The colorful drawings of The Lorax combine with the playful language characteristic of Dr. Seuss to communicate a serious message to readers about the environmental dangers of overdevelopment.

The Lorax is a creature who is described as the protector of the trees in a small town. The role of the Lorax suggests that the trees need protection from something threatening. This threat comes in human form: a greedy developer named the Once-ler.

From the start, the Once-ler admires the beautiful trees, but he chops them down in order to build a shop with their wood. In the book, just as in real life, financial gain takes place at the expense of nature, much to the anguish of environmentalists everywhere.

Though the message of the book is serious, the ending of The Lorax is optimistic, especially when the Once-ler and the boy plant the last seed in order to re-grow the trees that have been cut down. The positivity of this message depends on the Once-ler's recognition that nature deserves more respect.

Dr. Seuss may seem like harmless fun, but his books contain important lessons for humanity.  The Lorax is one of his most important works.  In it, he sends a strong message to both children and their parents.  You won’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone.  We take things like trees for granted.  We just expect them to be there.  We think nothing of cutting them down for wood or to make room for building.  Yet once you cut a tree down and build a building, that’s it.  That tree is gone.

The Lorax makes the point that trees are a species.  They may not move, and they may not be able to think, but they are living (and in their own ways breathing) creatures.  Do we as humans have the right to cut them down just for our own profit?  According to Seuss, we don’t!