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{{Short description|1965 children's book by Dr. Seuss}}
{{Refimprove|date=February 2012}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox book| {{Infobox book|
| name = Fox in Socks | name = Fox in Socks
| image = FoxInSocksBookCover.jpg | image = FoxInSocksBookCover.jpg
| caption = | caption =
| alt = Book cover of a cartoon fox wearing socks. Below the fox is small black text that reads: "This is a book you read aloud to find out just how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! The fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble."
| author = ]
| author = ]
| cover_artist = Jaqueline Housewood
| cover_artist = Dr. Seuss
| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = English
| language = English
| genre = ]
| publisher = ] | genre = ]
| publisher = ]
| pub_date = June 19, 1965 (Renewed in 1993)
| pub_date = January 12, 1965
| media_type = Print (] and ])
| media_type = Print (] and ])
| pages =
| pages =
| isbn = 978-0-39-490038-4
| isbn = 978-0-39-490038-4
| oclc = 304375
| oclc = 304375
| preceded_by = ]
| preceded_by = ]
| followed_by = ]
| followed_by = ]
| illustrator = Dr. Seuss
}} }}
'''''Fox in Socks''''' is a ] by ] under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published by ] on January 12, 1965. The book features Mr. Fox as he tries to convince Mr. Knox to repeat ]s about the things happening around them while Knox becomes increasingly frustrated with Fox's efforts. The wording of ''Fox in Socks'' emphasizes the sounds and structure of the words more than their intended meanings, leading the book to include many nonsense phrases and complex arrangements of similar-sounding words. Geisel was working on ''Fox in Socks'' when he met his future wife ], and found she was able to repeat the tongue twisters that others could not. In 2001, ''Fox in Socks'' was listed as the 31st best-selling hardcover children's book in the United States.
{{Portal |Children's literature}}


== Summary ==
'''''Fox in Socks''''' is a ] by ], first published in 1965. It features two main characters, '''Fox''' (an anthropomorphic fox) who speaks almost entirely in densely rhyming ] and '''Knox''' (a yellow anthropomorphic character) who has a hard time following up Fox's tongue-twisters until the end.
''Fox in Socks'' begins with a note that the book is dangerous and should be read slowly. It then introduces Fox and Knox, who interact with socks and a box. Fox sees chicks with bricks, blocks, and clocks. He suggests that he and Knox do tricks with them, and he stacks them in different arrangements while speaking in rhyme. Knox complains that his tongue cannot manage the rhymes that Fox is asking him to say. Fox tries a new rhyme about Sue and Slow Joe Crow sewing, but this too frustrates Knox. Fox then rhymes about chewing goo with a Goo-Goose, but Knox refuses to chew the goo or repeat the rhyme.


Fox rhymes about Ben and Bim fighting with brooms and accompanying a pig band, but this further upsets Knox. Knox also rejects Fox's rhyme about Luke Luck and his duck licking a lake, then about fleas, cheese trees, and a freezy breeze. When Fox describes tweetle beetles battling with paddles in a bottle on a poodle eating noodles, Knox expresses his anger by shoving Fox into the bottle and giving his own rhyming description of Fox's predicament. Knox then leaves, thanking Fox for the fun. The book ends with another note asking whether the reader's tongue is numb.
The book in some ways bears a resemblance to '']'', another book by Dr. Seuss. Both stories contain two main characters: one who has a stubborn personality and wants to be left alone, and the other, a persistent, comical, somewhat annoying opposite.


