All of these books are staples in our house now, the favorite being "The Lorax" himself. It's true what they say that 999 times out of 1000 the book is better than the movie and in my opinion this is no different with this little orange ball of hair. There are elements of the book in the film, and while I realize that the movie was made for today's kids and not for the adults who loved Suess's writing as children 20-30 years ago (or more), I was still disappointed by the lack of specific lines from the book.
We ran over to see what it was and the bulging eye in this picture greeted us. We still couldn't figure out what it was until the driver of the truck hopped out and explained. It was part of an enormous billboard that had been hanging in Times Square just the day before advertising the Lorax movie.
What does all of this have to do with the book being better than the film?
Simply this. I'm pretty sure Theodor Geisel didn't have a giant Lorax mustache hanging in Times Square to promote his book. He didn't have Jim Carrey in mind when he wrote about the Grinch who hated Christmas or Mike Meyers when he wrote about the troublesome Cat in the Hat. He was simply writing entertaining stories for children and didn't need any of the flash that we associate with promoting movies today.
At the core, the books are better than their film counterparts because they are simpler and allow us to use our imagination. Put your computer away for a minute, turn off the TV, silence your cell phone, and go read a book. Read to yourself, read to your children, read to your parents. Just go read something. Right now. Go.