Picture Book Review: The Butter Battle Book

The Butter Battle Book

"Then my grandfather said, 'It's high time that you knew of the terribly horrible thing that Zooks do. In every Zook house and in every Zook town every Zook eats his bread with the butter side down!'" - The Butter Battle Book

Author: Dr. Seuss

Publisher: Random House

Copyright Date: 1984

Number of Pages: 56 pages

Reading Level: Pre-K, Grades 1-3 and 4-6

Genre: Children's Literature, Picture Book, Fiction

Cost: $8.18 (Amazon)

Rating: ★★★★

The Butter Battle Book is a story about the conflict between two different groups of people, the Yooks and the Zooks. The Yooks eat their bread with the butter side up, but the Zooks eat their bread with the butter side down. This causes problems, so the Yooks try to keep the Zooks on the other side of the wall, but the Zooks begin fighting back. They start with a Snick-Berry Switch and sling shot, but, over time, the Boys in the Back Room come up with new ideas to keep the Yooks and Zooks separated. Written during the Cold War, Dr. Seuss uses a humorous conflict in this book to portray the back and forth manner of the war.  

The Butter Battle Book is a fun book to read and it could be used to open up a discussion with children about conflict, war, or the differences between people, depending on the age group. Students will see the conflict and differences in this book, but the underlying theme of war may not be as easily detected by young kids, which would make it a good book for children of a variety of ages. As with other Dr. Seuss books, this book could also be used to talk about rhyming words because there are a lot of rhymes within this book that could be used as examples. 

Book Rating:

	★★★★★	★★★★	★★★	★★	★	COMMENTS
PLOT	Plot is well developed with all five elements of a good plot structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).	Plot is developed, but lacking one of the five elements of plot structure.	This book has a decent plot, but is lacking two of the five elements of plot structure.	This book has a weak plot that is lacking three of the five elements of plot structure.	This book does not have a defined plot, and is lacking four or more of the five elements of plot structure.	★★★ I give The Butter Battle Book three stars for its plot because, even though it is an engaging story, it has no falling action or resolution. I believe that leaving those elements of plot out was purposeful, but those elements are needed to have a good plot structure.
CHARACTER	The characters are well developed, have personality, and are believable.	Characters are well rounded, but lack in personality or they are not totally believable.	Characters are somewhat developed, and lack in personality or they are not totally believable.	The characters are underdeveloped, lack in depth and are not believable.	The characters are not developed   so the readers cannot connect to the book.	★★★★ I give The Butter Battle Book four stars for its characters because the characters are not well developed. They have personality and are believable, but the readers do not know much about who the characters are, besides being a Yook or a Zook.
PACING	The story flows freely and is not rushed or slow.	The story moves freely for the most part, but there are a few spots where it feels rushed or slow.	The story moves freely for about half of the book, but the other half is rushed or slow.	The story often moves too fast or too slow and does not move freely.	There is no pacing in the story, which makes it difficult to read.	★★★★★ I give The Butter Battle Book five stars for pacing because the story moves freely and does not feel rushed or slow at any point. Both the Yooks and Zooks are constantly coming up with new weapons, which makes the reader want to see what they develop next.

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