Quick take: The Sneetches and Other Stories is one of those Dr. Seuss collections that earns its place on the bookshelf. It includes four very different stories, but in our house one of the standouts is What Was I Scared Of?—a funny, slightly spooky story about a mysterious pair of pale-green pants.
Book at a glance
Book: The Sneetches and Other Stories
Author: Dr. Seuss
Format: Hardcover collection
Length: 72 pages
Recommended age: 5–9
Stories: The Sneetches, The Zax, Too Many Daves, and What Was I Scared Of?
Themes: Acceptance, empathy, stubbornness, individuality, fear and courage
The copy we read
This is the Dr. Seuss collection sitting on our own bookshelf. Our copy has been read, handled and revisited—the way a kids' book should be. Rather than reviewing a standalone edition of one story, we're reviewing The Sneetches and Other Stories as the collection our family actually owns and reads.
Four stories in one book
The Sneetches and Other Stories brings together four Dr. Seuss stories. The title story, The Sneetches, tackles belonging and the silliness of deciding who matters based on superficial differences. The Zax turns stubbornness into an absurd standoff, while Too Many Daves is a short, playful exercise in Seussian names and imagination.
Then there is What Was I Scared Of?, which takes the collection in a slightly spookier direction—and happens to be the story that gets the biggest reaction from our two youngest boys.
The story our boys keep coming back to
Our two youngest boys love What Was I Scared Of?, and the part that gets them every time is the mysterious pair of pale-green pants that keeps appearing and following the narrator around.
The premise is just strange enough to feel spooky but ridiculous enough that it never becomes too serious. Kids get the fun of a creepy story without it turning into something genuinely frightening.
Eventually, the story reveals that the thing the narrator has been running from has feelings too. It's a simple turn, but it gives the story a warm message about fear, empathy and what can happen when we stop being afraid of something simply because we don't understand it.
What parents should know
The collection gives you more than one kind of conversation starter. There are stories about fitting in, judging others, stubbornness, individuality and fear—all delivered with the rhyme, repetition and absurd humor that make Dr. Seuss fun to read aloud.
What Was I Scared Of? has some playful suspense and chasing, but the empty pants are much more silly-spooky than truly scary. For us, that makes it especially fun around Halloween while still working as an everyday bedtime story.
Our verdict
Recommended. The Sneetches and Other Stories gives you four memorable stories in one book, and there is enough variety that different stories can become favorites at different ages. In our house, What Was I Scared Of? is the one our younger boys keep remembering and requesting.
View The Sneetches and Other Stories on Bookshop.org →
A fun Halloween edition of our favorite story
If the pale-green pants are the part your kids love too, What Was I Scared Of? is also available as its own book. There is a particularly fun glow-in-the-dark edition with a glow-in-the-dark cover and stickers, which makes the story an easy pick for a Halloween bookshelf or an October read-aloud.
See the Glow-in-the-Dark What Was I Scared Of? on Bookshop.org →
This review reflects our own family experience with our copy of The Sneetches and Other Stories.
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