''Hop on Pop'' is a 1963 children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

Beginner Books Beginner Books is the Random House imprint for young children ages 3–9, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel. Their first book was Dr. Seuss's '' The Cat in the Hat'' (1 ...

series. The book is subtitled "The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use", and contains several short poems about a variety of characters designed to introduce basic

phonics Phonics is a method for teaching people how to read and write an alphabetic language (such as English, Arabic or Russian). It is done by demonstrating the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters or g ...

concepts to children.

History

One of Geisel's manuscript drafts for the book contained the lines, "When I read I am smart / I always cut whole words apart. / Con Stan Tin O Ple, Tim Buk Too / Con Tra Cep Tive, Kan Ga Roo."Thomas Fensch. ''The Man Who Was Seuss''. New Century Books, 2001. 149. Geisel had included the contraceptive reference to ensure that publisher

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

was reading the

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

. Cerf did notice the line, and the poem was changed to the following: "My father / can read / big words, too. / Like... / Constantinople / and / Timbuktu."

Reception

A popular choice of elementary school teachers and children's librarians, ''Hop on Pop'' ranked sixteenth on ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'''s 2001 list of the all-time best-selling hardcover books for children. Based on a 2007 online poll, the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stud ...

listed the book as one of their "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." One of Hop on Pop's most notable advocates is former

United States First Lady The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

Laura Bush, who listed the book as her favourite in a 2006 ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' article. "It features Dr. Seuss's typically wonderful illustrations and rhymes, of course, but the main thing for me is the family memory—the loving memory—that the book evokes of

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

lying on the floor and reading it to our daughters, Barbara and Jenna. They were little bitty things, and they took ''Hop on Pop'' literally, and jumped on him—we have the pictures to prove it," she wrote. In 2013, an official complaint was made to the

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pub ...

that the book "encourages children to use violence against their fathers." The library decided against removing the book, finding it "is a humorous and well-loved children’s book designed to engage children while teaching them reading skills."Lauren O'Neil,
Toronto library asked to ban 'violent' Dr. Seuss book Hop on Pop
" ''CBC News'', April 30, 2014, URL accessed May 1, 2014.

External links

Seussville

References

{{Dr. Seuss 1963 children's books Books by Dr. Seuss American picture books Random House books

History

Reception

See also

External links

References