And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street

It's a lot more interesting than most of the books published in the late 1930s. It's a Dr. Seuss book written in rhyme. When a little boy comes home from school, his dad always asks him what he saw on the way home. And all he sees is a horse and a wagon, so he keeps saying, "You know, what if it was a zebra," and then keeps making up more and more outlandish things until there's a parade going on with an elephant and two giraffes pulling a brass band, and the mayor's there, and there's an airplane with confetti and stuff. Then he runs home to tell his dad, and then can't start talking, and gets embarrassed and tells him that he saw a horse and a cart. The end.

I don't know. It seems kind of about the power of imagination, but also about lying, in a way. He ends up being honest, but not because he thinks making up stuff is wrong. But it's also not really important what he saw coming home from school. It's a story that gets more and more complex as it goes on, but then fizzles out at the end. The dual messages are rather in conflict.