The King’s Stilts

The king”s beloved red stilts are stolen, and he is too distraught to do his job. Patrol Cats laze around. Water level threatens to rise and flood kingdom.

First published in 1939. Written in prose instead of rhyme (unlike Seuss’s later works). Subjects that Dr. Seuss was passionate about throughout his life were: duty (as in ‘Horton Hears a Who’ (1954) and ‘Horton Hatches the Egg’ (1940)); the abuse of power (as in ‘The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins’ (1938) and ‘Yertle the Turtle’ (1958)); deceit (as in ‘The Bippolo Seed’ (1951) and ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ (1957))—and even cats (as in ‘The Cat in the Hat’ (1957) and ‘I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today!’ (1969))!