== Writing and publication ==
==Storyline==
''Fox in Socks'' was written by ], using his pen name Dr. Seuss.{{Sfn|Nel|2004|pp=3–4}} He wrote the book through most of 1964, also working on '']'' at the same time.{{Sfn|Jones|2020|p=326}} Geisel met ] while he was working on ''Fox in Socks'', and she was the only one of the adults who could read the tongue twisters aloud.{{Sfn|Morgan|Morgan|1996|p=185}} He married Dimond in 1968.{{Sfn|Nel|2004|p=111}}
The book begins by introducing Fox and Knox (sometimes calls "Fox in Socks" and "Mr. Knox") along with some props (a box and a pair of socks). After taking those four rhyming items through several permutations, more items are added (chicks, bricks, blocks, clocks), and so on. As the book progresses the Fox describes each situation with rhymes that progress in complexity, with Knox periodically complaining about the difficulty of the tongue-twisters.


The main characters Geisel created for ''Fox in Socks'' are Mr. Knox and Mr. Fox, also called Mr. Socks Fox.{{Sfn|Lathem|2000|p=49}} Other named characters include Ben and Bim, Luke Luck, Slow Joe Crow, and Sue.{{Sfn|Lathem|2000|pp=10, 77, 114, 124}} They are accompanied by several animals, including chicks, a duck, pigs, a poodle,{{Sfn|Lathem|2000|p=25, 38, 96, 99}} and fictional animals Goo-Goose and tweetle beetles.{{Sfn|Lathem|2000|pp=55, 133}}
Finally, as the Fox gives the extended dissertation on tweetle poodles who knock out with paddles while standing in a puddle inside the bottle on a noodle-eating poodle (a Muddle Puddle Tweetle Poodle Beetle Noodle Bottle Paddle Battle), Knox becomes fed up, interrupts him, stuffs him in the bottle, and ends the conversation with a tongue-twister of his own:


To test his editor ], Geisel added the inappropriate line "Moe blows Joe's nose, Joe blows Moe's nose" to his manuscript of ''Fox in Socks''. This followed a similar incident two years prior when he added the word "contraceptive" to his manuscript of '']''.{{Sfn|Morgan|Morgan|1996|pp=178–179}} ''Fox in Socks'' was published by ]{{Sfn|Morgan|Morgan|1996|p=187}} on January 12, 1965, as part of its ] series.{{Sfn|Penguin Random House}} Geisel dedicated the book to Audrey Dimond and Mitzi Long, describing them as members of the Mt. Soledad Lingual Laboratories despite no such place existing.{{Sfn|Morgan|Morgan|1996|p=187}}
<blockquote>When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle poodles battle
with their paddles in a puddle on a noodle-eating poodle,
THIS is what they call...


== Analysis ==
...a tweetle poodle noodle grackle bottled paddled
''Fox in Socks'' was one of two tongue twister books written by Dr. Seuss, alongside '']'' (1979).{{Sfn|Einhorn|2012|p=115}} When writing ''Fox in Socks'', Geisel prioritized the sound and structure of the tongue twisters over coherence, resulting in heavy use of nonsensical phrases.{{Sfn|Nel|2004|p=27}} In one instance, ''Fox in Socks'' describes a "tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled wuddled fox in socks".{{Sfn|Einhorn|2012|p=115}} Such phrases retain appropriate ]. When describing a "tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle", Geisel couples ''paddle'' and ''battle'' to describe a "paddle battle" within the larger phrase. The word ''puddle'' then describes the setting of the battle, and ''tweetle beetle'' adds a descriptor for the type of "puddle paddle battle".{{Sfn|Bauer|2003|pp=184–185}} The rhymes are accompanied by a challenge on the front cover for readers to "read aloud to find out just how smart your tongue is".{{Sfn|Jones|2020|p=328}} In the story, Mr. Knox describes the tongue twisters as "blibber blubber".{{Sfn|Lathem|2000|p=14}}
muddled duddled fuddled wuddled fox in socks, sir!</blockquote>


