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The Pocketbook of Boners & Harvard Headlines

I spent many days as a child either shut in for misbehavior or recuperating from one of my frequent childhood illnesses.  One of my few amusements during these times was reading.  My parents had a book called "The Pocketbook of Boners", a little book which described itself as "true, actual missteps, misprints, and misconceptions".  I guess I have a warped sense of humor, as I could only read a few pages at a time before I was laughing and howling until I....  well, you know.  And I'd have to put the book down until I regained control of various bodily functions.  See some samples at Un-Deep Funnies.

I did not realize until recently that the compiler of this book was none other than the famous author of the Dr. Seuss series: Theodor Geisel.   I always felt his stories themselves were tedious, although most kids apparently love the rhyming and reiteration, but I adored the illustrations.  

A few years ago a neighbor in back of us had his huge mango tree hat-racked - that is, all the branches with leaves cut off, an awfully damaging thing to do to a tree.  A rainy season followed, and each bare branch end sprouted leaves like mad.  For a month I dragged everyone I could lay hands on out into the alley just after sunset to see a real, live Dr. Seuss illustration!  I was amazed at the number who took a look and said, "Huh???"  or "So???"

Here's some examples (neither of them mango trees, and neither as "Dr. Seussy" as the mango was.  I wish I'd made a snapshot, but....):

See Dr. Seuss's official website with more games and fun.

Dr. Seuss's earlier works included extensive political cartoons during World War II - see some samples.   

What brought this to mind?  Someone called my attention to The Potluck News, a production of HarvardNews.com.  It's a collection from newspapers of funny headlines, misguided reporting, unfortunate illustrations and more.  I managed to control myself - barely..... 

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