Oh, the Places You'll Go!

First published in 1990, Oh, the Places You'll Go! was the last book Dr. Seuss released in his lifetime. Written in the second person, it addresses "you" directly as it follows an unnamed traveler setting out from home into the wide, uncertain world.

In Seuss's trademark rhyme and boldly colored landscapes, the journey moves through soaring high points and sudden slumps, past the ominous, stalled-out Waiting Place, and on toward the successes that lie ahead. It never pretends the road is easy — there are lurches, prickle-ly perches, and lonely stretches — but it insists, warmly and playfully, that the traveler has what it takes to keep going.

Equal parts picture book and pep talk, it has become one of the most popular graduation gifts in North America, given to readers leaving one chapter of life for the next. Its message about resilience, self-reliance, and the ups and downs of any journey lands just as well with children as with the grown-ups reading along.