''Fox in Socks'' presents readers with the change of words' meanings in different contexts.{{Sfn|Einhorn|2012|p=37}} This includes how a list of stacked items is harmless when stacked on the ground, but that they indicate a negative consequence when stacked on a character's head.{{Sfn|Nel|1999|p=169}} The book expresses a common Seuss theme of optimism. The phrase "you can make" appears as a refrain at the beginning of several sentences.{{Sfn|Einhorn|2012|p=58}} It also features Seuss's respect for manners, having Mr. Knox refer to the Fox as "Mr. Fox, sir".{{Sfn|Einhorn|2012|p=85}} Like many books by Dr. Seuss, ''Fox in Socks'' includes joyous feasting, in this case portrayed with the Gooey Gluey Blue Goo being chewed on by the Goo-Goose.{{Sfn|Shortsleeve|2011|p=194}} Philosophy professor Sharon Kaye comments on the relationship of the characters Sue and Slow Joe Crow, suggesting they are an example of a friendship of utility as described by ], as they have little in common but both benefit from sewing one another's clothes.{{Sfn|Kaye|2018|p=86}}
Knox then strolls away, saying that the game is done, thanking the speechless Fox in the bottle for the fun!


The book is one of several by Dr. Seuss in which younger characters teach older ones, along with books like '']'' (1940), '']'' (1960), and '']'' (1963). In this case, Mr. Fox is more skilled with tongue twisters and tries to instruct Mr. Knox.{{Sfn|Shortsleeve|2011|p=196}} The end of the book subverts this theme when Mr. Knox grows frustrated with Mr. Fox and strikes back at him. Literary scholar ] likened this to the moral of '']'' by ] and Geisel's earlier '']'' cartoons, which teach that knowledge should not be flaunted or abused.{{Sfn|Nel|2007|pp=472–473}} Nel considered ''Fox in Socks'' to be an example of a book that is '']'' for adults but not for children. Under his reasoning, the deconstruction of language present in the book only works for those familiar with more typical linguistic structure, but young children lack the literary experience to be confused by this. Conversely, adults will expect the simple words to be easily read and be taken by surprise. A child will read the tongue twisters more carefully than adults, causing the book to be easier for children in a relative sense.{{Sfn|Nel|2015|pp=272–274}}
==Adaptations==
The tweetle poodle skit was featured in '']'', a 1975 ] ]. Here, the skit was part of a job: that of a "famous tweetle poodle statistician". If you took on this job, "you could be the world's greatest authority on tweetle poodle battlistics, if you study tweetle poodles and their ballistic characteristics." It ended by cutting back to the base, with Mr. Hoober-Bloob waving his arms around, covering his ears, and yelling, "Stop it! Stop it! I can't stand it! That world is a vastly cruddy, bloody bore!" The dissertation was read by ], the voice of Mr. Hoober-Bloob, using a German impression similar to ].


== Reception and legacy ==
The story appears on RCA "Music Service" 33 1/3 RPM Stereo record number R 110329. The following is a transcript of the labels on the record itself:
''Fox in Socks'' ranked 31st in a 2001 list of best-selling children's hardcover books in the United States by '']'' and was the 8th best-selling book by Dr. Seuss.{{Sfn|Nel|2004|p=4}} By this time, it had sold over three million copies.{{Sfn|Jones|2020|p=328}} The ''Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) cites fourteen lines of ''Fox in Socks'' in its coverage of "compounds in context".{{Sfn|Morgan|Morgan|1996|pp=291–292}}
Side A
Dr. Seuss Presents "Fox in Socks"
A1 Fox in Socks
(Written and dramatized by Dr Seuss)
A2 Fox in Socks (Fast Version)
(Written and dramatized by Dr Seuss)
Marvin Miller
Music composed and directed by Marty Gold
Side B
1B Green Eggs and Ham
(Written and dramatized by Dr Seuss)
2B The Rabbit, the Bear, and the Zinniga-Zanniga
(Written and dramatized by Dr Seuss)
Marvin Miller
1. Music under the direction of Shelly Manne
2. Music composed and directed by Marty Gold
Original Producer: Brad McCuen <ref>https://www.discogs.com/Dr-Seuss-Fox-In-Socks-Green-Eggs-And-Ham/release/2581968</ref>


