Do you think of Dr. Seuss as a “fundamentalist” author?  Me neither.  But the fundamentalists want to claim him for their own.

Marvin Olasky of World Magazine offered recently a top-ten list of good children’s books.  Topping the list was Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hatches the Egg for its staunchly pro-life message.  The story, according to Olasky, presents Horton as a “pro-life hero.”

And that’s not all.  Olasky celebrates the conservative message of other leading mainstream children’s books as well.  William Steig’s Yellow & Pink tells more than just a cute story about puppets.  The two central characters wonder about their origins, with the evolution-y story of Yellow losing out to the creation-y story of Pink.

Where do we come from?

Dr. Seuss apparently didn’t like the pro-life associations of his Horton character.  But the creationism of William Steig is hard to miss in this book.

Makes me wonder—was Steig’s Shrek also some sort of creationist parable?