If I Ran the Circus

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If I Ran the Circus

First edition cover
Author	Dr. Seuss
Language	English
Genre	Children's literature
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	1956 (renewed 1984)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback)
Pages	65
OCLC	471685
Preceded by	On Beyond Zebra!
Followed by	The Cat in the Hat

If I Ran the Circus is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, published in 1956 by Random House.

Like The Cat in the Hat, or the more political Yertle the Turtle, If I Ran the Circus develops a theme of cumulative fantasy leading to excess. The overt social commentary found in the Sneetches and the Zax demonstrates that Dr. Seuss was fascinated by the errors and excesses to which humans are prone,^[1] and If I Ran the Circus also examines this interest, though more subtly and comically, given its earlier genesis.