'']'' considered ''Fox in Socks'' an "amusing exercise for beginning readers" as it requires focus on each word, but it said that the tongue twisters made little sense when removed from the context of their illustrations.{{Sfn|Kirkus Reviews|1965}} Roderick Nordell wrote for the ] that the book is sufficiently enjoyable to read that it encourages children to work with more challenging material.{{Sfn|Nordell|1965|p=2B}} However, ] of '']'' criticized the book for being charmless and unnecessarily elaborate.{{Sfn|Barr|1965|p=1}}
On the ''Dr. Seuss Presents...'' Audio CD Series, the story was narrated by ] (read in both a normal-speed and a fast version).


Journalist ] listed ''Fox in Socks'' among Dr. Seuss's best examples of books that balance entertainment with educational value.{{Sfn|Cott|1997|p=121}} Children's literature professor ] praised the book as having the best examples of Geisel's nonsense rhymes.{{Sfn|Butler|1989|p=179}} Children's literature professor David Rudd likened the use of words' construction in ''Fox in Socks'' to its contemporaries '']'' by ] and '']'' by ]. He described these works as successors of ] and ] in the genre of ].{{Sfn|Rudd|2011|pp=214–215}}
The entire book was translated by the Israeli author and lyricist ] into Hebrew as "בא עם גרבים" (''Ba Im Garba'im'', literally "He Came With Socks"). Some emendations were made to the original text for better rhyming; for example, Knox's name, in this version, is "ברגז" (Bargaz), to rhyme with "ארגז" (argaz, meaning box), and the chicks in the beginning of the book became ducks. Occasionally the translator wrote a new tongue-twister to fit the existing artwork; the entire poem about the cheese trees, for instance, was replaced with an entirely new poem about an elephant who tripped and fell on his nose. This version of the book was published in 1980 by ] in Jerusalem.


