The Sneetches and Other Stories The cover of The Sneetches and Other Stories The Sneetches and Other Stories is a collection of stories by Dr. Seuss ( Theodor Seuss Geisel ) . It is composed of four separate stories , unrelated except in the fact that most of the stories have important morals . The four stories are : `` The Sneetches '' `` The Zax '' `` Too Many Daves '' `` What Was I Scared Of ? `` The first two stories in the book were later adapted , along with Green Eggs and Ham , into the animated TV special Dr. Seuss on the Loose . `` The Sneetches '' At its simplest , `` The Sneetches '' is a story about yellow bird-like creatures called Sneetches . However its most important part is the lesson it teaches about racism . Spoiler warning : Plot and/or ending details follow . Some Sneetches have a green star on their belly , and in the beginning of the story the presence or absence of a star is the basis for discrimination . Sneetches who have stars on their bellies are part of the `` in crowd '' , while Sneetches without stars are shunned and excluded . In the story , a `` fix-it-up '' chap named Mr. Sylvester McMonkey McBean appears , driving a cart of strange machines . He offers the Sneetches without stars a chance to have them by going through his Star-On machine , for three dollars . The old star-bellied Sneetches are furious until McBean tells them about his Star-Off machine , costing ten dollars . This escalates , with the Sneetches running from one machine to the next , `` until neither the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew Whether this one was that one or that one was this one . Or which one was what one or what one was who . `` This continues until the Sneetches have no more money and McBean leaves them . At the end of the story the Sneetches learn that neither plain-belly nor star-belly Sneetches are superior , and they are able to get along and become friends . The story is an obvious allegory for racism and discrimination , and teaches the lesson that all people are the same on the inside , despite outward differences . It can also be viewed as a satire on fashion following and keeping up with the Joneses . Geisel , a perfectionist and sensitive artist , almost scrapped the manuscript when he realized the story may wrongfully be taken as an allegory for anti-Semitism , and the stars on the birds ' bellies might be taken as the six-cornered stars Jews were forced to wear in public under Hitler 's rule in Nazi Germany . His publisher convinced him to go ahead with the book . Today it is one of his most well-known stories , and was even adapted for a twelve-minute animated short a few years later . `` The Sneetches '' is written in anapestic tetrameter , and – as is typical for Seuss books – follows the rhyme scheme and meter very strictly . `` The Zax '' `` The Zax '' is a lesson about the importance of compromise . In the story a North-going Zax and a South-going Zax meet face to face in the desert . Because they refuse to move east , west , or any direction except their objective direction , the two Zax become stuck , as they refuse to move around each other . The Zax stand so long that eventually a highway overpass is built around them , and the story ends with the Zax still standing there . Like `` The Sneetches '' , `` The Zax '' is written in anapestic tetrameter and follows a strict rhyme scheme . `` Too Many Daves '' `` Too Many Daves '' is a very short story about a mother , Mrs. McCave , who named all 23 of her sons Dave . This causes problems in the family , and the majority of the story lists unusual and amusing names she wishes she had given them , such as `` Bodkin Van Horn '' or `` Zanzibar Buck Buck McFate '' . The story ends with the statement that `` She did n't do it , and now it 's too late '' . Although this story could have a lesson related to individualism , it primarily focuses on all the funny names , and may well just be a fun story . McFate would reappear in Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are ? . `` What Was I Scared Of ? `` `` What Was I Scared Of ? `` tells the tale of a character who repeatedly meets up with an empty pair of pale-green pants . The character , who is the narrator , is initially afraid of the pants , which are able to stand on their own despite the lack of a wearer . However when he screams for help and the pants also start to cry , he realizes that `` They were just as scared as I ! `` After that the empty pants become good friends with the narrator , and are no longer afraid of each other . This story teaches the lesson that you should not be afraid of things with which you are not familiar . Unlike the other three stories in this collection , `` What Was I Scared Of ? `` is written in trochaic tetrameter , which is the other meter that Dr. Seuss typically used . Further reading `` Agency of NATO and United Nations to Distribute Dr. Seuss Stories to Foster Racial Tolerance in War-Torn Bosnia `` , Business Wire , Business Wire , Inc. , 1998-08-10 . Retrieved on 2006-10-16 . Categories : 1960 books | Children 's books | Books by Dr. Seuss http : //www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1998_August_10/ai_50233312 Agency of NATO and United Nations to Distribute Dr. Seuss Stories to Foster Racial Tolerance in War-Torn Bosnia Business Wire Business Wire , Inc. 1998-08-10 2006-10-16 Random House Children 's Publishing and Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced today that The Sneetches and Other Stories , a book by the celebrated children 's author Dr. Seuss , will be translated by NATO into Serbo-Croatian and distributed in the fall to 500 , 000 children in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of an information campaign to help encourage racial tolerance . 