The Bippolo Seed

Name: The Bippolo Seed
Author: Dr. Seuss

A story that explores responsibility and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families

Read the Guiding Questions Find this book →

♥ This book teaches: Responsibility. owning your choices and their consequences.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition: doing what needs to be done without complaining. In short: Do what needs to be done.

Summary: A lucky duck finds a special seed, the Bippolo Seed, that grants wishes. The duck’s wishes are reasonable and responsible until a cat convinces him to make a lot more wishes. Trouble erupts when “the more that he [the duck] wished, the more greedy he got.” Eventually, after making a long list of wishes, the duck loses the Bippolo Seed and as a result, he gets nothing. The gift of the seed was lost because the duck became greedy instead of responsible. Lesson Objectives:

Students talk about greed, gratitude, and responsibility and how it’s important to be grateful for the things we receive, and use them responsibly. They memorize the sentence: “I am grateful and responsible for what I am given.”

Guiding Questions:

What does the lucky duck find?
What does the cat say to convince the duck to wish for more than just duck food?
Why do you think the cat tried to convince the duck to make more wishes?
What were some of the unusual funny wishes the duck made?
What happened to the Bippolo seed?
Why didn’t the duck get his wishes?
“The more that he wished, the more greedy he got.” Why do you think that the duck became more greedy when he made all those wishes?
Make a list of wishes you’d make if you had a Bippolo seed.
What’s one reasonable wish you have? What do you need to do to make it come true?
Ask your parents if they had wishes come true. What were the wishes and how did they come true?

🌿 Virtue Connection: Responsibility means owning what is yours, including your choices.

Activities for This Story.

Activity: Students view the video of “The Bippolo Seed” and discuss its theme of gratefulness and responsibility. They memorize the sentence: “I am grateful and responsible for what I am given.” They discuss the consequences of greed in the story and how it could have ended on a happy note instead of with failure. Optional: they practice responsibility by planting seeds and taking care of the baby plants.

Materials needed: the video; seeds (quick growing is best - radish or microgreens), planters, a watering can, and a sunny place for plants to grow

Directions: Show the video and lead a discussion about its theme of gratefulness and responsibility. Ask questions about how it could have ended differently if the Bippolo seed had been treated with responsibility instead of greed. Ask, “Is it okay to have lots of ‘wants’ as the duck and cat did in this story?” [pause for responses] Guide students to understand that it’s okay to have “wants” as long as we are willing to work toward getting them. Explain, “ Having ‘wants’ is okay, but at the same time, it’s important to be grateful and responsible for what we already have. If you were to rewrite this story with a happy ending, what would you write?” [pause for responses]

Optional: conduct a seed planting activity and link it with the virtue of responsibility.

Wrap it up: Explain: “Dr. Seuss is a great storyteller who often has a theme or moral to his stories. What is the theme of this story, what’s it about? [pause for responses] Let’s remember to be responsible and grateful for what we do have. And, when we want something, we can always make a plan and work towards getting it. That is the responsible way!

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.