A Penny Saved…

Looked at from another angle, we can recognize the narrator's decision-making anxiety as rooted in the overwhelming bounty of options "late-capitalist culture" provides (source). What the narrator and Kay confront in the pet shop, kids in general confront every time they turn on the TV or open a magazine (okay, or hop online, as is more likely the case these days). Instead of deciding between a select few pets, they're inundated with variety. And this can be exhausting.

All in all, while people may say this isn't Seuss at his finest, What Pet Should I Get? is classic Seuss through and through. In other words, it's a story about the elusive nature of family, the perils of questing for perfection, and the overwhelming array of choice presented by consumer culture… all dressed up as a children's bedtime story.