How the Grinch Stole Christmas (book)
by Dr. Seuss

Children's book review by Steve Barancik

Ages 4-8

Don't forget the book!

One of my fondest memories of college is of how darn little television was watched.

I didn't know anyone with a tv in their room. A few people in the dorms watched soap operas, but they were pretty much considered losers.

The only time I remember hordes of people gathering around the idiot box was during fall semester finals, when How the Grinch Stole Christmas would air. Students would emerge from their study holes and gather around the nearest screen. It never failed!

Well, as brilliant and timeless as that TV special is, it's important to remember that it started as a book!

Believe it or not, before 1957, the word "grinch" didn't exist! That was the year Dr. Seuss's Grinch came out.

(See how many times the phrase Don't be such a grinch appears on the internet.)

Every word in the book made it into the special, from "Every Who down in Who-ville" to "The Grinch carved the roast beast." There was Seuss, criticizing the commercialization of Christmas...before being responsible for its most high-priced commercials!

Now let me be clear: I, like most everyone else, think of the TV version before the book comes to mind. In fact, being a screenwriter I have nothing but respect - actually awe - for what Seuss's fellow genius, Chuck Jones, brought to the project. (And let's not forget Boris Karloff!)

But the book itself was one of the most popular of the 20th century.

So, rather than sit the kids in front of the tube and let them play the animated version over and over...and over...how about adding to the mix a bedtime book version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas that lets the moving picture version play in their minds?

Just a thought!

Visit our Christmas reading gifts page and our great books for Christmas page.

Visit our Christmas reading gifts page.

Complete Dr. Seuss book list. (By the way, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is included in at least one Dr. Seuss book collection. Let us show you!)

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