A Sense of Place – ‘The Lorax’

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The Lorax is a children’s book by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel). The book has been a curiosity and has continued to increase in popularity since it was first published in 1971. But, there has also been debate about the place… Where is it? When? And what creature is this?

Where is it?

The easy answer is to read what Dr. Seuss writes:

“Near the town of Nanyuki
No Grickle-grass grows
And the wind smells fast and sweet when it blows.
Nevertheless some scholars propose
That this is the home of the Lorax.”

But where is that place? Is it fanciful? Does it matter?

Or is the message of conservationism more critical? Perhaps it could be anywhere. It could be in our cities or towns, even our backyard.

What if A Place inspired the Lorax?

Now, Nathaniel Dominy is revisiting the origins of The Lorax for a new study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution (with Sandra Winters, Donald E. Pease, and James P. Higham). Geisel intended to write an “environmental book for children” when he sat down and penned The Lorax at the Mount Kenya Safari Club in 1970. In Kenya, he would have also seen the patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas), the source critter for the Lorax character.

Perhaps it doesn’t matter if the story is based on a real place and time. It may be enough to say that deforestation is happening everywhere and that the potential for collapse is imminent. But, no matter your stance on the book, its origins, and the many controversies related to its message, every reader can see the message of hope.