A cautionary Cold War tale (first told by Dr. Seuss back in 1984), The Butter Battle Book still has a lot to teach about intolerance and how tit-for-tat violence can quickly get out of hand. Explaining the very serious differences between the Zooks and the Yooks, a Zook grandpa tells his grandchild the unspeakable truth: "It's high time that you knew of the terribly horrible thing that Zooks do. In every Zook house and every Zook town every Zook eats his bread with the butter side down! " He then recalls his days with the Zook-Watching Border Patrol, as he gave any Zook who dared come close "a twitch with my tough-tufted prickley Snick-Berry Switch." But when the Zooks fought back, the switches gave way to Triple-Sling Jiggers, then Jigger-Rock Snatchems--even a Kick-a-Poo Kid that was "loaded with powerful Poo-a-Doo Powder and ants' eggs and bees' legs and dried-fried clam chowder." With lots of fun and more-than-fair digs at the runaway spending and one-upmanship of U.S.-Soviet days, The Butter Battle Book makes a chuckle-filled read whether you're old enough to get the historical references or not. (And with all the Bitsy Big-Boy Boomeroos still in service, this book's message is far from obsolete.) (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes "Dr. Seuss chronicles the feud between the Yooks and the Zooks from slingshots through sophisticated weaponry, until each side has the capacity to destroy the world. The language amuses, the drawings are zesty and humorous, and the demand for this book will be large."-- School Library Journal. "Provocative, packs an allegorical punch. The parade of increasingly elaborate (and ridiculous) armaments makes a telling point."-- Booklist. "Dr. Seuss chronicles the feud between the Yooks and the Zooks from slingshots through sophisticated weaponry, until each side has the capacity to destroy the world. The language amuses, the drawings are zesty and humorous, and the demand for this book will be large."-- School Library Journal. "Provocative, packs an allegorical punch. The parade of increasingly elaborate (and ridiculous) armaments makes a telling point."-- Booklist. THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL—aka Dr. Seuss—is one of the most beloved children’s book authors of all time. From The Cat in the Hat to Oh, the Places You’ll Go! , his iconic characters, stories, and art style have been a lasting influence on generations of children and adults. The books he wrote and illustrated under the name Dr. Seuss (and others that he wrote but did not illustrate, including some under the pseudonyms Theo. LeSieg and Rosetta Stone) have been translated into thirty languages. Hundreds of millions of copies have found their way into homes and hearts around the world. Dr. Seuss’s long list of awards includes Caldecott Honors for McElligot’s Pool , If I Ran the Zoo , and Bartholomew and the Oobleck , the Pulitzer Prize, and eight honorary doctorates. Works based on his original stories have won three Oscars, three Emmys, three Grammys, and a Peabody. Read more
Features & Highlights
The Butter Battle Book,
Dr. Seuss's classic cautionary tale, introduces readers to the important lesson of respecting differences. The Yooks and Zooks share a love of buttered bread, but animosity brews between the two groups because they prefer to enjoy the tasty treat differently. The timeless and topical rhyming text is an ideal way to teach young children about the issues of tolerance and respect. Whether in the home or in the classroom,
The Butter Battle Book
is a must-have for readers of all ages.
Customer Reviews
Rating Breakdown
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Most Helpful Reviews
★★★★★
5.0
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Something to think about
Before I get into my review, let me start by saying I missed the Cold War, except for in school history books. That being said, this is an excellent and thought-provoking book for 'kids' of all ages.
This book is about 2 groups, the Yooks and the Zooks, who live separated only by a wall, and are very similar except for the way they butter their bread. This leads to a battle involving constantly bigger weapons, until they come up with the 'big-boy boomeroo', capable of destroying each other's lands. Of course, the book ends before the story does, leaving you guessing on exactly what would happen.
I went through a few stages with this book, making it even better to think about. The first time I heard it, I was about 5, and upset that there was no 'ending'. After a few more times, I decided to use my imagination to create my own ending, which is what many children will do if encouraged by a parent reading with them. As I got older, I realized there was no ending because if it was real, you really wouldn't know how it ended until it happened. This book also made me think about how small differences in people can cause such big problems if you are not open minded. (That was after a few years - in the beginning I wondered why the Zooks didn't just turn their bread upside down and everyone would be the same).
