The butter battle book is one of the more overt and astute instances of geisels marriage of political and social sentiment with his childrens books. He did this to keep the zooks on their side of the wall. In the butter battle book, there is a conflict between the yooks and the zooks over how to butter bread a conflict is clash or serious disagreement. The objective of this resource is to draw parallels between the story and the cold war.
The butter battle book and the cold war honors the cold war was cold primarily because of the threat of nuclear weapons. The butter battle book discusses the arms race between the united states vs. The butter battle book and the cold war essay sample. The timeless and topical rhyming text is an ideal way to teach. Notes the when of history the where of history the how of history history skills using the 8 skills. This book was published in 1984, and it was written as an allegory to the cold war. The butter battle book is a pretty clear allegory for the cold war. The soviet union launched its first nuclear weapon in 1949, an event that started an arms race between the united states and the soviet union. Reading the butter battle book as monstrosity academia.
The cold war was cold primarily because of the threat of nuclear weapons. A cold war between two lands over a ridiculous dispute leads to a perilous arms race. What parallels can you draw between the cold war and the butter battle book. The idea is they are to compare and contrast the two books. Seussthe butter battle book analysis essay example. Grandpa yook spied on the zooks from the other side of the wall. The butter battle book can now be found in every library in the country. The butter battle book deals with some scary stuff. Examine how history is present in many unexpected places. Perhaps if more adults read this book back in the day it wouldnt have taken until the 90s for the cold war to end. The butter battle book is a pretty clear allegory for the cold war arms race.
The butter battle book is a rhyming story written by dr. The cold war and the butter battle book by alison cleary. The book ends with powerful weapons ready to attack the adversary, and without much harm done to either side. At the height of the cold war, the combined weapons of both countries were enough to destroy the world six times over. Apr 26, 2019 books, activities and other media useful in helping young children learn about the cold war and other cultural and historical events of the 1950s through the 1980s. The butter battle book is an allegory for the nuclear arms race and the state of mutually assured destruction mad that occurred during the cold war. Butter battle assignment rubric grade of 2 your ending shows a creative ending to the book you show how the ending would be in dr. With charles durning, christopher collins, miriam flynn, clive revill.
The butter battle book and the cold war literature circle. Seuss is clearly portraying the social issues that were arising between the soviet union and the united states during the cold war. The butter battle book is about two groups of people, the yooks and the zooks, who fight over an extremely trivial matter, which side of the bread the groups eat their butter on. The butter battle book closely paralleled the real life paranoia of the cold war. It portrays this event as a parody by using two different armies fighting over the way to butter your bread.
This is very similar to something that happened during the cold war. It was published by random house on january 12, 1984. The butter battle book teaching children philosophy. Seusss the butter battle book is exemplary of the power of childrens. The conflict between the yooks americans and the zooks russians seems so trivial but can easily relate to the nuclear arms race that was mainly fueled by national pride and. The butter battle book manages to distill the ridiculousness of the cold war and mutually assured destruction into terms a child could understand. The two groups manufacture extremely similar weapons and are on opposite sides of a wall dividing the two. Based on what you have viewed and read about the butter battle and the cold war. Explaining the very serious differences between the zooks and the yooks, a zook grandpa tells his grandchild the unspeakable truth. Story parallels the butter battle book the cold war yooks vs. The wall the iron curtain red ussr blue usa grandpa represents the us military vanitch represents the soviet military. Overall the lesson successfully met the objectives and engaged the students in the learning process. The book ends with both the yooks and the zooks developing a bomb called the bigboy boomero, which parallels the us and the ussrs development of. Butter battle arms race wall street international magazine.
The butter battle book the lesson part 1 teaching today. The students explained what the cold war terms were, interpreted the butter battle book to draw parallels between the book and the cold war, and finally applied what they knew about the cold war to make the parallels to the book. That means that while the good doctor may have intended for his book to allegorize the cold war. This seuss book parodies the cold war arms race through the fighting between the yooks and the zooks. The surprisingly radical politics of dr seuss bbc culture. Parallels of the butter battle book and the cold war by. Teaching today the function of education is to teach one. In reality the conflict was about the freedom of millions of people and the nuclear arms race. Students should try to draw parallels between the book and the cold war situation. The butter battle book symbolism, imagery, allegory. Determine which term matches each question to see the connection between this story and the cold war. Parallels of the butter battle book and the cold war by nick. Seuss and the cold war butter battle book lesson plan template and teaching resources. Seusss classic cautionary tale, introduces readers to the important lesson of respecting differences.
