In this video, Lois Letchford reads a selection of poems from Dr. Seuss' collection "Falling Up" for a child audience. She narrates eight whimsical pieces—"Writer Waiting," "Warm‑hearted Beatrice Bright," "Stupid Pencil Maker," "Bad Cold," "New World," "Alpha Balance," "Strange Restaurant," and "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda." Each poem showcases Dr. Seuss' playful language, imaginative scenarios, and underlying moral or satirical themes, ranging from over‑reliance on technology and animal‑rights advocacy to absurd inventions, exaggerated illness, upside‑down perspectives, the pressures of learning the alphabet, anthropomorphic dining experiences, and the pitfalls of procrastination. The reading is performed in an enthusiastic, child‑friendly tone, aiming to entertain while subtly introducing young listeners to the lyrical style and ethical undertones of Seuss's work.
Chapters
Writer Waiting. Oh, this shiny new computer. There just isn't anything cuter. It knows everything the world ever knew. And with this great computer, I don't need no writing tutor, 'cause there ain't a single thing that it can't do. It can sort and it can spell, it can punctuate as well. It can find and file and underline and type. It can edit and select, it can copy and correct. So I'll have a whole book written by tonight, just as soon as it can think. Of what to write. Warm-hearted. Beatrice Bright is for animal rights. She's waiting for Animal Day to arrive. And though you see her in a new fox fur, the fox that she wears is alive. Stupid pencil maker. Some dummy built this pencil wrong. The eraser's down here where the point belongs, and the point's at the top. So it's no good to me. It's amazing how stupid some people can be. Bad cold. This cold is too much for my shirt sleeves. Go get a Kleenex and fast. I sniffle and wheeze and I'm ready to sneeze and I don't know how long I can last. Achoo! It's too wet for a Kleenex, so bring me a handkerchief quick. It's achoo, no joke! Now the handkerchief's soaked. Hey, a dish towel might just do the trick. Achoo! It's too much for a bath towel. There's never had such a bad cold. I'd be better off with a big tablecloth. No, bring me the flag off the pole. Achoo! Bring the clothes from the closet. Achoo! Get the sheets from the bed, the drapes off the window, the rugs off the floor to soak up this cold in my head. Achoo! Hurry down to the circus. And ask if they'll lend you a tent. And you said they said? Here it comes. Lord be blessed. Here it is. Achoo! And there it went. New World, reading from Falling Up. The poem is New World. Upside down, trees swing and free. Buses float and buildings dangle. Now and then it's nice to see the world from a different angle. Alpha Balance. Balancing my ABCs takes from noon to half past 3. I don't have time to grab a tea or even stop to take a pee. One of— another of my favourite poems. Strange restaurant. I said, I'll take this T-bone steak. A soft voice mooed. Oh wow! I looked up and realized my waitress was a cow. I cried, mistake! Forget the steak. I'll take the chicken then. I heard a cluck, cluck, cluck. 'Twas just my luck, the busboy was a hen. I said, okay, no fowl today. I'll have a seafood dish. Then I saw through the kitchen door the cook. He was a fish. I screamed, is there anyone working here who's an onion or a beet? No? You sure? Okay then, friends, a salad's what I'll eat. They looked at me. Oh no, they said, the owner is a cabbage head. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. All the woulda, coulda, shouldas laying in the sun, talking about the things they woulda, coulda, shoulda done. But those woulda, coulda, shouldas all ran away and hid from one little did.