The Butter Battle Book is a wonderful lesson, written in a way that even a child could understand the concept of war, see how differences in people can cause foolish problems, and use their imaginations. I would recommend it to anyone.
60 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Fun read with good message
We have a 3 month old at home and I wanted something a little bit more enjoyable (for me) to read. I had never heard of this Dr. Seuss book but it's now one of my favorites. It seems funny to write this in the review of a book for little kids, but it is a great allegory to the cold war and the subsequent arms race that followed. It teaches some valuable lessons that we are all effectively the same with slight differences and questions why we often resort to violence as our first means of dealing with a problem. In the hate filled climate that our current president has fostered here in the US, this is a great reminder that we're all the same, we just butter our bread a little different than our neighbor which is OK!
34 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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A story that leaves a thought provoking ending
Dr. Seuss takes one of the most historic eras of the twentieth century and transforms it into one of life's lessons that may appeal to young and old. The Butter Battle Book was first published in 1984 during the latter part of the Cold War of the mid 1980s. The story involves two communities, the Yooks and the Zooks, and what can they possibly be in conflict with? The right and wrong of spreading butter on a piece of bread, the Yooks argue that butter should be spread on top of the bread while the Zooks believe it should be spread on the bottom side of the bread. What arises after each cannot come to a consensus?
The entire premise of the story involves building new inventive concoctions to deter the opposing group. As all of this is going on within each side, the Yooks and the Zooks simply cannot see an end to the conflict. Instead, they continue to build and build bigger walls and massive machinery with the attempt that one will give up. However, neither side gives in. And as one reads the story, one of the resolutions that neither side even attempted, a peaceful means of negotiation through communication and speaking with each side rather than producing more unnecessary inventions that simply have not worked. So where does the story end? Where it began.
The Butter Battle Book is one of Dr. Seuss's classic stories that falls within the same vein as other controversial storylines that speaks to the masses and offers a lesson, The Lorax. This story also leaves much room for further discussion almost twenty years after it was written as well as within the present day.
20 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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This is hands down my favorite Dr. Seuss book
This is hands down my favorite Dr. Seuss book. I raved about it so much to my students that when one of my students graduated he gave me a copy. I have since given this book to all the little kids in my life.
The drawings are topnotch and the whimsical names for things are classic Dr. Seuss. But that isn't why it is my favorite book. The Butter Battle Book manages to distill the ridiculousness of the Cold War and mutually assured destruction into terms a child could understand. Perhaps if more adults read this book back in the day it wouldn't have taken until the 90's for the Cold War to end.
17 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Not just for kids
"Butter Battle" tells the story of the Yooks and Zooks, two identical races living on two sides of a high wall, differing only in how they butter their bread. The book is about passing on prejudice and hatred to children, when grandfather reveals the terrible bread-buttering practices of those who live on the other side. It's about hair-trigger readiness for war, and the arms race. All this, with Seuss' rhyming prose and vivid, funny illustrations.
"Butter Battle" was a departure for Dr. Seuss, a serious book about the nature of war and the nuclear arms race. Perhaps he wrote it with the Cold War in mind, and some object that the book trivializes the nature of that conflict. But our history since 1984 provides too many examples of what Seuss was talking about--the Balkan conflicts, India-Pakistan, the Middle East. The book isn't widely available (except on Amazon!) but it's certainly worth tracking down. I used it in an "English as a Second Language" class on discrimination and prejudice. They loved it!
13 people found this helpful
★★★★★
4.0
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Seuss's darkest and most political work
The title above should be prefaced by 'as far as I know', since I haven't read everything by Dr. Seuss, but anyway...
This book tries to show the folly of war, specifically the cold war, and arms races, by all of Dr. Seuss's usual tricks: the creation of new words for objects representative of things in our own world, and beautiful, colorful environments which act as twisted mirror images of our own world. The book also, however, can be viewed as showing the necessity of arms races, since, as the book implies, if one side doesn't match the threat of the other, than the other will strike. The only problem I see with it though, is that the entire book, especially the ending, might be a bit too much for younger kids, which is what Dr. Seuss's audiance has become. Sadly older children (10 to 12) would probably much rather read something that seems more mature, since by this age they're perfectly capable of reading chapter books.
