Home dr seuss the butter battle book analysis whats up with the. This is very similar to something that happened during the cold war. It teaches some valuable lessons that we are all effectively the same with slight differences and questions why we often resort to violence as our first means of. The butter battle book is about two groups of people. Even from an early age i have loved dr seuss, and i find the animated versions of his work on the most part classics1966s how the grinch stole christmas is my favourite. And this high school senior is unashamed to say that dr. Think of examples of factions religious, political, local, sportsrelated, etc. Your ending must be at least 2 paragraphs long and be in the style of dr. An absolute masterpiece that i just couldnt stop reading. After reading, have a discussion about what precipitated the conflict between the zooks and the yooks. There is a wall that separates the two, similar to the berlin wall in germany. Seuss books but i had never heard of the butter battle book until that day in creative writing class.
It was published by random house books for young readers on january 12, 1984. Grandpa yook spied on the zooks from the other side of the wall. This story thus lends itself to a discussion with children about the concept of war itself, the moral issues related to war and the outcomes of retaliatory acts. The butter battle book this cautionary cold war tale has a lot to teach about intolerance and how titfortat violence can quickly get out of hand. It could be a book, a movie or something someone told you. As parents, we must help our children form the skills they need to solve. The book ends with both the yooks and the zooks developing a bomb called the bigboy boomero, which parallels the us and the ussrs development of nuclear weapons and reaching parity.
The yooks think that everyone should eat bread with the butter side up. Explore pictures, learn new vocabulary, and follow along with three fun ways to read. This book was written during the cold war era and reflects the concerns of the time, especially the perceived possibility that all life on earth could be destroyed in a nuclear war. What could have been done to diffuse the situation. In part, the purpose of this book is to show how the life and times of butter have been deeply entwined. That is what the yooks and the zooks think in the the butter battle book by dr. Grandpa gritted his so cant trust a zook who every must he has in his.
The characters are relateable and the drawings are typical dr. The butter battle book is an allegory for the nuclear arms race and the state of mutually assured destruction mad that occurred during the cold war. From what i understand so far, the yooks represent the united states and the zooks represent the soviet union during the cold war. Ralph bakshis the butter battle book is not an exception. Needless to say my very knowledgeable sixth graders proceeded to tell me how the butter battle book is actually a political story about the cold war. In the butter battle book, the factions form over a trivial issue and escalate to the point of nearly destroying each other.
The soviet union launched its first nuclear weapon in 1949, an event that started an arms race between the united states and the soviet union. There are so many possibilities for the ending but this is the one i didnt expect, one that brought me to tears. Butter battle assignment rubric grade of 2 your ending shows a creative ending to the book you show how the ending would be in dr. While reading the butter battle book, take note of the number of times the conflict escalates. Nowadays the yooks and zooks have come out of their hole and resumed their lives. Join the yooks and zooks in this interactive book app as they argue over eating bread with the butterside up or butterside down.
Jul 30, 2008 nowadays the yooks and zooks have come out of their hole and resumed their lives. The butter battle book discussion guide scholastic. I first read this book, from a book fair, while waiting on a parent to arrive at her scheduled conference with me. Seuss and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Due to his weight problems and awkward nature, butter is a in my english class, we are required to read at least one book each month, and for the month of november i read butter by erin jade lange. The butter battle book is a rhyming story written by dr. The butter battle books story parallels to the cold war.
These are the kinds of topics you will need to be familiar with to do well when. The butter battle book is a pretty clear allegory for the. Perhaps if more adults read this book back in the day it wouldnt have taken until the 90s for the cold war to end. The book ends with both the yooks and the zooks developing a bomb called the bigboy boomero, which parallels the us and the ussrs development of. Hundreds of millions of copies have found their way into homes and hearts around the world. Seuss, grandpa is portrayed as the united states military while van itch is the soviet union military. The idea is they are to compare and contrast the two books. Critics usually read the yooks as the united states and. Check out our section on meaning for more on this one.
While i am more familiar with and prefer chuck jones visual style, the animation is very good, not always smooth but always colourful and vibrant. Encourage literacy skills with highlighted narration follow. An example of propaganda i found was the posters that said butter the side up or. Seusss tale is an allegory for the nuclear arms race during world war ii and the. In the butter battle book, there is a conflict between the yooks and the zooks over how to butter bread.
Seusss long list of awards includes caldecott honors for. I have to explain examples of propaganda in the story and what this book makes an argument for. Or if it is, were reading way too much into it more likely, dr. Each lives on one side of a large stone wall that divides their territory. The butter battle book classic seuss kindle edition by dr.
This book was published in 1984, and it was written as an allegory to the cold war. Seuss injects humor into this serious tale of conflict, offering a great opportunity for a student discussion on valuing diversity. While you watch the butter battleon the flow chart below, write down the major steps taken by each side to escalate theconflict in the story. Trumans 1947 policy of containment, the theory the communist governments would eventually fail. Who will win the great battle between the yooks and zooks in the end.