==References== == Notes ==
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{Cite periodical |last=Barr |first=Donald |author-link=Donald Barr |date=June 27, 1965 |title=Fox in Socks |url=https://archive.org/details/bookreviewdigest0000unse_a3l8/page/1134/ |magazine=Book Week |page=1 |via=Book Review Digest}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bauer |first=Laurie |author-link=Laurie Bauer |url=https://archive.org/details/introducinglingu0002baue |url-access=registration |title=Introducing Linguistic Morphology |date=2003 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4744-6428-4}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Butler |first=Francelia |author-link=Francelia Butler |date=1989 |title=Seuss as a Creator of Folklore |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF01126459 |journal=] |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=175–181 |doi=10.1007/BF01126459 |issn=0045-6713}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cott |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Cott |chapter=The Good Dr. Seuss |url=https://archive.org/details/manwhowasdrseuss0000fens/ |url-access=registration |title=Of Sneetches and Whos and the Good Dr. Seuss: Essays on the Writings and Life of Theodor Geisel |date=1997 |publisher=] |isbn=0-7864-2447-8 |editor-last=Fensch |editor-first=Thomas |pages=99–124}}
* {{Cite book |last=Einhorn |first=Lois |url=https://archive.org/details/whydowealllovedr0000lois/ |url-access=registration |title=Why Do We All Love Dr. Seuss?: Discovering the Mystery and Magic of an Icon |date=2012 |publisher=Robert D. Reed Publishers |isbn=978-1-934759-58-5}}
* {{Cite periodical |date=1965-03-01 |title=Fox in Socks: Dr. Seuss's Book Of Tongue Tanglers |magazine=] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/916894866 |ref={{harvid|Kirkus Reviews|1965}}}}
* {{Cite web |title=Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/43010/fox-in-socks-by-dr-seuss/ |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=] |ref={{harvid|Penguin Random House}}}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Brian Jay |author-link=Brian Jay Jones |url=https://archive.org/details/becomingdrseusst0000jone/ |title=Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5247-4279-9}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kaye |first=Sharon |title=More Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Additional Hunches in Bunches |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-5381-0134-6 |editor-last=Held |editor-first=Jacob M. |chapter=Dr. Seuss and Aristotle on the Most Important Friendship of All}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lathem |first=Edward Connery |url=https://www.dartmouth.edu/library/digital/collections/books/ocm45408191/ocm45408191.html |title=Who's Who & What's What in the Books of Dr. Seuss |publisher=] |year=2000}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Judith |url=https://archive.org/details/drseussmrgeisel00morg/ |url-access=registration |title=Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel: A Biography |last2=Morgan |first2=Neil |publisher=] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-306-80736-7}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nel |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Nel |date=1999 |title=Dada Knows Best: Growing up "Surreal" with Dr. Seuss |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/246410 |journal=] |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=150–184 |doi=10.1353/chl.0.0542 |issn=1543-3374}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nel |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Nel |url=https://archive.org/details/drseussamericani00unse |url-access=registration |title=Dr. Seuss: American Icon |publisher=] |year=2004 |isbn=0-8264-1434-6}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nel |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Nel |date=2007 |title=Children's Literature Goes to War: Dr. Seuss, P. D. Eastman, Munro Leaf, and the Private SNAFU Films (1943–46) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2007.00404.x |journal=] |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=468–487 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5931.2007.00404.x |issn=0022-3840 |url-access=}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nel |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Nel |chapter=Surrealism for Children: Paradoxes and Possibilities |title=Children's Literature and the Avant-garde |date=2015 |publisher=] |isbn=978-90-272-0159-1 |editor-last=Druker |editor-first=Elina |editor-last2=Kümmerling-Meibauer |editor-first2=Bettina}}
* {{Cite periodical |last=Nordell |first=Roderick |date=May 6, 1965 |title=Fox in Socks |url=https://archive.org/details/bookreviewdigest0000unse_a3l8/page/1134/ |magazine=] |page=2B |via=Book Review Digest}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rudd |first=David |chapter=Theory |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/193/edited_volume/book/72933 |title=Keywords for Children's Literature |editor-last=Nel |editor-first=Philip |editor-link=Philip Nel |editor-last2=Paul |editor-first2=Lissa |chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/193/edited_volume/chapter/2575128 |chapter-format=PDF |url-access=subscription |date=2011 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-8147-5889-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Shortsleeve |first=Kevin |chapter=The Cat in the Hippie: Dr. Seuss, Nonsense, the Carnivalesque, and the Sixties Rebel |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195379785.013.0010 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature |date=2011 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-19-994018-9 |editor-last=Vallone |editor-first=Lynne |editor-last2=Mickenberg |editor-first2=Julia L. |url-access= |pages=188–209}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
* on ]
* on ]


{{Dr. Seuss}} {{Dr. Seuss}}


] ]
]
] ]
]
]
] ]
] ]
]
] ]
]

Latest revision as of 00:43, 7 January 2025

1965 children's book by Dr. Seuss

Fox in Socks
Book cover of a cartoon fox wearing socks. Below the fox is small black text that reads: "This is a book you read aloud to find out just how smart your tongue is. The first time you read it, don't go fast! The fox is a tricky fox. He'll try to get your tongue in trouble."
AuthorDr. Seuss
IllustratorDr. Seuss
Cover artistDr. Seuss
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's literature
PublisherRandom House
Publication dateJanuary 12, 1965
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
ISBN978-0-39-490038-4
OCLC304375
Preceded byHop on Pop 
Followed byI Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew 

Fox in Socks is a children's book by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published by Random House on January 12, 1965. The book features Mr. Fox as he tries to convince Mr. Knox to repeat tongue twisters about the things happening around them while Knox becomes increasingly frustrated with Fox's efforts. The wording of Fox in Socks emphasizes the sounds and structure of the words more than their intended meanings, leading the book to include many nonsense phrases and complex arrangements of similar-sounding words. Geisel was working on Fox in Socks when he met his future wife Audrey Dimond, and found she was able to repeat the tongue twisters that others could not. In 2001, Fox in Socks was listed as the 31st best-selling hardcover children's book in the United States.

