[NITPICK]Carroll never actually rhymes “jabberwock” with anything else — it’s always mid-line. [/NITPICK]
I always tell my kids that Dr. Seuss was the first rapper.
Try it – Green Eggs and Ham works great as hardcore hip-hop, and’ll make your kids laugh.
But the doc was lazy. I’m sorry, it’s so obvious that he often got to the end of a line and said “I’ll just make up an animal”.
In fact, he even spoke of “…Zans teeth, Zans eyes, Zans taste, Zans everything…”
Bravo!
Anyway, it’s not abstruse why Dr. Seuss coined words to rhyme. It saved him time.
I think you miss the point.
It is easy to guess a word if it is a familiar one, When it is totally made-up it forces the child to use their knowledge of phonetics to build the word themselves.
I think it is a sensible learning tool as well as being pleasantly nonsensical. (and lets face it, those books are aimed at teaching children to read after all)
Man, if you have a problem with the Zans, don’t ever read There’s A Wocket In My Pocket.
“I like the Zable on the table,
and the Ghair under the chair,
But that Bofa on the sofa,
Well, I wish he wasn’t there!”
And if your issue is with people thinking “Zans” is a real word, steer clear of On Beyond Zebra. Woe to the child who spells with Thnad and Wum!
Dr. Seuss would always draw
Animals you never saw
Beasts that really don’t exist
So enjoy it and don’t get pist.
What do you mean there’s no such thing as Zans.
I use my Zans to open cans
I use my Zans when I open at Cannes.
I use my Zans to delete my spam.
I would never, ever be sans my Zans.
You might like going in a Zumble-Zay.
The Zans is not just for aesthetics,
It helps the children with phonetics.