The Bibliography

Bibliography

Yertle, Hitler, and Dr. Seuss by Richard H. Minear, professor of history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and author of Dr. Seuss Goes to War. From Your Favourite Seuss, published 2004.

From the book Your Favourite Seuss, which contains thirteen Dr. Seuss stories and essays concerning each of them, the foundation of the project was set. From the essay by Richard H. Minear before Dr. Seuss's Yertle the Turtle, we discovered the message and intention behind Yertle's character: Yertle the Turtle is Adolf Hitler.

In the essay, Minear explains Dr. Seuss's clever way to describe fascism through his artwork and stories. He recounts how Dr. Seuss had originally drew Yertle with Hitler's infamous moustache, although it was later removed. Minear also makes reference to Seuss's political cartoons from the second world war, one of which showed a 'V for Victory', prefiguring the tower of turtles in Yertle the Turtle.

Minear's essay gets gives a general overview of Seuss's intentions as a teacher: in tolerance (The Sneeches), in environmental awareness (The Lorax), again the nuclear arms race (The Butter Battle Book) and more. He also brings to life Seuss's words again, something to be kept in mind while researching and writing about Dr. Seuss's work: “Outside of my Beginner Books, I never write for children. I write for people.”



The Doctrine of Fascism – Benito Mussolini co-written by Giovanni Gentile, translation from Fascism Doctrine and Institutions, by Benito Mussolini

This article, a translation from a text published in 1935, is a direct representation of Benito Mussolini's views on fascism. It gave an inside idea of the workings of a fascist government and the the expected standards of the public. This article was researched for information on a fascist nation for the essay. Mussolini's government, like Hitler's, was an example of complete power in the hands of the one at the top of the stack, so to speak. Mussolini's views of how the political system should work is directly mirrored in Yertle the Turtle. And like King Yertle, Mussolini and his ideas displayed in this article ended up in the mud.

-Maddie