I read a book one weekend, with my younger daughter
Good old Dr Seuss. Read his stories? You ought to.
This book in hand, containing four tales in all
Full of wordplay, full of lessons
For me, for us all.
About the Sneetches we were reading
Our knowledge we were feeding
Got me thinking, got me needing
To express the story’s meaning
To my younger daughter, Mischa.
I enjoyed this home-based teaching.
The story teaches confidence,
The story shows us business sense
The character who shows up in it
Was able to make pounds and pence.
Well, dollars, to be quite precise
But it matters not, the unit price
For the Fix-it-Up Chappie, Sylvester McMonkey McBean
Found two groups with wants, two groups with needs
And he met those wants, he met those needs
Having announced in a voice clear and keen
That he could help, that he had what they need
With prices low and work at great speed
And he added to his pitch a nice guarantee.
The lesson is simple, the lesson is clear:
What you read in this story, what you can learn right here,
I told my young daughter, should be held very dear:
That in business and in life
To be nice and sincere
Can bring you great things
And set you apart from your peers.
From the view of the Sneetches, there are lessons too
About recognising your needs, and your point of view
Why want stars on your belly
Just because others have those?
What’s best for you, your head and your toes?
Look after those!
Do you need this or that?
Will it help you progress?
Will it help you achieve or get out of a mess?
Think long and hard
About what’s offered to you
Would you pay to have stars?
And then have them removed?
We moved on to The Zax
Another great tale
With lessons again
Dr Seuss never fails
To tell a great story
With fun and with glory
With wonder and smiles
And brilliant drawings.
So whatever you read,
Do it lots and vary
The words you pick up,
Whether witty or scary
The lessons to learn
Can be quite arbitrary
But fun and useful and powerful too
When applied to whatever it is that you do.
