How 'The Lorax' compares with four other storybooks staged at CTC

Writer: Dr. Seuss

Pages: 72

Target age: 5-9

Plot/characters: There's plenty of story, as Once-ler robs resources and litters the world with his unnecessary invention, but braggy Once-ler and naggy Lorax aren't exactly nuanced.

Making it a play: Channeling his inner Seuss, David Greig explored the characters' flawed humanity, invented words that rhyme with "Lorax" ("There's 'thorax,' but you can only use that once") and came up with some redemption to take the edge off the book's bleak conclusion.

Writer: Richard Scarry

Pages: 48

Plot/characters: There are lots of characters — bears, sloths and owls taking on the jobs of nurses, construction workers and firefighters — but we don't know a thing about any of them.

Making it a play: For CTC's "Busytown," which premiered in 2014, playwright Kevin Kling concocted little vignettes that connect the activities of the busy animals to each other.

Writer: Don Freeman

Pages: 32

Target age: 2-5

Making it a play: Barry Kornhauser, whose script debuted in April, beefed up the dauntless Night Watchman who is on the trail of teddy bear Corduroy, added a couple of mischievous mannequins and imagined a home life for Lisa.

Writer: Laura Numeroff

Pages: 40

Target age: 4-8

Plot/characters: The cookie doesn't say much. Otherwise, there's a mouse and, um, well ...

Writer: Ezra Jack Keats

Pages: 40

Target age: 2-5

Plot/characters: Peter — who puts on his snowsuit, makes snow angels and tries to save a snowball in his pocket — is the only real character. Even dolled up with beatboxing, it takes less than four minutes to get through the animated story online.

Making it a play: The book was augmented by a couple of other Keats stories to fill out the play for CTC's 2016 staging, a tactic also used for Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."