of what the trees would have looked like:

Here's the original:

2. What I actually ended up doing was putting the celery and cauliflower in a bowl and preparing small cups of our dipping "sauces."

I do realize it's a little ironic that this book is about conservation and I've chosen to prepare a snack that is supposed to represent the very trees that were being cut down. Personally, I consider it a victory that I got my children excited about eating vegetables as an after school snack.

This book is part of a Banned Books Week roundup hosted by Nikki of Are you there youth? It's me Nikki. Check out her blog on October 2 for links to other Banned Books Week posts from around the blogosphere. Her Banned Books Week review of the Harry Potter series can be found here.

Green Eggs and Ham - Green Eggs Benedict

"Say! I like green eggs and ham! I do! I like them, Sam-I-am! And I would eat them in a boat. And I would eat them with a goat... And I will eat them in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train." - Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss                                                                                                                        

 I was trying to avoid the cliche of it all but really, it's kind of hard to have a blog about children's books and food without paying homage to the classic that marries the two: Green Eggs and Ham. Especially on this week, Read Across America week, which celebrates the birth and contributions of Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss.

Green Eggs and Ham tells the story of a rather stuffy, set in his ways character who steadfastly refuses to try the green eggs and ham offered by the infamous Sam-I-am. The real delight, for kids, is in the increasingly crazy places Sam-I-am attempts to serve the meal. My kids like the train. Finally, as the book comes to an end, our picky eater cautiously tries the green eggs and ham only to discover--yes!--he does like green eggs and ham.

This book, along with other Seuss favorites like The Cat in the Hat, has become a classic book for beginning readers. So important are Seuss' contributions to children's literature and early literacy that Read Across America Week--a National Education Association program designed to encourage reading and literacy awareness--is celebrated annually on the week of his birthday (March 2). Schools, libraries and communities often prepare special lessons and programs in conjunction with this week. For instance, last year my older son's kindergarten class read Dr. Suess books in class and learned about his artistic style. Last year, because my son had become so interested in Dr. Seuss' books, I made my kids breakfast sandwiches with green eggs to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday. This year we twisted the classic green eggs and ham and made...

Green Eggs Benedict (Serves 4)


Ingredients:

• 6 eggs (this served 2 adults and 2 children)
• fresh baby spinach
• hollandaise sauce (I used a Martha Stewart recipe; pre-Celiac disease diagnosis we used the pictured Knorr mix--found in most grocery stores.)
• English muffins
• Canadian bacon (Yes, I know it is green eggs and ham. I figure if pizza joints can substitute ham for Canadian bacon I can take liberties here and use Canadian bacon in place of ham.)
• green food coloring 

1. While heating the water (which I colored green with liquid food coloring) to poach the eggs I browned the Canadian bacon in my iron skillet and prepared the hollandaise sauce. I also started toasting the English muffins and bread (two members of our household are gluten intolerant; we used gluten-free bread in place of English muffins).

2. We poached the eggs, two at a time, in the hot water. The green dye gave the eggs a green hue. At the same time, I used my stick blender to mix green dye into the hollandaise sauce.

3. As the English muffins came out of the toaster and the eggs finished poaching I assembled the Eggs Benedict. I put a piece of Canadian bacon on top of a halved muffin and topped that with some spinach leaves. Traditional Eggs Benedict does not include spinach (that would be Eggs Florentine) but I liked the idea of greening it up nutritionally. Plus, the green just worked with the theme. I set a poached egg atop the spinach and topped everything off with  the green hollandaise. (The heat from the egg and sauce wilts the spinach so I did not pre-cook it.) I think the finished product turned out rather well:

My kids (ages 6 and 4) loved this meal. The green theme worked. They even ate the spinach without complaint. Following our meal we continued our Seussian theme with a round of the Cat in the Hat I Can Do That! game.

Reading is a daily occurrence in our household, but we plan to continue to celebrate Read Across America Week by pulling out our Dr. Seuss books and reading them together. My six year old suggested making a cake for Dr. Seuss--and while we'll stop short of eating it in the bathtub (see: The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (Beginner Books(R)), I'm sure the Cat would approve.

For further reading, I recommend Your Favorite Seuss: A Baker's Dozen by the One and Only Dr. Seuss. We recently checked this out from our local library and my kids enjoyed all of the selections (Happy Birthday to You! in particular). I enjoyed the short biographical sketches that gave an overview of Theodore Geisel's background and philosophy. He really was quite subversive and ahead of his time.