Hop on Pop

Subtitled "The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use," this book is perfect for teaching the rudiments of reading. Simple rhyming words, such as PUP and UP, are stacked one over the other in large capitals, so that readers see that "up" is contained in the word "pup." Sentences using these words are accompanied by humorous illustrations to complete the playful reading lesson.

It s difficult to imagine the children s book landscape without Dr. Seuss, who is, almost half a century after The Cat in the Hat, the best-recognized children s book writer in the country. But until Dr. Seuss -- a.k.a. Theodor Seuss Geisel -- reinvented the genre with his colorful and exuberant Sneetches, Grinches, Zaxes, and Zooks, children s books were often little more than literal-minded lessons and cautionary tales intended to transform young readers into productive citizens.