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What good is a Seuss book look with story took?
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An Australian publisher is giving us Dr. Seuss-flavored puzzles with a couple word games packaged to look so much like the original books that buyers could be deceived.
Its One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish comes out August 1 – a 6-inch by 6-inch, 16-page paperback activity book glued into the left inside cover of an 8.5-inch by 7-inch magnetic closure box. Inside the box on the right are four compartments containing four 24-piece jigsaw puzzles. They’re color-coordinated by the rim, so kids won’t get them mixed up. That’s all well and good.
But I was confused when my sample of this package came from the distributor – Scholastic. Except for the cut-out puzzle windows at the bottom, the box looks a lot like the original book – almost the same color and size and illustrations. I was sure the original book was in there.
No so! Even though it says “puzzle-story,” and that led me to believe the story was there, there are only a few rhymes from the original text in the little activity book. Moreover, the book box claims, on the cover, to include “lots of zany activities.” This appears to be an exaggeration. There are only two – “Count the Humps” on Mr. Gump’s Wump, and a bunch of pictures where you find the red fish, blue fish, etc. This falls somewhat short of zany.
The puzzles could be fun for preschoolers, but they don’t replace the book. Compare this $15 package with a copy of the marvelous, 62-page classic that comes in at between $4 and $9, depending where you look. It’s even less costly used, and that does nothing to detract from the inimitable Seussian word-cadences inside. Like:
"Once there was a little Nook. On his hat he had a hook. On his hook he had a book. On his book was 'How to Cook'. But a Nook can't read and a Nook can't cook, so what good to a Nook is a hook cook book?"
What good is a set of puzzles if you miss that?
This offering, I see, follows the April release of a similar Green Eggs and Ham “jigstory.” Why? (I mean, besides to make money for the publisher and distributor.)
