Bartholomew and the Oobleck Meaning

Does that Oobleck Remind You of Something?

Picture this. It's 1949 and you're reading the newly published Bartholomew and the Oobleck. You flip the pages and see green goop falling from the sky. Twenty-first century you might be thinking acid-rain-ozone-global-warming-world-is-ending (and we'll get to that), but in 1949, you're probably thinking duck and cover. The experts agree:

"Bartholomew […] rework[s] the wartime realities of assault from the air and territorial occupation into backdrops of children's tales." (Source.)

That's right. That green goop is quite a bit scarier when we think of it in terms of war. Assaults from above were a major reality in 1949, and the oobleck is just another manifestation of that.