Yertle the turtle

What Hacker News says

1. NishanStepakOct 2026
   I have always liked The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Chicken Soup With Rice by Maurice Sendak, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss and Yertle The Turtle by Dr. Seuss.
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2. hirundoNov 2017
   Yertle the Turtle, by Dr. Seuss. It taught me early to question authority and resist popular movements that are built on my back.
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3. wilwadeAug 2016
   No kids books have been listed, but I have found them all too often enlightening. Sometimes even more than an adult book.

   I and my kids have enjoyed all of Graeme Base's books, but The Eleventh Hour is particularly good and have given it to many kids and adults: http://graemebase.com/book/the-eleventh-hour/

   I am also thinking about giving Yertle the Turtle By Dr. Seuss out to anyone I meet before the election: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yertle_the_Turtle_and_Other_St... I have given many Dr. Seuss books away as well.

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4. akkartikAug 2010
   "For a complete explanation of the dangers of managers with the wrong kind of ambition, I strongly recommend Dr. Suess’s management masterpiece Yertle the Turtle."

   For those who like me want to fill in this hole in their education: http://www.archive.org/details/jessyertletheturtlepodcast

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5. DonHopkinsSep 2025
   It's turtles all the way down!

   Or all the way up. Yertle the Turtle represented Hitler, and now Trump and Putin.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yertle_the_Turtle_and_Other_St...

   >Seuss has stated that the titular character Yertle represented Adolf Hitler, with Yertle's despotic rule of the pond and takeover of the surrounding area parallel to Hitler's regime in Germany and invasion of various parts of Europe.[3][4] Though Seuss made a point of not beginning the writing of his stories with a moral in mind, stating that "kids can see a moral coming a mile off", he was not against writing about issues; he said "there's an inherent moral in any story" and remarked that he was "subversive as hell".[5][6] "Yertle the Turtle" has variously been described as "autocratic rule overturned",[7] "a reaction against the fascism of World War II",[8] and "subversive of authoritarian rule".[9]

   When Dr. Seuss Made Hitler Into a Turtle: A reading of Dr. Seuss’s “Yertle the Turtle” with a bit of history in mind.

   https://benkageyama.medium.com/when-dr-seuss-made-hitler-int...

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6. DonHopkinsAug 2023
   Dr Seuss's Yertle the Turtle is a metaphor for Hitler.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yertle_the_Turtle_and_Other_St...

   >Seuss has stated that the titular character Yertle represented Adolf Hitler, with Yertle's despotic rule of the pond and takeover of the surrounding area parallel to Hitler's regime in Germany and invasion of various parts of Europe.[3][4] Though Seuss made a point of not beginning the writing of his stories with a moral in mind, stating that "kids can see a moral coming a mile off", he was not against writing about issues; he said "there's an inherent moral in any story" and remarked that he was "subversive as hell".[5][6] "Yertle the Turtle" has variously been described as "autocratic rule overturned",[7] "a reaction against the fascism of World War II",[8] and "subversive of authoritarian rule".[9]

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