The wrong trousers
It may not have the cultural impact of a Cat in the Hat, or the loopy narrative line of I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew, but What Was I Scared of is nevertheless my favourite Dr Seuss book, and here’s why: it cured my viridistrouserophobia, or the fear of disembodied green pants that had been plaguing me since childhood.
OK, not exactly, but in this Who-sized mini-book (it was originally published as part of The Sneetches and Other Stories) What Was I Scared of encompasses all that I love about Dr Seuss; the guileless non-human beasties that are really just better-human beasties, the trees and plants that always seem strangely alert to their surroundings, the whiskery black outlines that are so distinctively Seuss, and of course, the story. Oh, and self-propelling green pants (but just in this book.)
