Random House Books for Young Readers, New York;Dr. Seuss's elderly Everyman travels, in rhyme and illustrations, along the Golden Years Clinic's assembly line of medical tests and questions, meeting Miss Becker of Stethescope Row, Dr. Pollen, Dietician Van Eiffel, and others.

My kids love this book a lot more than I do. I don't understand. ( )

As time marches on, aging is inevitable, so it’s no wonder that Dr. Seuss chose to tackle this most common of subjects for his most adult audiences. He does so with his trademark humour, so no worries about the story being dark and depressing - after all, growing up is great fun, as we learn and grow alongside the world around us. Seuss sets the story in a doctor’s office, with an elderly gentleman who is set to have all his bits and bobs checked out by the doctor as our protagonist, which seems like a straightforward enough narrative but Seuss soon delves into the realm of the absurd as the check-up spirals out of control. As the appointment continues, the man is subjected to increasingly ridiculous tests by increasingly ridiculous medical specialists - which is exactly what appointments can often seem like when they drag on and the medical jargon becomes too much to handle. Our protagonist gets a bit anxious as he realizes that the tests are out of his control, but by the final scene he has realized that he shouldn’t fixate on his problems and try to carry on with life in good spirits. After all, a good mindset is crucial to staying young at heart! ( )

Like everyone, surely, with a whimsical or imaginative bone in their body, I adored Dr. Seuss as a kid. And now, at a couple weeks shy of forty-nine, I figured I was about old enough to read his book for folks on the other end of the age spectrum, about the experience of being poked and prodded (and billed) by doctors as they investigate what kind of shape your aging body is in. And I was right. I was. The bit about the guy who carefully and scientifically tests you to find out what foods you like best and then forbids you to them made me laugh a loud, rueful, all-too-familiar laugh.

Anyway, this was cute and fun and Seussian, and it kind of made me feel like a kid again for a moment, albeit a kid with bifocals and and annoying low-salt diet. ( )

This one is a picture book, but aimed at adults. It follows an older man getting poked and prodded and checked by doctors. Having read this immediately after The Lorax, it wasn't quite as engaging. I found there were more made-up words that I stumbled through a little bit, through to the end of the book, not just at the beginning. However, it is still a humourous look at aging. The pictures, of course, add to the humour. ( )