LeSeig (himself a Beginner Book author), Miss Palmer lives in California. She has since edited literally dozens of successful juveniles and written an even dozen of her own. “Helen Palmer, graduate of Wellesley College and Oxford University, was a teacher of English before she became involved in the creation of books for children. So, quid pro quo, the sole copyright holder for A Fish Out Of Water is one Helen Palmer. Still, Helen Palmer never received official credit, in the form of copyright rights, for any of Dr. Palmer was more an advisor, reviewer, or contributor than a collaborator. Seuss poems, since Geisel’s method was to painstakingly scrutinize every word, every line, every verse. Which is not to say they collaborated on Gustav, or any of the Dr. In 1950, it is very likely she helped Geisel with the story and composition of Gustav The Goldfish, just as she helped him with many of his stories. There is little question that Helen Palmer wrote A Fish Out Of Water. Yet these word repetitions never become drills – they are basic to the plot so that a child will feel he is reading only for fun. The theme is skillfully evolved to ensure the word repetition necessary in building a “sight” vocabulary. It is written with ONLY 175 DIFFERENT WORDS – the majority of which a child learns in first grade. Like all BEGINNER BOOKS, this one will prove helpful in developing reading skill. To your youngsters and friends and the rest of the crowd.”Ī Fish Out Of Water, on the other hand, is a Beginner Book, written to help children learn how to read. Presented to you with a technique that’s new. “This is the tale of a goldfish that grew, In the introduction to Gustav, Seuss writes Seuss story, with his familiar rollicking cadence, anapestic tetrameter, a signature of his poems. ‘Cause he shrank Gustav back to his regular size! On Gustav for more than an hour and a quarter! Next, in both stories, the original seller of the fish arrives, fiddles with some items, then goes underwater for some amount of time.Īnd he took it down cellar and worked under water “I knew,” sighed the man, “this would happen one day!”Īnd he hung up the phone and he came right away Next, in both stories, the boy telephones the seller of the fish, and asks for his assistance. In A Fish Out Of Water, the boy calls a policeman, then firemen to help move Otto out of the cellar and into a community swimming pool. Next, In both stories, the tub overflows, as Gus and Otto continue to grow, and the fish ends up in the flooded cellar of the house. Gus and Otto were taken upstairs to the bathtub. Next, in both stories, Gus and Otto were brought into the kitchen and moved from pot to pot to bigger pot. Next, in both stories, Gus and Otto were put into a larger container, a flower bowl, and proceeded to out grow the bowl. Too big for his fishbowl!! His tail was outside! He grew twice as thick, and he grew twice as wide! The second Gus ate it, he grew twice as long! That fish food, I guess, must be terribly strong. In A Fish Out Of Water, the boy also dumped the entire box of fish food into the tank.īut the second I did it, I saw I’d done wrong, I took the whole box and I dumped in all in!” So, finally, one day, poor old Gus looked so thin, Then something might happen! It’s hard to say what.” Both books start with a boy buying a fish, with the seller providing a curious warning not to over feed the fish. You must, however, comply with all the necessary steps in protecting my original copyright.”įor fifty-seven years, Gustav The Goldfish, written and illustrated Dr. “you have the right to use any of the situations of any of the words from the original story that your little heart desires. “ gave Helen formal permission to write a Beginner Book from “Gustave the Goldfish,” which he had written in 1950 in his long-running series of children’s stories for Redbook. Then it’s not surprising to discover the story is virtually identical to Seuss’s Gustav The Goldfish, which was published a decade earlier in the June 1950 Redbook Magazine! Seuss, A Fish Out Of Water has a ‘preposterous-ness’ one associates with a Dr. Written by Helen Palmer, the wife of Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. It was, and remains, one of my favorite Beginner Books. PrologueĪs a child, I loved the story A Fish Out Of Water. Eastman Beginner Books, 1961 (Childrens Picturebook Price Guide: $240 VG+). Gustav The Goldfish written & illustrated by Theodor Seuss Giesel, Redbook Magazine June 1950.Ī Fish Out Of Water, written by Helen Palmer, illustrated by P.D.
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