Summary

Fox in Socks begins with a note that the book is dangerous and should be read slowly. It then introduces Fox and Knox, who interact with socks and a box. Fox sees chicks with bricks, blocks, and clocks. He suggests that he and Knox do tricks with them, and he stacks them in different arrangements while speaking in rhyme. Knox complains that his tongue cannot manage the rhymes that Fox is asking him to say. Fox tries a new rhyme about Sue and Slow Joe Crow sewing, but this too frustrates Knox. Fox then rhymes about chewing goo with a Goo-Goose, but Knox refuses to chew the goo or repeat the rhyme.

Fox rhymes about Ben and Bim fighting with brooms and accompanying a pig band, but this further upsets Knox. Knox also rejects Fox's rhyme about Luke Luck and his duck licking a lake, then about fleas, cheese trees, and a freezy breeze. When Fox describes tweetle beetles battling with paddles in a bottle on a poodle eating noodles, Knox expresses his anger by shoving Fox into the bottle and giving his own rhyming description of Fox's predicament. Knox then leaves, thanking Fox for the fun. The book ends with another note asking whether the reader's tongue is numb.

Writing and publication

Fox in Socks was written by Theodor Seuss Geisel, using his pen name Dr. Seuss. He wrote the book through most of 1964, also working on I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew at the same time. Geisel met Audrey Dimond while he was working on Fox in Socks, and she was the only one of the adults who could read the tongue twisters aloud. He married Dimond in 1968.

The main characters Geisel created for Fox in Socks are Mr. Knox and Mr. Fox, also called Mr. Socks Fox. Other named characters include Ben and Bim, Luke Luck, Slow Joe Crow, and Sue. They are accompanied by several animals, including chicks, a duck, pigs, a poodle, and fictional animals Goo-Goose and tweetle beetles.

To test his editor Bennett Cerf, Geisel added the inappropriate line "Moe blows Joe's nose, Joe blows Moe's nose" to his manuscript of Fox in Socks. This followed a similar incident two years prior when he added the word "contraceptive" to his manuscript of Hop on Pop. Fox in Socks was published by Random House on January 12, 1965, as part of its Beginner Books series. Geisel dedicated the book to Audrey Dimond and Mitzi Long, describing them as members of the Mt. Soledad Lingual Laboratories despite no such place existing.

Analysis

Fox in Socks was one of two tongue twister books written by Dr. Seuss, alongside Oh Say Can You Say? (1979). When writing Fox in Socks, Geisel prioritized the sound and structure of the tongue twisters over coherence, resulting in heavy use of nonsensical phrases. In one instance, Fox in Socks describes a "tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled duddled fuddled wuddled fox in socks". Such phrases retain appropriate word order. When describing a "tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle", Geisel couples paddle and battle to describe a "paddle battle" within the larger phrase. The word puddle then describes the setting of the battle, and tweetle beetle adds a descriptor for the type of "puddle paddle battle". The rhymes are accompanied by a challenge on the front cover for readers to "read aloud to find out just how smart your tongue is". In the story, Mr. Knox describes the tongue twisters as "blibber blubber".

Fox in Socks presents readers with the change of words' meanings in different contexts. This includes how a list of stacked items is harmless when stacked on the ground, but that they indicate a negative consequence when stacked on a character's head. The book expresses a common Seuss theme of optimism. The phrase "you can make" appears as a refrain at the beginning of several sentences. It also features Seuss's respect for manners, having Mr. Knox refer to the Fox as "Mr. Fox, sir". Like many books by Dr. Seuss, Fox in Socks includes joyous feasting, in this case portrayed with the Gooey Gluey Blue Goo being chewed on by the Goo-Goose. Philosophy professor Sharon Kaye comments on the relationship of the characters Sue and Slow Joe Crow, suggesting they are an example of a friendship of utility as described by Aristotle, as they have little in common but both benefit from sewing one another's clothes.

