One of my favourite Dr. Seuss’s characters for his environmental sensitivity is definitely the Lorax! Dr. Seuss’s beloved story teaches children to treat the planet with kindness and stand up and speak up for others.
The book is the perfect gift for Earth Day and for any child—or child at heart—who is interested in the environment, recycling, preservation of nature. It was Dr. Seuss’s personal favourite of his books. In his own words: ‘The Lorax came out of me being angry. In The Lorax I was out to attack what I think are evil things and let the chips fall where they might.’
(You can get a lot of ideas for ‘The Lorax Project’ here: We speak for the Earth-The Lorax Project )
The 2012 feature film is also ideal for classroom use in combination with any environmental project: it teaches children the importance of protecting their environment and that nature is not something disposable and pointless. It warns against the dangers of being too greedy and of not thinking about others. (You can get some ideas for after viewing conversations here: Teach with movies-The Lorax )
I have made a Lorax puppet to be used along with the book and/or film. It was crafted in the same way as this wonderful panda: How to make a panda pin puppet
Here he is:
Here are the templates:
