I will not read them here or there. I will not read them anywhere. I do not like them, Sam I Am. I do not like children’s books that have sneaky little messages about the right way to live and behave. Or, you know, that’s how some people might respond if you asked them to read the books of the late Ted “Dr. Seuss” Geisel in search of theological insight.

And yet, despite the author’s own avowed lack of interest in organized religion, his books frequently include strong moral messages. And, as even the life of Jesus Christ illustrates, telling a story can be a fine way to interest people in a religious teaching.

“What happens in a lot of Christian churches, and other churches,” said the Rev. Linda Hunt Anton, “is that people have heard the scriptures so many times that it’s hard to look at them in a fresh way.”

That’s one reason that Anton and a number of parishioners of Provo Community United Church of Christ have been talking about the extensive writings of storybook author and illustrator Theodore Giesel this month: because it offers a fresh approach to familiar Christian teachings.

(The United Church of Christ is a mainstream Protestant denomination that traces its religious heritage back to the movement begun by Martin Luther in the 16th century. The Provo congregation meets in a prominently located building that sits on University Avenue just south of the intersection with 200 North.)

Geisel is beloved by millions. The copies of the good doctor’s many books that circulate at Provo City Library are “in and out all the time,” said librarian Laura Wadley. “In fact, when it’s Dr. Seuss’ birthday, we don’t even have any on the shelf.” (The birthday is March 2, Provo Library patrons. Make your plans now.)

The Provo Community study group was inspired by a non-fiction volume for adults entitled “The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss,” published in 2004. It was written by the Rev. James W. Kemp, a retired Methodist minister who began preaching sermons based on the likes of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “Horton Hears a Who” while still preparing for his ordination.

“I’ve loved Dr. Seuss stories for as long as I can remember,” Kemp said in an interview with specialty bookseller Christianbook.com. “When I was a kid, I would go to the library or bookmobile every week. It seemed like I always ended up with the same book: ‘Horton Hatches the Egg.’ “

“Horton Hatches the Egg” was the first Seuss book discussed at Provo Community, on Oct. 2. (The congregation’s Seuss study group, which is free and open to the public, meets on Tuesdays at 6 p.m., through Oct. 23.) The first meeting was only attended by five or six adults, so there’s plenty of space for interested parties.

“It’s a story of faithfulness and also transformation,” said Anton of the book, in which Horton, a compulsively responsible elephant, agrees to warm the egg of a bird named Mayzie for a few hours, but winds up perching atop her nest for months and months until the egg hatches with surprising results.

“We had a very good discussion,” Anton said. Not just about faithful Horton either — some parishioners identified with lazy Mayzie, noting that she’d fallen victim to a very human temptation of getting away from it all.

Ridiculous rhymes and religious reasoning

Anton, 66, who lives in Richfield, and attends to pastoral responsibilities both there and in Provo, had never read either “The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss” or the works of Seuss himself before getting involved in the class. “I didn’t read Dr. Seuss growing up and I didn’t ever have children,” she said.

Since discovering Seuss, the former social worker has learned a few things that many Seuss-ically inclined readers already know. “Dr. Seuss characters are so human, even when they aren’t human,” Anton said. The characters’ experiences are also human, often poignantly so. Actually, she said, “the books tell the same kinds of moral stories that Christ did.”

That’s a connection also made by Kemp, whose book was recommended to Anton by Provo Community parishioner Dorothy Talbert.

Talbert, a retired former children’s librarian who lives in Salt Lake City, said that she stumbled onto “The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss” about two years ago while searching for Sunday School lesson materials. Talbert read Kemp’s book with interest and had a ready recommendation when Anton was looking for a topic to build a study group around.

Sometimes, of course, a Seuss book is just a Seuss book. You won’t, for example, find any deep spiritual meaning in the tongue twisters of “Fox in Socks,” or “Hop on Pop’s” nonsense rhymes.

“I love ‘The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins,’ but I don’t think that one has as much of a message,” said Talbert. “It’s not one that I consider helping us learn how to live.”

There’s more than enough of Seuss’ wisdom to supply a four-week study group, however. The Provo Community group didn’t even have room for classics like “The Lorax” or “The Butter Battle Book.”

And while children aren’t likely to get much out of Kemp’s writings, the study group is for all ages. Talbert found on the Internet lesson plans for children that had been written from “The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss.” So while the adults are busy in one room, Talbert keeps the children occupied in another.

“The kids took turns acting out Horton’s story by sitting on a ball,” Talbert said. “One would be Horton and one would be Mayzie. We did it several times.”

Even if the youngsters don’t remember the lessons in the books, they’ll probably still want to read them to their own children someday. Wadley thinks that’s what keeps the books in circulation. That, and the fact that they’re “works of genius.” Seuss, she said, “was just a genius in using few words and made-up words to convey a lot of meaning.”

Cody Clark can be reached at 344-2542 or cclark@heraldextra.com.