The butter battle book is about two groups of people, the yooks and the zooks, who fight over an extremely trivial matter, which side of the bread the groups eat their butter on. He did this to keep the zooks on their side of the wall. Seuss and undoubtedly his darkest written during and intended to reflect directly on the cold war, it tells the story of an arms race between the yooks and the zooks, whose villages are divided by a wall all because they cant agree on which side of their bread to butter, leading up to what is all but stated to be a mutually assured. Though both of them had this very powerful weapon, we do not know whether or not grandpa yook or van itch applied this to their defense for their country.
The butter battle book is a great seussian look at the follies of mankind as we attempt to have the biggest, best, fastest, mostest weapons. The butter battle book was a new york times notable book of the year. Then finally he said, with a very bad shake of his very old head, as you know, on this side of the wall we are yooks. Have students brainstorm constructive ways to solve the conflict, and write their responses on chart paper.
We will use your feedback to improve the experience for every teacher on our site. Butter battle book state college area school district. Butter battle assignment on notebook page 104106 choose 1 option 1 write an ending to the story. A rich history by elaine khosrova, paperback barnes. Try one of the apps below to open or edit this item. Butter meaning in the cambridge english dictionary.
The yooks and zooks share a love of buttered bread, but animosity brews between the two groups because they prefer to enjoy the tasty treat differently. Over the issue of how the yooks and zooks butter their bread. What is the source of conflict in the butter battle book and why was it written. Students use the classic childrens book, the butter battle by dr. My job is to analyze the satire and theme of the butter battle book. The cold war arms race in the butter battle book shmoop. This is the page when both van itch and grandpa yook had the bitsy big boy boomeroo neclear bomb. A rich history tells the epic backstory of a beloved spread.
The score has the right mix of whimsy and energy, while the songs are very catchy and succeed in making dr seuss classic rhymes highly. An example of propaganda i found was the posters that said butter the side up or butter. The book is about an obese high school student named marshall. The themes in the butter battle book are as relevant as ever.
Written in response to the arms buildup and nuclear war threat, the butter battle book uses the simplicity of a childrens rhyming. It is an antiwar story about the arms race, mad, and nuclear weapons. The butter battle book questions lesson plan template and teaching resources. It portrays this event as a parody by using two different armies fighting over the way to butter your bread. A feud between two different races, the yooks and the zooks, progressively develops to the degree that each attempts to supersede the other in the development of weaponry. In my language arts class my students had to read the sneetches by dr. The butter battle book and the cold war essay sample. No big shots where actually fired between the us and the soviet union. Seuss forgotten antiwar book made him an enemy of the right.
The butter battle book manages to distill the ridiculousness of the cold war and mutually assured destruction into terms a child could understand. The butter battle book, like the cold war, was an arms race. In this lesson, learn about their disagreement and what can happen. Seusss classic cautionary tale, introduces readers to the important lesson of respecting differences. The butter battle book discusses the arms race between the united states vs. Truly addictive, inspiring and relevant, butter is a book that will stay with you for a long time, and id recommend this to anybody, as youll be hooked by the first chapter. The butter battle book teaching children philosophy. The yooks the zooks the wall there is a wall in the book that separates the two sides. Buy featured book title butter subtitle a rich history. The butter battle book and the cold war the cold war was cold primarily because of the threat of nuclear weapons. The wall falls you and three others will write an ending to dr. Because of the cliffhanger, we are called to resolve in our minds that which the yooks. Seventh grade lesson the butter battle book betterlesson. The butter battle book the butter battle book is a picture book written by dr.
The butter battle book by christian johnson on prezi. The timeless and topical rhyming text is an ideal way to teach young children about the issues of tolerance. Beginning with early butter practices devised for the religious, spiritual, and medicinal needs of communities, to its impact on empire building and technology of the industrial revolution, and later to butters twentiethcentury battle with margarine makers and fatfree zealots, this is a food, unlike any other, whose history reveals our. Based on what you have viewed and read about the butter battle and the cold war.
The blue yooks who butter their bread butterside up and the orange. Due to his weight problems and awkward nature, butter is a in my english class, we are required to read at least one book each month, and for the month of november i. The zooks think that everyone should eat bread with the butter side down. Mar 12, 2014 my job is to analyze the satire and theme of the butter battle book. The difference between the two cultures is that while the yooks eat their bread with the butterside up, the zooks eat their bread with the butterside down. The salt from its origins as a happy accident 10,000 years ago, to its role as the centerpiece of a school rebellion, the. The butter battle book and the cold war english project.
It was published by random house on january 12, 1984. Seuss published the book in 1984, the berlin wall was still standing, so the allegory was especially current and topical. In the hate filled climate that our current president has fostered here in the us, this is a great reminder that were all the same, we just butter our. The butter battle book spoke powerfully against the hacks behind the. The butter battle book is an allegory for the nuclear arms race and the state of mutually assured. The butter battle book and the cold war english project by. The two groups manufacture extremely similar weapons and are on opposite sides of a wall dividing the two. Seusss tale is an allegory for the nuclear arms race during world war ii and the cold war. Thank you so much for being part of the betterlesson community. The butter battle book isnt really about buttering bread.
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