The butter battle book think about what you know about. In it, geisel creates an imaginary world that parallels the arms race of the cold war, replete with. The butter battle book and the cold war the cold war was cold primarily because of the threat of nuclear weapons. The butterbattle book condemned the cold war arms race, and at one point was removed from childrens sections of libraries for political reasons. Sure, it was published during the reagan era while cold war tensions were still high, but the young yook faces the same questions that we do today in a world where nuclear weapons are a reality. Though both of them had this very powerful weapon, we do not know whether or not grandpa yook or van itch applied this to their defense for their country. His stories are childrens classics that are fun to read and also tackle some real life issues. But whats great about allegories is that theyre flexible and fuzzy. Seuss the butter battle book and the cold war essay bartleby. The butter battle book 20thcentury american bestsellers. Students read the butter battle book to examine more complicated themes of. It could be a book, a movie or something someone told you. The butter battle book was a new york times notable book of the year. Butter side up yooks democracy usa butter side down zooks communism ussr symbolism in the book.
Cold war, the combined weapons of both countries were enough to destroy the world six times over. Needless to say my very knowledgeable sixth graders proceeded to tell me how the butter battle book is actually a political story about the cold war. At the height of the cold war, the combined weapons of both. Seuss back in 1984, the butter battle book still has a lot to teach about intolerance and how titfortat violence can quickly get out of hand. It is a parallel that was easily drawn back in 1984. The wall falls you and three others will write an ending to dr. Read the butter battle book or watch the video together. This is the page when both van itch and grandpa yook had the bitsy big boy boomeroo neclear bomb. In it, geisel creates an imaginary world that parallels the arms race of the cold war, replete with instances of conflict escalation and mutually. The butter battle book is a sad illustration of one of orwells favorite themes.
Fight f butter side do o r they thought up certainly did. You can read the butter battle book out loud to your class or there. The yooks and zooks share a love of buttered bread, but animosity brews between the two groups because they prefer to enjoy the tasty treat differently. Seventh grade lesson the butter battle book betterlesson. To complement this resource, i recommend using the youtube version of the butter battle book as a companion. His latest work, the butter battle book, to be published today to mark his 80th birthday, is an arms race allegory that welcomes two new creatures to the seuss menagerie the yooks and the zooks. Butter battle book state college area school district.
The butter battle books story parallels to the cold war. No big shots where actually fired between the us and the soviet union. The butter battle book is a parable about arms races, in particular mutually assured destruction according to spiegelman, its polemic for. The two superpowers used their weapons as a deterrent against nuclear war. This book was written during the cold war era and reflects the concerns of the time, especially the perceived possibility that humanity could be destroyed in a. It is an antiwar story about the arms race, mad, and nuclear weapons. Seuss is an important figure in the lives of children everywhere. The butter battle book the butter battle book is a picture book written by dr. Seuss, grandpa is portrayed as the united states military while van itch is the soviet union military. Seuss the butter battle book and the cold war essay. Seuss wonderful story called the butter battle book. Seuss book that attempts to create parallels between a mythological seuss world and the cold war. The first edition of the butter battle book was published in 1984 by random house inc. Students should try to draw parallels between the book and the cold war.
The butter battle book has many different levels for what is so often called a childrens book from an acclaimed socalled childrens author. The butter battle book and the cold war english project. Seuss makes the battle out to be as simple as the way someone butters their bread. Inform students about the arms race between the united states and the soviet union after world war ii, which was a large part of the cold war.
The cold war arms race in the butter battle book shmoop. However, the physical illustrated book would suffice. Seuss and the cold war butter battle book share my lesson. The battle between yooks and zooks over which way butter goes on bread gives children a good, simple, but true story about dealing with petty differences in a constructive way. The butter battle book is full of references to the ussoviet cold war, from the building of the berlin wall to the deployment of more and more. While you watch the butter battleon the flow chart below, write down the major steps taken by each side to escalate theconflict in the story.