Talk:Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories

Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories has been listed as one of the Language and literature good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
June 15, 2005	Articles for deletion	Kept
July 25, 2008	Good article nominee	Listed

Current status: Good article

Children's literature Low‑importance

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Other Media: Animated Feature[edit]

Anybody have any information about the animated cartoon of Yertle the Turtle? 68.48.174.136 14:37, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Other Media: Yertle the Turtle board game[edit]

There should be a section added to the Yertle the Turtle page re: the Yertle the Turtle board game, produced ca. 1960. SaturnCat (talk) 14:17, 23 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have since learned that the title of this game was/is "The Game of Yertle", and it was produced by Revell. (Source: eBay sales photos). SaturnCat (talk) 04:55, 25 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Repetitive?[edit]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' song of Yertle the Turtle is mentioned both in the subsection Other Stories and Trivia. I removed the statement about it in Other Stories, but if it really needs to be mentioned there, please revert it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Fluffybun (talk • contribs) 14:17, 26 April 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Hitler?!?[edit]

The cited article in reference to teh fact that yertle is based on hitler doesn't even mention that. If the only source for the statment is the article then this needs to be changed.

Removing "was modeled after the rise of Hitler" to "was modeled after the those that seek world domination" as stated in the article. Maybe if someone feels strongly about the speculative Hitler/Yertle connection, then it can be established using a more direct source. But still that comment is based upon conjecture of a third party author due to the good Doctor's previous occupation as a polical cartoonist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.57.96.1 (talk) 21:45, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In fact the whole paragraph seems hokey and speculative. I move for its removal. There is not reason to add comments about speculated Nazi references. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.57.96.1 (talk) 21:50, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

GA Review[edit]

This review is transcluded from Talk:Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

I'll be reviewing this article over the next few days. Free free to contact me on my Talk Page or on the article Talk page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JimDunning (talk • contribs)

JimDunning has been inactive for approximately two weeks, so I removed his review tag for this article at WP:GAN in the hopes that another reviewer will take over. If the nominating editor or JimDunning feels as though this was inappropriate, feel free to revert my tag removal and carry on with this review. Happy editing! Nikki311 03:40, 20 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Okey dokey, I'll take the review. —Giggy 10:56, 22 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The lead needs expansion; some more could be said about plot, as well as info from the Publication history section (about reception, about publication, etc.) and the Adaptations section.
- I added to the lead, though not from the Adaptations section — I didn't think there was anything directly relevant enough to warrant inclusion. I also added a quote about Yertle being like Saddam Hussein, and a mention of Publishers Weekly listing the book as 125th on its list of best-selling children's books. Mr. Absurd (talk) 06:53, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The quotes in references sometimes mention a "Geisel". I assume that's Dr. Seuss? Make it clear?
- Yes, that is Seuss. I'll add a little something to the lead to make it clear. Mr. Absurd (talk) 06:13, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Don't think Helen Palmer is the article you're looking for.... Helen Palmer Geisel?
- Yes, fixed. Mr. Absurd (talk) 06:13, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is the In popular culture section necessary?
- Mostly it's there because it was there when I began working on this article... I'm not entirely sure. The first two can be kept, I think, the RHCP one because it's a significant reference, not just a mention, and the second because it mentions turtles all the way down. The other two don't really matter, but if we keep the section they don't hurt. Mr. Absurd (talk) 06:13, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And please leave me a note to take another look. Cheers, —Giggy 10:56, 22 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This GAN has passed, and this is now a good article! If you found this review helpful, please consider helping out a fellow editor by reviewing another good article nomination. Help and advice on how to do so is available at Wikipedia:Reviewing good articles, and you can ask for the help of a GAN mentor, if you wish.

Cheers, —Giggy 12:30, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Burp" as vulgar?[edit]

I'm skeptical about this. I was in junior high school at the time and don't recall the word "burp" as being considered a vulgarity. These things are always subtle, of course, but I'd put "burp" in the same category as "belch" or "hiccup" or "sweat" or "vomit." Colloquial, informal, and referring to a body function that might not be mentioned in a polite context, but hardly taboo.

I think this comment should come out unless someone can point to actual evidence that there was a controversy about it, or that 1950s dictionaries described "burp" as a vulgarity.Dpbsmith (talk) 15:16, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Google finds me a 1957 edition of Dr. Spock's "Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" which uses phrases like "You can try burping him again." Dpbsmith (talk) 15:19, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Google Books also finds me: Transactions of the American Laryngological Association: Volume 79, 1958, "I am sorry I cannot agree with Dr. Moses and Dr. Stoll when they state that it is not a belch or a burp."

The 1958 article "The World of Henry Orient" contains:

“

Sitting in a nearby seat were two boys, probably from Trinity School, who were trying to out-burp each other. One had a low, rumbling and impressively long burp; the other's was short, windy and loud.

”

A Life magazine article, I think this is particularly significant, mentions laryngectomy patients using "burp-produced voices." A mainstream and "polite" source, in a context implying dignity and not jocularity.

A Popular Science article says that "The battery may burp so furiously that acid mist sprays out on the generator and other parts."

The only indication of vulgarity is that I see burp being used as a euphemism for vomit, as in an airplane "burp bag."

I don't think the use of the word in a children's book was pushing boundaries or breaking fresh ground, and I think the comment about "burp" being vulgar should come out unless someone can provide a reference that there was an actual controversy about it in regard to this particular book (or, perhaps, some slightly earlier children's book of the era).

Dpbsmith (talk) 15:24, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've reverted your edits; I'm the one who made that addition in the first place and as you can see there is a direct citation for that comment when it is explained in more detail under "Publication history", where you'll find this:

The use of the word "burp"—"plain little Mack did a plain little thing. He burped!"—was also an issue before publication. According to Seuss, the publishers at Random House, including the president, had to meet to decide whether or not they could use "burp" because "nobody had ever burped before on the pages of a children's book".

I understand your skepticism but I would disagree that it's not that unbelievable; what's polite in general company doesn't always translate to what makes it to the pages of children's books, and it's not so much the word burp being used so much as the fact that the character actually burps. I suppose though that "vulgar" is a bit strong, so I'll change that to "rude", which is probably a bit more accurate. However, there's a reliable citation which I believe warrants leaving this detail in. (Perhaps the comment could be removed from the lead though, I suppose it might not be extremely relevant to the overview of the book.) Mr. Absurd (talk) 04:07, 7 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I did change it to "rude", but I actually just noticed that under the reference for Kanfer's The Doctor Beloved by All, Seuss himself used the word "vulgar". Mr. Absurd (talk) 04:10, 7 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies for perhaps over-reacting and thank you for clarifying the source. By the way, I think "rude" and "vulgar" are synonyms, so I have no problems on that account. Dpbsmith (talk) 18:02, 11 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]