A surprisingly well writen political commentary by a children's author, The Butter Battle Book can easily be viewed as a Seuss classic.
12 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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A cautionary story that many adults should read!
I remember hearing about this book some years ago, but it was only recently that I began to think of it again. When the images coming out of the middle east and Israel began circulating, and it seemed that retaliation by both sides kept building and building to the point of human nonsense, this book came to mind.
The story contains the Zooks and the Yooks. They are both similar in their looks, but it is by the means which they butter their bread, that they are at odds with each other. Zooks butter their bread upside down, while yooks right-side up. It is this dispute that causes them to not get along, as an older Zook tells his grandson. Then one day, Grandpa patrols the wall, when his guard device, a "Snickberry Switch," is destroyed by a Yook named Van Itch. It is this that leads to the chain reaction of arms and almost total foolishness, as the Zooks and the Yooks begin building larger and stranger devices to keep the other at bay. finally, it all comes down to the "Bitty Big Boy Boomeroo." A tiny device about the size of a gumball. It causes both Yooks and Zooks to take cover, but the Grandfather Zook and Van Itch stand at the wall, waiting to see who will drop their first. In a children's story, this is quite a world view. Much as the Lorax was on the fact of nature and the care it must have to be maintained, this book delves greatly into the human psyche. Why is it that becuase of subtle differences, we, ashuman beings, cannot look past these and accept the others. Mainly, I read this book thinking of the Arab and Plaestinian conflict in thet middle east. If a child needed a book to read to show them the follies to avoid in their adult life, I'd recommend this one for sure.
10 people found this helpful
★★★★★
1.0
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Not appropriate for young children
This is not appropriate book for young children. It's a bit violent with too much political undercurrents. The rhythm and rhyme are off as well. Choose another Seuss book.
9 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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Spreading peace and not putting it on so "thick"
Unlike any of his other books, Dr. Suess's "The Butter Battle Book" is as close to an anti-war book as any children's text could be. It tells of two warring countries divided by a great wall. The similarity between the East and the West of pre-fall of the Berlin Wall is evident to the plot.
The Zooks on one side of the wall eat their bread with the butter side down; the Yooks on the side eat their bread with the butter side up. This is the reason for the conflict. Each side feels that theirs is the correct manner for eating bread. Becoming suspicious of each other, they construct this wall and devise military means to defend themselves from any attack from the other side. Humorously, the author portrays military strategists as obsessive little men that endlessly work in backrooms creating greater weapons of destruction.
The story ends with the two opposing generals facing each other with the ultimate bomb that will destroy the enemy's land. The grandson of one general asks the question, "Who's going to drop it?" The reply is, "Be patient...we will see."
A powerful statement is this for it raises questions about our own relationship in the World Order. Dr. Suess, known for his whimsical excursion into fantasy and lyrical rhyme, has not abandoned these elements. He has just expanded his horizons by writing a children's book for adults. This work should be required reading for military and government leaders worldwide!
The theme of acceptance of differences is the key to this story. When one realizes this, then peace truly will exist on this planet.
How necessary is this since the event of 9/11!
9 people found this helpful
★★★★★
5.0
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More than the birds and the bees...
Children need this book NOW!
Some reviewers feel it is outdated!?!? Look around you.
This book couldn't be more appropriate now, as our children ask questions about, and struggle to understand, war and conflict between peoples.
Lessons about what war is, and what war isn't, are always important, even during times of peace.
Some reviewers rejoice in our almighty military machine, others recognize this as an allegory about the potential dangers of military proliferation.
Read it for yourself. This is not just a children's book. Dr. Seuss has provided a tool to start a dialogue between peoples, young and old, about the all too high cost of conflict.
More importantly, use this book as a starting point to help children understand our world, and some of the difficulties between people.
They need more from you than just the birds and the bees . . .
