Dr Seuss Foot Book
A Wacky Book of Opposites

The Dr Seuss Foot Book is perfectly designed as a beginner book and comes in both hardback or as a small board book for little hands.  Simple text and bright colors with contrast make it a perfect read for young children.

Do note that because of its small size, the board book is a slightly abbreviated version.  I would recommend the board book for babies or toddlers, and the original version for preschoolers or emerging readers.

It begins...

Left foot, Left foot

Right foot, Right

Feet in the day.

Feet in the night.

One message I love about this Dr Seuss Foot Book is that opposites are different and different is okay.  Up is not better than down.  And although feet are different, everyone has them!  Challenge kids to be on the look out for differences and celebrate them!


Make the Most of the Sounds

  • The three Rs of Reading - Rhythm, Rhyme & Repetion

Rhythm gives a flow to reading like in music.  Have you ever noticed how songs can help us memorize?  It's all about the rhythm!  The same is true in books.  Both rhythm & rhyme make memorization easier. 

Why is this important?  Books that offer both rhythm & rhyme solidify the connection between the written and spoken words.  As a child develops, they will remember the words they hear you read and then recognize them when "reading."  This adds to the fun and builds confidence!

What to do:

  • Read the Dr Seuss Foot Book to yourself a few times first to get a natural flow of rhythm.  Before you know it, you'll have the text memorized!
  • When children are able, allow them to fill in the next rhyming word and "help" you read.
  • Assign a word.  Point out "foot" or "feet" and let that be the word the focus word or the word the child "reads" for you.  This helps a child begin making the connection between what you are saying and these "sqiggly" lines on the page.  
  • Go back through and read just the rhyming words together while pointing to them.  This helps a child see and hear the similarities. Point out - right & night, feet & meet, 


Make the Most of the Pictures
Dr Seuss Foot Book

  • Since there are few words in the Dr Seuss Foot Book, use the illustrations to talk about each opposite.  Why is his foot wet? Point to the one that is high & the one that is low.
  • Use the colors in this Dr Suess Foot book and find all the yellow feet, all the pink feet, etc.  What color is the towel?  What else can we find that is blue?

Make the Most of the Words
Intellectual Development

Toddlers 

  • Practice opposites.  Play a game of matching opposites.  Say one of the opposites from the book and see if your toddler can remember its partner.  Continue adding new opposite pairs.
  • Talk about other opposites - near & far, tall & short, cold & hot, etc.
  • Do the opposite.  Play like Simon Says, but the child should do the opposite.  Example: You say "Reach up!" - the child should reach down.  "Walk fast!" - they should walk slow.
  • Keep a chart of all the feet you see this week. Like in the Dr Seuss Foot Book, include people feet, animal feet, etc.  Notice the differences and find the opposites!

Emerging Readers

  • Sight Words - Allow your child to read any sight words they may know and see in the Dr Seuss Foot Book.
  • Allow them to read "foot" and "feet" every time they see them.
  • Point out "oo".  Talk about the sound it makes in foot.  Together think of other words that have the same sound.  Write them and then read them together.  You may also show your child that "oo" can also make a different sound like in "tooth."  Think of other words with the same sound.  Write them and then read them.  Cut the words apart and allow the child to categorize the words by the sound.  Age and development will determine if you may need to read the word to them and they match through hearing.
  • Point out "ee".  This sound always makes the long "e" sound.  Think of  and write other words with "ee".
  • Memory Match Game -   Write opposite words on index cards or small squares of paper.  For each turn, a player turns two cards over looking for an opposite match such as hot & cold.  If a match is found, it is kept and play continues.  If not, both cards are turned back over while players try to remember where they are.

Make the Most of the Message
in this Dr Seuss Foot Book

Social Development

  • Point out opposites are different, but different isn't bad.  We need different!
  • Point out all the different feet in the book.  Talk about how they are different and how they are the same.  They all were the same in that they all had feet.  How else are they all the same?
  • Together look at differences in people and see that they are special too.

Emotional Development

  • Identity is hard when we look at others and wish we were like them.  Kids as well as adults may feel different or inferior.  Point out how differences make us special.  Both big and small or left and right, are needed and matter!
  • Opposite emotions.  Play a game guessing what emotion the other is feeling by the expression on their face.  It is okay and normal to have happy days and sad days or brave days and afraid days.

Spiritual Development

  • God created opposites.  Without the rainy days, we'd never appreciate the sunny days.  Without the sad times, we'd never appreciate the happy times.  God knew different is important!
  • God made each of us unique and different.  Some of us are fast runners, others fast readers.  Some of us are tall and others short.  Use the Dr Seuss Foot Book to talk about each opposite -

"Feet in the day.  Feet in the night." - Are you a morning person or a night person.  Would you rather be up and going or in your bed sleeping?

"Slow feet. Quick feet." - What is something you do slowly?  What is something you do quickly?"

In the Bible, Paul discusses the differences in the church in Romans 12 & 1 Corinthians 12.  We were not meant to all be exactly the same.  God made each of us different and each needed.

 "Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well."  Romans 12:4-6a

"Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything. 18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. "  1 Corinthians 12:14-18

God has created us each special and unique for a reason and purpose.  Let's recognize and celebrate these differences for God is creative!

Psalm 139 is a great Psalm to read together with your child too.  It focuses on how special God has made each of us and that He knows us!

A Time for Everything...especially opposites

God used the wisest man that ever lived (other than Jesus) to write how there is a time for everything...opposites are okay and a part of God's plan for us.  

"There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Talk about times it's good to talk and times it's good to listen, times it's good to be quick and times it's good to be slow. (James 1:19 is a great verse for this one).

Dr Seuss Foot Book Read Aloud:

More books like the Dr Seuss Foot Book for young children - Here