The book is one of several by Dr. Seuss in which younger characters teach older ones, along with books like Horton Hatches the Egg (1940), Green Eggs and Ham (1960), and Hop on Pop (1963). In this case, Mr. Fox is more skilled with tongue twisters and tries to instruct Mr. Knox. The end of the book subverts this theme when Mr. Knox grows frustrated with Mr. Fox and strikes back at him. Literary scholar Philip Nel likened this to the moral of Sam and the Firefly by P. D. Eastman and Geisel's earlier Private Snafu cartoons, which teach that knowledge should not be flaunted or abused. Nel considered Fox in Socks to be an example of a book that is avant-garde for adults but not for children. Under his reasoning, the deconstruction of language present in the book only works for those familiar with more typical linguistic structure, but young children lack the literary experience to be confused by this. Conversely, adults will expect the simple words to be easily read and be taken by surprise. A child will read the tongue twisters more carefully than adults, causing the book to be easier for children in a relative sense.

Reception and legacy

Fox in Socks ranked 31st in a 2001 list of best-selling children's hardcover books in the United States by Publishers Weekly and was the 8th best-selling book by Dr. Seuss. By this time, it had sold over three million copies. The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992) cites fourteen lines of Fox in Socks in its coverage of "compounds in context".

Kirkus Reviews considered Fox in Socks an "amusing exercise for beginning readers" as it requires focus on each word, but it said that the tongue twisters made little sense when removed from the context of their illustrations. Roderick Nordell wrote for the Christian Science Monitor that the book is sufficiently enjoyable to read that it encourages children to work with more challenging material. However, Donald Barr of Book Week criticized the book for being charmless and unnecessarily elaborate.

Journalist Jonathan Cott listed Fox in Socks among Dr. Seuss's best examples of books that balance entertainment with educational value. Children's literature professor Francelia Butler praised the book as having the best examples of Geisel's nonsense rhymes. Children's literature professor David Rudd likened the use of words' construction in Fox in Socks to its contemporaries The Wonderful O by James Thurber and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. He described these works as successors of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear in the genre of literary nonsense.

Notes

  1. Nel 2004, pp. 3–4.
  2. Jones 2020, p. 326.
  3. Morgan & Morgan 1996, p. 185.
  4. Nel 2004, p. 111.
  5. Lathem 2000, p. 49.
  6. Lathem 2000, pp. 10, 77, 114, 124.
  7. Lathem 2000, p. 25, 38, 96, 99.
  8. Lathem 2000, pp. 55, 133.
  9. Morgan & Morgan 1996, pp. 178–179.
  10. ^ Morgan & Morgan 1996, p. 187.
  11. Penguin Random House.
  12. ^ Einhorn 2012, p. 115.
  13. Nel 2004, p. 27.
  14. Bauer 2003, pp. 184–185.
  15. ^ Jones 2020, p. 328.
  16. Lathem 2000, p. 14.
  17. Einhorn 2012, p. 37.
  18. Nel 1999, p. 169.
  19. Einhorn 2012, p. 58.
  20. Einhorn 2012, p. 85.
  21. Shortsleeve 2011, p. 194.
  22. Kaye 2018, p. 86.
  23. Shortsleeve 2011, p. 196.
  24. Nel 2007, pp. 472–473.
  25. Nel 2015, pp. 272–274.
  26. Nel 2004, p. 4.
  27. Morgan & Morgan 1996, pp. 291–292.
  28. Kirkus Reviews 1965.
  29. Nordell 1965, p. 2B.
  30. Barr 1965, p. 1.
  31. Cott 1997, p. 121.
  32. Butler 1989, p. 179.
  33. Rudd 2011, pp. 214–215.

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